Zero waste, zero electricity bill: Padma Shri awardee's home powers 50 others

Long before she became known for her self-sustaining home, Janak Palta McGilligan's journey toward environmentalism began with a personal health scare. As a teenager, she survived a near-death experience and underwent open-heart surgery at just 17 years old. That brush with mortality gave her a newfound respect for life, and she decided early on to dedicate herself to the well-being of the planet. Her environmental awareness deepened further in 1992, when she was invited to attend the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, an experience that exposed her to the scale of environmental problems being faced across the world.A home that runs on wind, sun, and nothing elseThe turning point in Janak's story came in 2011, following the death of her husband, Jimmy McGilligan.