{"id":243797,"date":"2023-09-10T22:46:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T13:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adfwebmagazine.jp\/?p=243797"},"modified":"2023-09-10T22:46:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T13:50:07","slug":"a-design-collaboration-to-manage-the-waste-issue-which-is-bigger-than-everest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adfwebmagazine.jp\/en\/design\/a-design-collaboration-to-manage-the-waste-issue-which-is-bigger-than-everest\/","title":{"rendered":"A design collaboration to manage the waste issue which is bigger than Everest"},"content":{"rendered":"

To change the perception of waste and provide support to the locals by transforming trash into resource<\/h3>\r\n

T<\/span>hese days, it has been quite frequent to open my TikTok app and find tons of videos showing Everest expeditions, as well as hikers\u2019 physical and lung training, and 360\u00b0records picturing a bent horizon due to the altitudes.<\/p>\r\n

I am neither an athlete nor a climber, but my algorithm keeps pushing those 60-second reels about worn-out people with cold-burnt faces.<\/p>\r\n

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The hashtag #everest<\/i> counts 1,3 dizzying billion views.<\/p>\r\n

The phenomenon of the expedition to Sagarmatha National Park, where Everest lies, has in fact grown hugely, especially after Covid19 pandemic (over 80,000 visitors annually), drawing socio-economical benefits to the area, while causing an undesirable waste problem within all areas.<\/p>\r\n

You can see thousands of people queuing from peak to peak patiently waiting for their feet to step forward, often leaving at their backs litter of any type.<\/p>\r\n

This is part of an extended pollution issue that is plaguing the Himalayas\u2019 people and local biodiversity, a hot topic that is forcing locals to take measures to contain the problem.<\/p>\r\n

In this context, it unfolds the fruitful collaboration between Dutch design firm\u00a0Super Local<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and Nepalese nonprofit organization\u00a0<\/b>Sagarmatha Next<\/b><\/span><\/a>, who partnered to handle what has been called the \u201cworld\u2019s highest garbage dump\u201d.<\/p>\r\n

Mount Everest, known as \u201cSagarmatha\u201d, meaning \u201cforehead in the sky\u201d and standing at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet), is the highest mountain above sea level in the world.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Waste pit at Syangboche Airport - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>

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Waste burning in a waste pit - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Sadly, what is brought up there, remains there, or, even worse, it gets burnt.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe lack of infrastructure in the high regions and the difficulty to transport it out of the valley has required all of us to think about creative ways to manage the waste.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\r\n

Sagarmatha Next<\/i><\/p>\r\n

In the article\u00a0\u201cTrash and Overcrowding at the Top of the World\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0National Geographic encapsulated Sagarmantha National Park's history starting from 1991, the year when SPCC - Sagarmantha Pollution Control Committee - was founded to help keep clean the Khumbu region, due to a growing pollution problem that has led to the contamination of local watershed, threatening the health of nearby people.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Waste separation at a waste pit - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

In view of this, the aim of Sagarmatha Next is to change the perception of waste and provide support to the locals by transforming trash into resource.<\/p>\r\n

With the precious collaboration of Super Local, the Netherlands-based design firm specialized in creating and manufacturing socially and ecologically impactful products, they developed together the Carry me back<\/i> program and the From the Himalayas<\/i> product collection.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cDuring the trekking season, approximately 1 ton of waste is left each day in the Everest region. The high altitude, lack of connectivity, and limited recycling infrastructure make it challenging to remove waste, resulting in more than 80 open pits in the region in which waste is burned - contaminating the soil, water, and air and threatening biodiversity\u201d states Super Local on Instagram, talking about the Carry me back<\/i> crowdsourced program developed with Sagarmatha Next and the local waste management organization SPCC.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Waste separation at a waste pit - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>

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\"Carry me back\" bag - Design and credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Basically, the system harnesses the movement of tourists - relieving the work of local haulers - from the mountains to lower regions, where transported waste can be recycled.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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The bag is attached to hiker\u2019s backpack - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>

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Group of hikers with their \"Carry me back\" bags - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Waste is collected from the open pits, restaurants, lodges, and hiking trail trash bins. The local NGO Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee<\/span><\/a> sorts, shreds - to reduce the volume - and packs the waste into the 1-kilo capacity Carry me back bags which are then given to locals and visitors at a pick-up station for carrying<\/i> them to the regional airport, where the bags are shipped to Kathmandu, to a partner facility that recycles the waste.<\/p>\r\n

The core of Super Local design firm is, in fact, the generation of positive social and ecological impacts, within resource-limited contexts around the world, while helping the local networks to grow around sustainable outcomes.<\/p>\r\n

And so the project goes further.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Open mold with \"Himalaya Scale model\" - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>

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Operating the plastic injection machine - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>

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Himalaya Scale model - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Designed by the firm for funding the whole project, the collection\u2019s products \u2018From the Himalayas\u2019 are fully made of HDPE plastic bottle caps products collected from the hiking trails and the Himalayas. The plastic waste from the Great Himalaya National Park is injected into molds to generate brand new products depicting a 3D model of the Himalayas, and colorful stones, a mementos of a virtuous designed system.<\/p>\r\n

This year, the project has been nominated for the Dutch Design Awards in the category Product.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Bottle caps, plastic shreds and \"Himalaya stones\u201d - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>

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The pouches are filled with bottle caps - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>

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Medium \"Himalaya stone\" on backpack - Credits: Super Local<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n