Most Indian hill stations & villages do not have a waste disposal & processing mechanism in place whatsoever.
With the rise of tourism in the prettiest locations of #incredibleindia, the problem of garbage has only been on the rise.
While most wet waste is fed to the livestock, dry waste of plastic bags & bottles among others are either burnt or drained down the local streams.
Under such circumstances, the people's movement led by Ms Jodie Underhill towards cleaning some of the toughest terrains possible, is truly remarkable & inspirational.
Jodie, a 46 year old British Expatriate, came to India in December 2008, upon which, she travelled around the country as a tourist & ended up volunteering at Tibetan Children's Village, Dharamashala, Himachal Pradesh.
She was bothered by the garbage situation there every day. Streets, public places, tourist spots, children's parks, and hiking & trekking routes were swell with disposable plastic, packets, carry bags & alcohol bottles.
In April 2009, she conducted her first mass cleanup drive in Mcleodganj, a suburb of Dharamshala and the home of HH Dalai Lama. She was not alone. A 100 people participated.
Soon she founded a voluntary organization called Mountain Cleaners, and she started a weekly waste collection from Triund, a garbage stricken mountain camp at a height of 9300 feet and a 4 hours hike from Mcleodganj, making it one of the cleanest hiking destinations in India today.
Waste Warriors conducting a cleanliness drive at Triund, Himachal Pradesh
In 2011, she replicated the model in the sacred Gaddi temple of Guna Mata, a three hour hike from McLeod Ganj & in the Bhagsunag Waterfall, a popular tourist hotspot.
Initially, ten dustbins for the local community were purchased & installed, followed by the many others. Jodie also set up a door-to-door waste collection service from businesses and households.
With a dream of reaching out to all of India, Jodie registered the Waste Warriors as a society in September, 2012 with co-founder Tashi Pareek, with projects in Dharamshala & Dehradun (Uttarakhand).
Jodie with her partner-in-crime Tashee Pareek
In 2019, the Waste Warriors launched Uttarakhand's 1st material facility for plastic waste, developed dehradun's first model ward & 1st zero waste tourism project at Sahastradhara.
Since its inception, Waste Warriors have collected & processed a whopping 4600+ metric tonnes of solid waste.
Today with a 100 people strong team and hundreds of volunteers, the Waste Warriors are working to build sustainable, affordable, and replicable Solid Waste Management models in 3 regions:
1. Urban Dehradun
2. Hilly Dharamshala &
3. The rural forested landscape around Corbett Tiger Reserve
To combat the garbage problem more holistically, they engage with on ground communities, focusing on changing behaviours towards waste & the environment, & developing livelihoods to improve basic income & empower the lives of waste workers & waste pickers.
Jodie’s dedication and commitment to a cleaner India have earned her support from Prasoon Joshi, Adam Gilchrist, Piyush Chawla and Anand Mahindra to name a few.
In 2013, business tycon Anand Mahindra donated 2 Bolero pickups, that help the team to this day. Adam Gilchrist even partnered with the Waste Warriors to spread the message of zero waste and responsible tourism through an ad campaign during 2013 IPL season.
Changing social behaviours towards waste generation is the need of the hour. While holding the producer organizations like Nestle, Coke, Pepsico, Parle, among others, accountable for proper waste collection and processing from the remotest areas in the mountains where their products are available, is very much required, mindful consumerism, ethical shopping and responsible travel will go a long way in protecting sensitive ecosystems from further deterioration.
We at Blissful You, are committed to minimizing waste generation by ensuring our vendors to either go completely plastic free or reuse and repurpose plastic rather than discarding it irresponsibly.
Comments