Himalayan Organisation for Peoples' Education

Basically the project has two main objectives:

Firstly it aims at encouraging people to make profit out of their waste, thus reducing litter in the surrounding area. Almost all non-biodegradable waste, with the exception of non-recyclable plastic, can be recycled and re-used. Our organisation HOPE therefore will buy all the recyclables from the people at the same rate other scrap dealers are paying. We have already started collecting bottles, plastics and scraps from most of the hotels and restaurants in Kalimpong, which we take to Siliguri to sell. Out of the profit we make we will buy waste bins and distribute them all over the town.

”Wealth in Waste” is a self-sustainable project, providing that in the future we will be getting the same support we are currently receiving.

On August 26th 2005 we placed the first lot of 24 bins, kindly donated by the West Bengal Plastic Federation, within the towns' premises. To make the management of the waste more effective we decided to put two bins together, one for degradable waste and the other for non-degradable. We painted the bins red (for non-degradable) and green (for degradable) and wrote this onto the bin to help the public to make proper use of them. The biodegradable wastes will be taken care of by another NGO in the near future. The non-biodegradable waste will need to be sorted into recyclables and non-recyclables, and we will take care of the recyclables. With regard to the non-recyclable plastic we have not yet been able to find an effective method of disposal but we are working closely together with Kalimpong municipality to find a solution.

With regard to making the “Wealth in Waste” project successful, our second objective is to promote awareness among the people regarding responsible disposal of their garbage. Proper education and environmental consciousness play an important role in waste management. The public need to be made aware of the harmful effects litter, especially the non-biodegradable, has on the surrounding environment.

Therefore, in order to promote bin culture and raise environmental awareness, we are introducing a new

Eco-School Project.

ECO–school project

in association with “Wealth in Waste”