The Loden Foundation

Greener Way 8 March, 2011 - Yesterday was not a usual day for some 108 cleaners in Thimphu. Instead of doing their job of sweeping and collecting garbage, they were taught how to do their jobs more efficiently.

They were “educated” on how to segregate waste by Greener Way, a private firm that deals in recycling waste.

Greener way’s strategist Subash Sharma said the objective of gathering sweepers from around the capital was to give them the basic knowledge of waste management.

”We want them to segregate waste at the source itself,” he said. “These groups are involved more in handling waste.”

Pre-segregation, impact of burning waste in open areas and environmental consequences of dumping waste openly were explained during the three-hour workshop.

“It was difficult for me to manage waste because everything was dumped together,” said Nim Dem, who works with Bhutan Telecom. “Now I can segregate and keep the garbage separately, and just call Greener Way to collect it.”

Another cleaner with the Wood Craft centre, Bhim Maya, said she would now stop burning papers for Greener Way would be providing them with sacks and dustbins.

”Every time the dustbin is full, we’ll now pack them in a sack,” she said. “It would be easier for me to manage waste too.”

Radika Gurung who is working at the National Library, said it was a moment of pride for them to attend an educative workshop for the first time.

“We’re happy that someone thought about educating us,” she said.

While Kezang Wangmo, yet another cleaner with the Land Commission said managing waste now sounds easy. “I just need to sweep, segregate and put it in a dustbin,” she said. “Greener Way will do rest of the job.”

The workshop was organised with support from Thimphu city corporation, Druk Green Power corporation and Loden foundation.

“We’ve plans to go around each school with a similar objective,” said Subash Sharma.

Source: Kuensel Newspaper