Lachen reinforces commitment to zero waste credentials

GANGTOK, 20 Nov: A campaign to encourage household segregation of waste in Lachen was initiated by the Lachen Tourism Development Committee members with the support of WWF-India and the Zero Waste Himalayas Group on 16 and 17 November. Six students from Tadong College who are volunteers of the zero waste campaign also participated in the day-long program, a press release informs.
Lachen is the gateway to Gurudongmar, one of the tourism hotspots frequented by tourists every year and improper management of garbage is a problem that raises concern for both the high altitude lake as well as the village.
To reduce their garbage volume, Lachen became the first village in the state to say no to packaged drinking water with the Dzumsa putting a ban on use and sale of bottled water in Lachen.
A press release informs that now a resource recovery center set up in the village aims to reduce the waste being dumped into riversides by recovering recyclables and other items from the garbage bin. All families in Lachen are therefore encouraged to segregate their waste at household level.
To spread awareness on this youth volunteers organised a door-to-door campaign using posters to explain the process of waste segregation to people.
Household members were also made aware about the hazards of improper waste disposal and were encouraged by the volunteers to segregate garbage into four major categories of Plastics, Bottles, Tetra Pack and Tin items.
During the campaign the volunteers also set up a simple segregation system in the households they visited by providing sacks for storing their waste items separately.
The resource recovery center which is run by LTDC members will open at designated timings for households to deposit their segregated items, where they will be stored in a clean environment until they are sent out to recycling centers through local scrap dealers.This initiative in Lachen is supported by WWF- India with technical inputs from the Zero Waste Himalayas Group and is made possible through the support of TATA housing and USAID’s project for Asian high mountains.