Plastic Nepal.

I spent three months in Sisneri, a rural village in the mountains of Nepal. I have travelled before but this was on a completely different level. Living within a host family, teaching in school and organising community events I became a functioning member of the village. At first it was the most awkward thing, people starred like I had two heads, but then all barriers were lifted. I can't even explain how much I miss my host family, the kids and the stray doggo's.

So, i shat myself, sprained my neck and fell in love with a community of people who live minimalistic lifestyles. Apart from fake north face no trace of materialism or capitalism had seeped it's way into Nepal and despite having nothing much more than a cow and a small farm or a tiny shop everybody I met was extremely happy. They live outside with the earth, thats their home. They love Nepal and they want to make it better. Prakriti means Mother Nature, a very common name for young girls in Nepal.

Unknown destination found upon a long walk. The women work in the farm as soon as the sun rises till it sets. I have never witnessed feminine power like these beautiful hardworking ladies.

You know what has made its way into Nepal though? Yep, fucking plastic, tbf its literally inside of us now but ehhh. Whats worse for Nepali people, is that you have to pay to throw away waste. Poor families that survive from their own land do not have access income to be paying to throw away rubbish. This means there is no bins accept in the school, there is no where else to put it other than the river and burning it in the farms and forests.

Community Dump at the side of Sisneri. During a clean up our kids found ten matching pairs of shoes ey?

The health benefits of burning plastic? Lets see, When plastic waste is burned, they produce dioxin and furan. If dioxin is inhaled, it can instantly cause coughing, shortness of breath and dizziness. Long-term exposure to dioxin can cause cancer. Another harmful effect of burning waste is pollution, as it damages the ozone layer. But here are a group of people with no other alternative? Everything is packaged in plastic, should they simply swim in it?

I asked my host sisters to write a lil something about there views on the waste management in Nepal and heres what they thought, give it a read, its beautiful.

''Nepal is a smallest country with 1,47,181sq, km area of Asia, a milestone between India and China and the birthplace of Buddha. Nepal is a mystery and treasure which gives fun to discover. As it naturally blessed, it has become a tourist destination. It has contributed a lot in Nepalese’s economy. Without tourism sector Nepal and its existence is impossible.

Where, Nepal is gifted by nature, consciousness of people towards protecting it is hardly observed. Only making rules and preservation areas will not be enough if it lacks responsiveness which is the main problem of Nepal.

People are educated but their behavior are still uneducated one. It might be the result of unorganized government rules, doubtful leader and their direction. Furthermore, we individual can also be the reason for environmental degradation and poor waste management. We are so busy on handling our personal issues and have no time to think about the environment we keep on blaming our government for taking action. It will not happen if our government could take the right decision on time.

In relating to the context, I would like to add my situation about the way we dispose our garbage. We segregate degradable and non-degradable. Degradable product is used to make compost but with non-degradable product we cannot do more. As my village is in hilly region and surrounded by trees we burn those products. We think it will be better to burn instead of throwing it at river or on land. We are aware about the fact it is not the better way to do so. It pollutes air but we think as we don’t burn huge quantity it will not pollute that much. It is ok for now as there are more trees and no more houses but it may not work in near future.

Talking about other village they mix drainage in water and throw garbage too. We somehow want to preserve water resources because some people use river for doing daily stuff. While trying to protecting one we are polluting another but there is no way out. The policy maker and waste management team pretend to be working but not actually. There is no such provision and solution that are directed to us. So, we use our way to manage it. Local government charge us for managing such things. I heard that municipality collect garbage in our area in only some places and rarely.'' - Sharmila

“Nowadays, we are being lazy and careless to think about those matter. We know we shouldn’t burn plastic but we used to do it because we don’t have other way.” - Aahana (11 years old)

Even a small straw can burn a whole house likewise poor waste management has also become a big threat to our country specially to tourism sector. People are waiting for new rules related to it and they are participating in various program and searching alternative measures to preserve environment.''

I left Nepal a few months ago and the children are still rallying against air pollution, they know clean air is what they deserve. We started a youth club and a library and they are continuing to meet and discuss issues they think matter. Plastic pollution is an issue that harms the entire planet, however it is these individuals who live in the developing world that face the harshest health defects. Can we stand by and let large companies run by big fat white men ruin the lives of women and children who can't afford to throw away their rubbish? Plastic pollution is like smoking, because we can't see the effect straight away we often feel like it doesn't exist. Lets work together to pressure companies to package items sustainably for the sake of the environment and the health of the whole world, please.