Environmental protection in Nepal

The environmental protection is a challenging issue for all the countries around the world. Would you say this issue is deemed of significance in Nepal?
          Yes, but there is little infrastructure and it's a very poor country. So, prior to 60 years ago when Sir Hillary climbed to Mt. Everest there was no plastic and people burned things. They have a tradition of lighting a fire outside one's home and sitting with friends on cold winter nights. Now everything is made with plastic or dyes and the trash they use to start the fire and use for burning is filled with plastic. They sit there as they have for thousands of years, but breathing plastic.

Is the country going green through initiatives like waste management and selective sorting programs, renewable energies, public transport, green awareness campaigns and so forth?
      They are trying. The government just signed a constitution after many years of little government and then India caused a huge political problem and closed the border for fuel, and medicine. That was over 6 months ago and it seems like it might finally be finished. There were at least 2 recycling plants in Nepal but due to the fuel crisis I think they are out of business. Many businesses went under during this time. There was hardly a tourist and not even cooking fuel and the people are still struggling from the massive earthquakes last April.

How do you personally commit to improve the environment in your daily life?
        We compost and sort our plastic and glass and aluminum. There are these Indian looking men who come by and buy such things. I give my housekeeper the money to encourage her to recycle. They even buy the blue, plastic bottles for toilet cleaner.

We would greatly appreciate if you could tell us more about the various local initiatives for sustainable development in Nepal.
   
I recently founded an NGO and it has sponsored village clean-up days. We host volunteers for our projects and for other NGOs. We take them to a school and show a youtube video to the students and then have the volunteers tell about things they do in their own country to take care of the environment. We are hosting a volunteer now who is working on a compost toilet project. We had a typhoid fever outbreak after the earthquakes and hope composting toilets will help with this issue while encouraging organic farming. We plan to set up dumpsters in the village and do a recycle project with the students at the local schools. The problem is the lack of infrastructure; we'll almost have to create the entire system (http://KayGarnay.org).

I love living in this amazing country and quaint village. I'm retired and found a perfect retirement home in Nepal. It is a pleasure to be a part of Nepal's reconstruction in order to steer society toward a sustainable future.