Plastic and Pollution

Plastic bags are absolutely both useful and a problem. Managing plastic and rubbish generally is a challenge. The first time we took our rubbish downstairs here in Nepalgunj and asked where to put it we were confused, then aghast and then got on with it, after being told to fling it into the empty field opposite the house. The same field that we’ve seen animals foraging in, being used as a toilet, and is a path to town. My own rubbish disposal is definitely something to work on as I settle into life here. VSO has banned plastic bags at the office and another effort at community education about plastic waste is the display I saw in Patan Durbar Square.

On arrival, the traffic in Kathmandu seems crazy and the pollution something to remark on – masks are worn often enough to be quite usual though not at all by all. There are masks for sale here in Nepalgunj too, but not that many people wearing them and here it’s dust that is the issue. Fine, get in everywhere, dust. Every morning the air is hazy, dust, smoke, and the hills to the north are not always in view. Traffic is definitely less polluting, but the air is still clogged around the town.