SUSTAINABILITY SPOTLIGHT | 43 The plastic pollution problem the authorities’ advice, buildings were equipped with Diversity is a de昀椀ning feature of Nepal, encompassing corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) sheets for roo昀椀ng both cultural and geographical elements. With altitudes instead of the previously common stone shingles. As ranging from 70 to over 8,848 meters above sea level, a result of this change in construction methods, many many inhabited areas face challenges connecting to Nepalis are now only shielded from the elements by a TO BETTER HOMESrobust waste-management systems due to the rugged thin sheet of metal. topography. Trekking is the only way to transport things While CGI sheets are lighter and safer than traditional from A to B, and villagers 昀椀nd it di昀케cult to take the roofs in the event of an earthquake, they have little to waste back to town. Across the country, it is common o昀昀er in the face of summer heat, winter cold and the to see open 昀椀res for plastic burning that produce toxic noise of torrential rain during the monsoon season. fumes, especially where households are out of reach of The noise is often so severe that it has a detrimental collection systems because of the rugged topography. in Nepal e昀昀ect on the quality of sleep and education, and the Where plastic accumulates in large land昀椀lls, burning lack of protection against temperature extremes is leads to even greater harm, including the deaths of a risk to health. Furthermore, most Nepali homes livestock in the area. rely on 昀椀rewood for heating and cooking, meaning The plastic pollution problem co-exists with two other deforestation has become a signi昀椀cant problem. signi昀椀cant challenges: poor housing and deforestation. Innovation stems from dissatisfaction Generally speaking, there is no concept of thermal and sound insulation in most Nepali homes. As a From an outsider’s perspective, these facts indicate consequence of the devastating 2015 earthquake, that Nepal is facing numerous signi昀椀cant challenges, all which left nearly 3.5 million people homeless, new of which could have adverse e昀昀ects on the populace’s homes were built to a very basic standard. As per standard of living. However, when Curie 昀椀rst visited the country, she observed that the internal perspective di昀昀ered from the external one. “Nepalis are the happiest people ever!” she says. “People have a humble and grateful attitude to life, and they don’t like being stressed. Coupled with the belief that nothing is impossible in Nepal, there is a feeling that everything will be OK, but there is no rush to change the things that are not working. If I had just parachuted in with this project money and told people what to do, it would have been an easy way to alienate the locals.” Aligning the two perspectives meant that Curie had to tread carefully and remember that the project should be done by the locals, for the locals, with the local waste. For the duration of the project, her role has been that of facilitator, lowering the threshold for local entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to fruition. Ad-hoc maintenance of CGI roo昀椀ng in local houses in remote villages, photo taken during the P2G team’s visit to Ree Village. Copyright 2024 © Curie Park.