2022 was a year filled with ups and downs, bittersweet memories, and a period to reflect. As the new year sets in, we reflect and look back at our achievements and the efforts put in to achieve the milestones. This winter was jam-packed with accomplishments and exciting activities for CREASION and it was a fantastic way to wrap up the year.
Continue reading as we recount our thrilling winter events from the previous months.
Workshop on founding the National Network of waste Pickers Organization in Nepal
As waste pickers are essential actors in society and the environment, their livelihood is dependent on collecting recyclables, and managing and diverting waste from landfills. Their importance and struggles are still a big concern as they lack legislative recognition and are not integrated into planning processes. Additionally, only a small number of entities are actively involved in these informal workforces, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) (NGOs).
A nationwide network of organizations is required, where NGOs, waste-pickers groups, and other important stakeholders can routinely gather to discuss cooperation and establish connections with the Global Alliance of Waste-pickers. Pushing for national recognition of waste pickers' work requires a countrywide network of waste pickers' organizations. The nationwide network intensifies efforts to incorporate waste collectors into numerous national-level programs.
With this in mind, we conducted a workshop with the support of Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing - WIEGO, International Alliance of Waste Picker and Samyukta Safai Jagaran successfully conducted a two-day workshop on "Founding National Network of Waste Pickers Organization in Nepal. " The main objective of the workshop was to build networks and enhance the capacity of organizations, individuals, and local stakeholders to work for the benefit of waste pickers in Nepal.
The purpose of the two-day workshop was to learn about the situation of waste pickers in Nepal. They briefly discussed the situational analysis of waste pickers in Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, and Madhesh provinces and the significance of forming a coalition at the national level, where Mr. Kabir Arora, National Coordinator of the Alliance of Waste Pickers, shared his experience in forming coalitions of waste pickers in various countries. The workshop also discussed the update to the Plastics Treaty and the situation with waste pickers in other countries.
It also included an experience-sharing session with Manwara Begum, President of Safai Sena, Delhi, and member of the Alliance of Indian Waste Workers via Zoom. It further continued with a panel discussion where the panelists were Shristi Shrestha, Environment Inspector, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Pradeep Amatya, Head of Environmental Division representative of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Birat Ghimire Head of Environment Division, Bharatpur Metropolitan City, Ashish Shah, Proprietor of Namaste Recycler, Deepson Shreemal Outsource Manager, Himalayan life Plastics; Shanti Tamang, President of Samyukta Safai Jagaran and Ashmita Basnet, Waste Picker.
Installation of Oxygen Plant in Teaching Hospital through the support of The Coca Cola Foundation
Access to oxygen is often the difference between life and death for patients with severe COVID-19. During the peak of the second wave, the high rate of hospital admissions and intensive care put enormous strains on hospital infrastructure and services. Oxygen shortages such as these affect more than just COVID-19 patients. Oxygen plants are critical for mothers with birth complications and sick newborns. Small children with severe pneumonia can also benefit from oxygen. Pneumonia is a disease that is preventable and treatable but still kills one child every 39 seconds globally.
With the support of The Coca-Cola Foundation, we have successfully installed and handed over an oxygen plant to the Manmohan Cardio-thoracic Vascular and Transplant Center at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Maharajgunj, Kathmandu.
The handover was conducted in the presence of Mrs. Dev Kumari Guragain, Secretary, of the Ministry of Health and Population-Nepal, Mr. Dinesh Kafle, Director of Teaching Hospital, Mr. Uttam Krishna Shrestha, Executive Director of Manmohan Hospital, Mr. Adarsh Avasthi, Country Director of The Coca-Cola in Nepal and Bhutan, Mr. Rajesh Ayapilla Director-CSR and Sustainability for India and South West Asia (INSWA), The Coca-Cola Company, Dr. Aditya Panda, Senior Manager, The Coca-Cola Company, Mr. Aanand Mishra, Founder and President of CREASION, Dr. Bhagwan Koirala, Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Mrs. Keki Adhikari, Goodwill Ambassador of CREASION, and Senior Representatives from the Coca- Cola Bottlers Nepal Limited.
The installed oxygen plant can serve up to 15 beds and 15 cylinders at the same time in one day where the unit can help 65 patients at a time. The goal is to supply at least 15 cylinders per hour. This mini oxygen plant provides an unmanned production of medical oxygen, without any change to the inner structure of the healthcare facility. The purity level of the oxygen produced by the plant is 95 % +/- 3 %.
Policy Dialogue on Waste Management with Janakpur Sub- Metropolitan City
CREASION, Restless Development Nepal, Youth Innovation Lab, and Center for Disaster and Management Studies conducted a policy dialogue at the Janakpur-Dham Sub Metropolitan Meeting Hall to present the evidence of the TagMe app.
Mr. Aanand Mishra, Founder, and President of CREASION shared the best practices of waste management at the policy dialogue that took place at the Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City office. The meeting was attended by the policy makers including Deputy Mayor, Mr. Kishori Sah to discuss policy recommendations for waste management solutions for the city.
Waste Smart School Meet Up in Chitwan 2022
The waste smart school met up with 15 different Waste Smart Schools and VFC Chitwan ( VFC Bharatpur, Sauraha and Kasara) to reflect how the year was. Interacting with the children of the Waste Smart School we got an outlook on how the Waste Smart Clubs have been initiating the activities and how they have been implementing the techniques and practices of waste management in their day-to-day activities and the impacts, knowledge, and changes it has brought, and the changes it has made in their lives. The fifteen schools were given seed money to initiate various waste-related activities, awareness, and engaging content to encourage the students and community regarding waste management.
Alongside, The Volunteer for Change (VFC) cohort from Bharatpur was additionally recognized as the Quartey Volunteer Cohort for their active participation in a variety of programs and was awarded with a cash prize.
Award Distribution and Acknowledgement for the hotels of Sauraha, Chitwan
Hotels commonly use plastic bottles for its day to day operations. The hospitality industry is a big contributor to environmental pollution – specifically plastic pollution. Every minute a garbage truck loaded with plastic bottles ends up being dumped into our landfills. Plastic bottles, commonly used in hotels are among the top 10 debris found in our landfills.
With this in mind, we partnered up with different hotels located in Sauraha in order to collect PET bottles from the hotels and send them for recycling to preserve the environment. We conducted a program to acknowledge their marvelous efforts in collecting PET bottles and to thank the hotels for their contribution to creating “A Plastic Waste-Free Sauraha". This also aligns with our Become a Recycler Saati Campaign as these hotels and restaurants of Sauraha are a part of the ‘Become a Recycler Saathi’ initiative, where individuals, communities, and enterprises can come together to help recycle 100% of PET bottle waste generated at their property. The program was conducted in the presence of Mr. Kiran Chaudhary, Ward Chairperson-6 Ratnanagar Municipality, Mr. Deepak Bhattarai, Regional Hotel Association Chitwan, Mr. Aanand Mishra, Founder and President, CREASION and twenty Hotels of Sauraha, Chitwan.
Youth Engagement Awareness on Waste Management
Waste segregation is the sorting and separation of waste types to facilitate recycling and correct onward disposal. When waste is sorted correctly, it can save help in the proper management of waste.
Sorting waste makes it easier to understand how to reduce general waste output, identify items that can be reused, and set aside items that should be recycled. Beyond that, it also helps to enforce a moral imperative to be responsible for how waste is handled.
We facilitated a workshop for the local community members in Chitwan. Topics like waste segregation at source, and proper waste management techniques were discussed and the segregation game was played.
International Volunteer’s Day Celebration 2022
Every year on December 5, the world celebrates and appreciates volunteers for their selfless work toward their communities. This year, CREASION Team celebrated IVD as an incredible value in being of service to others by organizing a clean-up campaign at Mulakalika temple. Volunteers across Kasara and Sauraha, Chitwan came together for the event and made it a huge success. A total of 20 kg of plastic waste was collected, out of which now, all the PET bottles collected will be recycled. It was inspiring to see how young students took the initiative to keep the environment clean.
Thanks for taking the time to go through our winter quarter updates. To learn about our initiatives in the coming months, follow us on our social media handles.