Whatever you’re doing today, whether you’re at work or at home, or somewhere in between, you spend a great deal of the day thinking about yourself. Not in a bad or selfish way, just in the normal way most of us do.  

There are other people who are not thinking about themselves in quite the same way. They’re thinking about the lives of others. And how to save them.

Anoop Jain is saving lives in India by building and operating community toilets. 600 million Indians do not have access to a toilet. As a result, 450,000 Indians die every year from diseases related to eating or drinking contaminated food or water. Half of these deaths are children under the age of 5. 

While studying public health in New Orleans, Anoop became aware of the Indian health issue and started an organization called Sanitation and Health Rights in India. SHRI builds and operates community toilets in India. The company has 40 full time employees. The toilets create methane gas that powers water generators that transform the waste water into clean, safe, useable water.

Nicole Waguespack is working at saving the very land we live on here in Louisiana. Nicole is President of Martin Ecosystems. The company has a revolutionary method of preventing coastal erosion and creating new land for coastal restoration, by building floating islands. These islands are made out of a material that’s created from recycled water bottles. The product is called The Matrix and this revolutionary process is called BioHaven Floating Technology.

Photos over lunch at Commander’s Palace by Jill Lafleur.