How people-based waste management strategies are helping communities in Nepal stay healthy

Every minute of every day, the world sees almost one million plastic PET bottles being purchased. And every year, more than 200,000 of them are left behind as trash in every single one of Nepal’s national parks.

This crisis, says the Partnership for Sustainable Development Nepal (PSD), a non-governmental social development organization, causes a long list of problems for the environment, the animal ecosystem, and tourism, but it also impacts health: when plastic waste ends up in water sources, it pollutes them, affecting millions downstream in Nepal and beyond.

The links between environmental protection, climate change, and health, are not always explicit. But PSD Vice Chairperson Dr. Suresh Tiwari and Executive Director Bishnu Bhatta are working to connect the poorest and most vulnerable living in rural communities in Nepal with international grants, donors, and fundraising projects, so they can help mitigate environmental degradation and improve the health of the Nepalese.

We spoke with Dr. Tiwari and Bhatta on the threats posed by environmental challenges and what can be done to address them.

What is the link between climate and health and why is there a need to focus on this?

Dr. Tiwari: When we talk about climate and health, we can start with a recent surge of dengue fever in Nepal. More than 52 people died of this fever, and more than 50,000 people were infected. Dengue mosquitoes basically survive in the plainland, the lowland, not land with high altitude. So, we must ask: how this mosquito is flying to the Himalayan region? We are seeing evidence that climate change and global warming are surviving factors of the mosquito. But we can also speak about agriculture, which has an enormous impact on world health. Because of climate change, the productivity of the soil has been degraded significantly. In Nepal, we’ve seen avalanches killing people, glaciers melting, and rivers flooding. Countries’ policies can affect the climate of neighboring countries. So yes, we need to discuss climate and health, in terms of protecting ourselves from future pandemics and mitigating future crises.

Climate change has an impact on our health - but what will it take to convince people of that connection?

Dr. Tiwari: Climate is signaling threats not only to humans, but also to animals. In Nepal, the mountains are being visibly depleted by climate change, and with that, animals – like the red panda – are losing their habitats. But that erosion of our soil, for example, can affect quality of life, and even be linked to average life expectancy going down. Because of climate change, the productivity of the soil has been degraded significantly and, as a result, the productive land in our Himalayan region is being depleted. If the soil erodes from our mountains, it will be too late to go back and reformulate the soil in the mountain region. It’s why we should be thinking and putting our efforts towards that and to bringing this agenda to the scientific community, research community, policy makers and obviously to funders, so we can increase exposure to this issue.

What is the work you are doing in Nepal to ensure a better health for your mountains – and your people?

Bhatta: What we are doing in Nepal is engaging communities in rural areas, in the high mountain areas. We are working in 1400-to-4000-meter altitude, and we are cleaning up the mountains. In plastics, we have a scheme that gives one rupee for one bottle. If anybody, like a child or a community member, brings one bottle, like a PET bottle, they get one rupee in exchange. So, we are creating income generation for the local people, in what we call like to call a circular economy. We are circulating the economy within the village so that they can make some money, while we clean up the mountain. Because before our intervention, they would throw all plastic waste in the river, which pollutes water sources, or burn it, which affects air quality. More importantly, we are helping to develop a culture that promotes and sustains waste management practices in the Himalayas. This helps mitigate effects of environmental degradation and climate change on health.

How have communities responded to these campaigns?

Bhatta: We had lots of participation from schoolchildren and women's groups, and also with hotel workers and community people. We taught them that when they throw plastic waste down the river, they are polluting the water. The water in some places goes downstream to more than 20 million people – all the way to the India – who are affected. It’s the same with burning plastic, which affects air quality. So, we give money, but we also give awareness. We tell them that if they don't preserve their mountain, the thousands of tourists won’t come to travel and trek. And if there are no tourists, they won’t have an income. We do the same with carbon offsetting and give money for people to plant trees and teach schoolchildren and community people to create rooftop gardens where they can plant them.

 Dr. Tiwari: I just got back from the base camp of Langtang Mountain. We climbed up there and we had a meeting with community members, hotel owners, and a local leader there. We discussed the need to clean the mountains and there was acceptance. They were happy and eager to collaborate. But there was a sentimental story around a yak. Yak are important to the lives of mountain people. They give milk, cheese, and also meat. And in many ways, the human ecosystems there center around the yak. During COVID, a lot of people came down the mountains, but the yaks could not climb down to the lowland, so they stayed up there alone for months. (Yaks are often domesticated and feed off remains people give them.) So, when looking for food, they found plastic, which they ate. We dissected one yak and found 11 kilos of plastic in its stomach. It’s the story of climate and killing, and there’s a moral message to the international, regional, and local communities.

Why is education such an important part of your model?

Dr. Tiwari: Because it breeds ownership and accountability. People are more willing to contribute when they realize they too are the polluters, and the contributors to bringing garbage to our mountains. When there is acceptance that this is our problem, not just a tourist problem, we get our hands dirty to clean the mountain. So that level of ownership has been created. It’s why we believe this model can be replicated elsewhere. Once we develop a community of practice and bring synergy, so that together we can create action, we can go to the government, and mobilize it for resources from the international community, for the technical know-how, and initial resources to really create a sustainable solution that goes back to local communities.

Bhatta: Finding communities, engaging communities, and creating synergies so that the government then develops policies and accepts that this kind of mobilization really works in reducing the effects of climate change, promotes the health of mountain people and the health of tourist. And this model can help different parts of Nepal, and different parts of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Burma, and so forth. Because once people become aware, they are ready to help. And then governments in rural municipalities become ready, too.

Why is this grassroots approach effective, and what is a mistake that we make in addressing these issues globally?

Dr. Tiwari: What we are doing in Nepal is engaging the community, children, and families. There is research that says if you invest a dollar at an early age, you'll get 17 times return. I think the mistake we have not made is that we have gone to the people. We listen. And we understand and recognize the problems being faced by the local people, in their own language. And then we try to understand the solutions they are prescribing.

What is the call to action for world leaders? How do we ensure there is buy in to this problem?

Bhatta: Nature does not discriminate, so we have to join hands together so that we can achieve progress, prevent catastrophes, and avoid natural disasters. If we don't work together, if we don't fight together, we cannot overcome on this problem. Like in COVID, you can’t think that because it started in one place, we didn’t need to think about it in another. And if we don’t act now, it may be too late. Talent is equally distributed around the world, but not opportunity. So, we should provide opportunity to community people around the world, to bring new innovative ideas, to fight our biggest challenges.

Dr. Tiwari: Nature can't be unfair. So, we must help our leaders understand that communities are the strength, not the burden. They are at the center of the solution; we just need to empower them. The problems being faced by the people unfold when they affect daily life, career paths, development agendas. We turn to people to get their recommended solutions. We must incentivize them, engage children, open up their horizons and their ability to see a waste-free, safer world. If our leaders can remain people-driven, and identify the power centers within the communities, then provide a technical mindset and international support, we can develop sustainable solutions. Because if we don't act now, it may be too late.