2019-09-17
Zero Waste Kathmandu
Recently, a lot of ventures are popping up around Nepal advocating for sustainable living and a zero-waste lifestyle. Walking around Kathmandu, you can find zero-waste restaurants, sustainable clothing stores, upcycling cafés, and institutions that feature upcycled and recycled products. Three such institutions are featured in this post.
Doko Recyclers, Tatwa
Tatwa is an upcycling initiative started by Doko Recyclers. Many items cannot be recycled in Nepal today, especially glass products. Nepal does not currently have a glass recycling plant, so alternative solutions need to be implemented to recycle or reuse disposed glass. Tatwa takes old glass bottles and creatively redesigns them into artisanal cups, glasses, lamps, and other aesthetically pleasing household items. Since the only other option for all imported glass bottles is to be dumped into landfills, Tatwa is a step towards reducing the amount of glass ending up in our landfills.
To find out more, visit https://www.tatwashop.com/
Revolution Project
Revolution Project is a startup project promoting Corporate Social Responsibility to corporations across Kathmandu by introducing sustainable practices to their premises. Currently, Revolution Project is working on its sustainability initiative Humanity Sessions, where they visit schools across the valley to introduce a long term sustainability lessons to students. Some topics they are focusing on are recycling, tree plantation, plant-based diets, amongst other sustainable initiatives. Humanity Sessions aims to instill a culture of sustainable living among students so that these habits become second nature to them in the future.
To find out more, visit http://www.revolutionproject.com.np/
Hatti Hatti Nepal
Hatti Hatti is an NGO that creates clothes and clothing accessories mostly by recycling old saris. Hatti Hatti’s vision is to provide equal opportunity to everyone regardless of their ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, or social/economic situation. They work with women in marginalized communities across Nepal, teaching them how to become entrepreneurs. One of the courses taught by Hatti Hatti is advanced tailoring. All of their products have an individual number on them, which identifies the tailor who made that product. Once you purchase your zero-waste product from them, you can go to their website and read about the tailor who made it for you.
To find out more, visit https://www.hattihatti.org/