Gender and Climate Change

Climate change is increasingly being recognized as a global crisis, but responses to it have so far been overly focused on scientific and economic solutions. How then do we move towards more people-centered, gender-aware climate change policies and processes? How do we both respond to the different needs and concerns of women and men and challenge the gender inequalities that mean women are more likely to lose out than men in the face of climate change? It is vital to address the gender dimensions of climate change. It identifies key gender impacts of climate change and clearly maps the global and national policy architecture that dominates climate change responses.

It is reported that making climate change responses more gender aware and – potentially – transformative, arguing that gender transformation should be both a potential end goal and an important condition of effective climate change responses and poverty reduction.

 It is recommended by the experts to take following points into action:

• Take into account the multiple dimensions of gender inequality and women’s and men’s experiences of climate change on the ground, and invest in research to enable this.
• Move beyond simple assumptions about women’s vulnerability to highlight women’s agency in adapting to and mitigating climate change. This will involve integrating women’s valuable knowledge and practical experience into policy making processes.
• Learn from people-focused, gender-transformative approaches at the local level and apply these lessons to national and international policy.
• Promote a rights-based approach to climate change and ensure that all future climate change policies and processes draw on human rights frameworks such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
• Find alternatives to market-based approaches where possible, but when they are used to address climate change mitigation, ensure they benefit women equally and do not exclude or further disadvantage women.
• Address the underlying causes of gender inequality, tackling issues such as unequal land rights through legislative reforms and awareness-raising, as well as through the implementation of CEDAW and other relevant frameworks.

Source: http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/go/bridge-publications/cutting-edge-packs/gender-and-climate-change&id=59217&type=Document&langid=1

Meeting Global Target on "Sanitation for All"??

The global plan to halve by 2015 the number of people without access to sanitation is undoubtedly a challenge when the least developed countries are struggling to cope with the pro-poor population and their basic necessity. It is reported that almost 900 million people worldwide live without access to clean water and more than two and a half billion people live without adequate sanitation -  more than a third of the world's population. It is true that financial and moral support from various INGOs are increasing to meet the global target on "Sanitation for All". However, the population who need the support are not being reached yet.

Despite United Nations evidence showing that investment in water and sanitation can be one of the most cost-effective forms of aid, WaterAid concludes that progress on sanitation has been "slow, uneven and unjust". The share of global aid going to sanitation and water projects has fallen to 5.5%, down from more than 8% in the 1990s.

Alastair Morrison, programme manager at the UNDP water governance facility at Stockholm International Water Institute, said low levels of sanitation access do not just impact upon other global health indicators, but also on the world's wealth. Mr. Morrison said that the issue of sanitation is highly serious. He pointed out that poor sanitation is leading to a loss of 6% per year to some countries' GDP.

A spokesman for USAID said: "It is true that some of out latest programmes, on a per capita basis, are in countries with fairly high, though not universal, coverage levels. But we target the marginalized and disadvantaged populations without service or with poor-quality service." He further said that the US factors a number of foreign policy and development considerations into the allocation of resources to improve water supply, sanitation and hygiene. These include host-country engagement and capacity, the potential for systems strengthening to improve services, as well as low access to service.

Source: Sarah Morrison (13^th Nov 2011) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/worlds-poor-to-wait-200-years-for-sanitation-6261623.html accessed on 15th Nov 2011.

Press Release on the Occasion of World Habitat Day (3rd October 2011)

World Habitat Day slogan for the year 2011 of "Cities and Climate Change" aims to render a visionary message for responding to the adverse impacts due to climate change through appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures in the towns and cities. This message is particularly relevant for Nepal at the threshold of urbanization where more than 20% of total national population (20 million) lives in 99 municipalities as well as in a growing number of rural centres and market towns in the country.

The recent studies indicate, the country has been facing consistent warming and rise in the maximum temperatures which is more pronounced in high altitude regions compared to the Terai and Siwalik regions of Nepal resulting into Himalayan glacial melt and retreat. An overall increase in precipitation is also being observed during the wet season accompanied by increase in erratic and high intensity but short duration rainfall episodes. Other observed weather pattern changes include: changes in wind pattern both in intensity and timing; change in fog and 'tuwalo' pattern; increased incidence of windstorm and hailstorm.

Such increased climate changes have resulted into the frequency of extreme events such as floods, droughts, landslides and the probabilities of glacial lake outburst floods with more than 10 million people, and 26 out of 75 districts including Kathmandu Valley in the country being prone to such events. The low development status of Nepal renders the population of both urban and rural settlements very vulnerable to these current and future impacts of climate change. Nepal has to face the brunt of this human induced climate change without being responsible for it.

The recently approved "National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to climate change" has identified six vulnerable areas impacted by the climate change namely, agriculture, forestry, water and energy, health, disaster, urban settlements and infrastructure, and proposed adoption of strategic adaptation measures in those sectors. In the context of settlements, the NAPA has given a high priority for climate responsive design and construction of: residential and commercial buildings, water supply and sanitation systems; and infrastructure like roads and drainage systems.

The Regional and Urban Planners Society of Nepal (RUPSON), as a professional body of planners, while fully endorsing the NAPA prioritized activities for climate change adaptation in the towns and cities of Nepal, would like to come up with the following proposals:

1.       Revising and enforcing building codes incorporating climate change dimensions.

2.       Incorporating of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the shelter programs/ projects.

3.       Internalization of the climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in the planning activities at regional, sub-regional, municipal, village and ward levels.

4.       Implementation of Nepal Urban Policy 2007 focusing upon the incorporation of both adaptation and mitigation measures related to climate change.

5.       Generating resources and seeking external support for the above programs.

Source: RUPSON, press release on 26^th September 2011. 

ENPHO's Contribution on National Sanitation Target

Sanitation service is fundamental to improving public health and meeting national poverty reduction objectives. According to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (2008)[1], around 80% of all diseases may be attributed to water and sanitation related causes and account for around 13,000 child mortality each year from diarrheal cases. With 57% of people in Nepal having no access to a toilet[2], huge efforts need to be placed to reach the target of sanitation for all by 2017.

ENPHO, through its integrated water and sanitation (WASH) programs, is cooperating with municipalities, local urban communities and VDCs to meet the national target on sanitation. The ongoing projects like SWASHTHA, Su-SWASTHA, WASH-J, RWSS and various other sustainable sanitation projects have been contributing to improve health and well-being of the communities by promoting low cost toilet. SWASHTHA project alone has targeted to promote universal sanitation in more than 1500 households.

Planning, construction of toilets, declaration of ODF campaigning, and behavioral change are strictly followed in all the WASH related programs. One of the success stories on promoting Sulav toilet with only NRs. 3000 subsidy to poor communities has been presented at Thimura Chitwan. Mr. Nanda Lal BK (58) shares his experience before and after constructing the toilet.

Nandalal said, "We used to get drenched during monsoon while going to toilet and it was more difficult in the night. We were also scares of the snakes".With the support from SWASHTHA project, Nandalal and his family members constructed their own toilet with the use of local materials like bamboo, straw, sand, stone and aggregate. The project provided him with technical assistance, four rings, a cover and fitting material. With gratitude in his face, Nandalal said, "We do not have to worry about rain and snake anymore. This has made our life much easier especially for the women and children. This has provided me with moral support and I can proudly advocate the use and benefit of toilets in my own community".

ENPHO is proud to assist on declaring ODF zones in two VDCs (Saradanagar and Pattihani) and four communities (Surajpur, Kothiya, Dipendranagar of Gularia municipality and Sitapur of Tikapur municipality). ENPHO is planning to increase its pace on constructing toilets at its project areas such as Bharatpur, Butwal, Gularia, Tikapur, Surkhet, Jhaukhel and Dhulikhel municipalities.

---

[1] Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (2008) National Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Policy. Government of Nepal.

[2] National Steering Committee for National Sanitation Action (2010) Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan. Government of Nepal

Universal Access to Sanitation and Drinking Water for all by 2017 AD

This is an appeal posted by Water Aid on May 2011 to people's representatives, politicians, policy-makers and government officials.

Taking Commitments Seriously:
The government of Nepal has committed itself to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation for all in Nepal by 2017 and meet the MDGs to have 73% water coverage and 53% sanitation coverage by 2015.


Taking Rights Seriously:
UN General Assembly (2010) stated that access to sanitation and safe drinking water is a part of human rights. Nepal has also placed its own act, standard and policy for water and sanitation.

According to the Government of Nepal's Water Resource Act 1992 (2049 BS), the right to use water for drinking purposes overrides the right of use of same water for any other (irrigation/commercial) purposes.

Similarly, the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation National Policy (2004) recognizes sanitation as an integral part of drinking water projects and programs which directs GoN to spend 20% of the water and sanitation budget on sanitation.

Taking Nepal's Situation on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Seriously:
The present scenario of Nepal on WASH is a matter of serious concern. According to Water Aid Nepal (2009), it is estimated that every year 10,500 children die in Nepal due to water and sanitation related diseases. The data of DWSS (2010) and CBS (2009) pointed out that 5.6 million Nepalis (around 20% of the population) do not have any access to safe drinking water.

Due to the lack of toilets 16 million Nepalis (around 57% of the population) practice open defecation everyday (Nepal MDG progress report 2010, GoN and UNDP and CBS, 2009). Even in schools there is a lack of toilet facilities. It is found that only 41% of public and community schools in Nepal have toilet facilities. Among these, only one in four schools has separate toilets for girl students.


According to the study conducted by Ministry of Health and Population (2006) in its report 'Equity in Health', it has been estimated that 14 million Nepalis (around 37% of the total population) wash their hands with water after defecation. Among these, only about 12% (3.4 million) wash with soap.

Overall, it has been estimated that Nepal needs an annual investment of NRs. 7.5 billion (USD 108 million) to meet the national goal of providing everyone with safe drinking water and sanitation facilities by 2017 (Sector Financing Study, WaterAid Nepal, 2008 and Red Book, Ministry of Finance, 2009).

Serious Benefits that Contribute to Nepal's Development:
Various studies have calculated the benefit to Nepal's development due to investments in WASH. According to UK DFID study, gender-friendly toilet facilities at schools could increase the enrollment of girl students by 11%.

Even simple hand-washing practices could prevent diarrheal outbreak by 45% (Fatal Neglect Report, WaterAid, 2009). Hence it has been estimated that the economic returns - in terms of health, education and livelihood benefits- from every dollar invested on water and sanitation are worth about nine US dollars (WHO 2008. Sanitation generates economic benefits, Fact Sheet).

School Led Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Improvement in Mid-Western Areas of Nepal

Access to safe water and sustainable sanitation is a major challenge in Nepal. Although more than 80% of the people now have access to drinking water, water supplies in rural areas are contaminated. As for sanitation, Government of Nepal estimates that only 46% of the people have access to basic sanitation. Lack of safe
drinking water, poor sanitation and hygiene are the major causes of morbidity and mortality, particularly among young children. The situation is particularly bad, in the mid-western region of Nepal where only 22% of the households in the region have access to toilets and 78.3% water supply coverage. But people are compelled to collect water from the available sources regardless of quality during rainy season.


Drinking water supply schemes in proposed areas use open and unprotected surface sources likely to be contaminated anytime. The poor situation of sanitation and health in the region was exposed in 2009 when a cholera epidemic claimed the lives of more than 300 people.

ENPHO in collaboration with USAID, EAWAG and RMSO has been implementing the project in five selected VDCs (Ramghat, Kalyan, Mehalkuna, Sahare, Kaprichaur) of Surkhet district and ward no. 1, 2 and 11 of Birendranagar Municipality. The project’s goal is to improve the health and well- being of poor people in midwestern Nepal targeting to project areas through an integrated approach that improves access to safe water,
sanitation and hygiene in a sustainable manner. Initially the project coordinated with several WASH stakeholders through launching of regional WASH resource centre and district level launching program to aware them about the project activities and for further collaboration. ENPHO has established field office at Jahare, ward.no. 3, Maintada VDC and has recruited 14 field staffs. Altogether 17 field staffs were provided 5 days Training of trainers (ToT). Press conference on SODIS was held with 12 journalists and in a total interaction was done with 14 representatives from education sector on how to incorporate detail message of SODIS in the existing curriculum.

Altogether 4 VWASHCC has been formed in the project areas through combined initiation of VDC/DDO/ENPHO. ENPHO has also celebrated National Sanitation week -2067 in close collaboration with DWASHCC where 34 students have participated in essay competition and folk song on WASH was also organized. Baseline survey was done in 937 households to find out the knowledge, attitude and practice of existing WASH situation of project area.

Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) was conducted in 57 clusters where 1133 people were made on WASH issues and project activities. An issue related to gender was also collected from the project areas where interaction was done with local people of 55 clusters. It was found that most of the female members are engaged in household activities with more focus on health and hygiene condition whereas male members are active in decision making process. One day orientation training on “Rapid
Response and Hygiene Promotion” was conducted to 30 youths from project areas to sensitize them about WASH issues and make them prepare for immediate emergency.

Baseline survey was conducted in 55 schools of 5 VDCs in Surkhet district where the total number of students is 13478. The main drinking water source is water supply (29.09%) followed with temporary pipeline (21.82%)and 16.36% depend upon river. It has been found that although 46 schools have toilet, 33 schools need renovation and improvement activities in sanitation facilities. Only 7 schools have hand-washing station. The most challenging factor is scarcity of water. Altogether 9787 households are situated in the periphery of catchment area where 40% HHs have toilet.

The project area consists of 1 health post and 4 sub-health posts with 124 FCHVs. The main source of drinking water is tap, spring and river. Out of five health centres, four health centres has adopted filtration as water treatment method. The condition of toilets in Ramghat, Kalyan and Kaprichaur SHP is good. But the toilets of Mehelkuna HP and Sahare SHP need immediate improvement. Only one SHP namely Sahare has water facility in the toilet, hand-washing station with soap. But all these facilities were not present in Kaprichaur SHP.

Although Kalyan SHP has water and hand-washing facility, there was no soap at the station. In an average, it was found that there is an increase in diarrhoeal cases in Ashad, Shrawan, Chaitra and Baiskah. It was assumed that the main cause of diarrhoea was due to contaminated water, dirty food and negligence in personal hygiene practices.


Several issues like different subsidy rate for toilet construction, demand of water supply, lack of safe hygiene behaviour, use of safe drinking water during disaster and lack of coordination among WASH stakeholders were identified.

Source: Su-SWASTHA (2011)Semi-Annual Report 2011. ENPHO.

Promoting Sulav Toilets

The SWASHTHA project (2009-2012) is implemented in seven municipalities - Bharatpur, Butwal, Gularia, Tikapur, Siddharthanagar, Ramgram and Ratnanagar and three small towns - Sunawal, Bardaghat and Kawasoti with the financial support of the EU, UN-HABITAT and ISLE of Man Gov, UK. The implementing partners are Practical Action Nepal, Environment and Public Health Organization and Municipal Association of Nepal. One of the success stories on promoting Sulav Toilets with only 3000 subsidy to poor communities has been presented by the project.


Mr. Nanda Lal BK (58) from Thimura, Chitwan shares his experience with us. He used to have one temporary toilet covered with jute sack in their paddy field and he shared his difficulties especially during monsoon season. Nandalal says, 'We used to get drenched during monsoon while using the toilet and it was more difficult in the night. We were also scared of the snakes'.

With the support from the SWASHTHA project, Nandalal and his family members constructed the toilet on their own using locally available raw materials like bamboo, straw, sand, stone and aggregate. The project assisted him with four rings, a cover and a fitting material, which is about 35% of the total cost of his new toilet.

With a relief on his face, Nandalal says, 'We do not have to worry about rain and snake anymore. We now have a permanent toilet. This has made our life much easier especially for the women and children.' Expressing his gratitude to SWASHTHA project, he added, 'Toilet construction has given me moral support and I can proudly advocate the use and benefits of it in my community.'

Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability in South Asia

Target: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

The world is likely to surpass the drinking water target, though more than 1 in 10 people may still be without access in 2015. According to the study, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia have already met the MDG drinking water target. However, coverage in rural areas lags behind that of cities and towns.


On the other hand, the world is far from meeting the sanitation target. In fact, at the current rate of progress, it will take until 2049 to provide 77% of the global population with improved sanitation. Almost half of the populations of developing regions and some 2.6 billion people globally were not using an improved form of sanitation in 2008. An estimated 1.1 billion people did not use any facility at all and practiced open defecation, which poses enormous health risks. Globally, open defecation rates have declined by one third, from 25% of the population in 1990 to 17% in 2008. The UN report shows that almost two thirds of the people who practice open sanitation reside in Southern Asia.


Globally, an urban resident is 1.7 times more likely to use an improved sanitation facility than someone living in a rural area. Inequalities are most stark in Southern Asia, where an urban resident is 2.2 times more likely to use an improved facility than a rural resident.

To meet the MDG targets, it requires country ownership and government commitment to spur the institutional changes needed to ensure the sustainability of capacity-building efforts. The verse of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon should be kept in mind which says, "Between now and 2015, we must make sure that promises made become promises kept. The consequences of doing otherwise are profound: death, illness and despair, needless suffering, lost opportunities for millions upon millions of people."

Source: UN (2011) The Millennium Development Goals Report. UN: New York
Photos: Shakya, P. (2011) SWASHTHA project, ENPHO.

Community Development Program, Dhulikhel

The first phase of Community Development Project, launched on 20th March 2008, at Dhulikhel Municipality has been completed with visible outcomes on capacity building trainings, skill development trainings and awareness activities on Water and Sanitation (WATSAN).

The main objective of the project was to improve the health of local people thereby improving WATSAN facilities in the communities and build the capacity of locals through income generating activities.

It was found that the Achievements of the project was huge that has been summarized below :
• Altogether 24 community mobilizers were provided TOT on safe drinking water, SLTS and solid waste management. They further trained 371 people in the community and 394 students.
• Capacity building training on gender, leadership and health and hygiene was provided to 126 people.
• Altogether 13 skill development training was provided to 162 people.
• Child club was formed in 11 schools where all the clubs are actively involved in cleanliness activities.
• In a total 224 households are using colloidal silver filter to treat their drinking water.
• Altogether 1442 people were made aware on safe drinking water and clean sanitation.
• Altogether 13 WATSAN construction activities were done where the overall beneficiary was 7000 people.
• Altogether 121 toilets have been constructed in 7 communities.


Beneficiary Population/community:
Direct beneficiary - Access to toilet (121 HHs), Household using water treatment options (224 HHs)
Indirect beneficiary – 9640 people

There are still few activities which are still incomplete due to political conflict and insufficient support from the local community. For e.g. the construction of greenery park at Dhulikhel Bus-Park has not progressed. There are bins placed at various spots but it is seen that waste is thrown outside the bin.


However, there is still hope that once the attitude of the people is changed, it will not take time to achieve the goals towards healthy community and development. There requires continuity in this project to achieve the desired impact of the project in the future.

Source: ENPHO, Central Office, 110/25 - Aadarsha Marg, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Opportunities at Environmental Sector!

Urban population in Nepal is expanding rapidly, placing enormous pressure on urban basic services like shelter, safe drinking water and sanitation, drainage and sewerage, transportation and waste management. Environmental health risks from unsafe drinking water, poor hygiene behavior, lack of sanitation and prolong exposure to indoor air pollution (IAP) in poorly ventilated kitchens is very high in Nepal. This situation is deteriorating with rapid and haphazard urbanization as urban poor are often forced to live in very crowded and unhygienic settlements. Municipal authorities who have limited resources are struggling to meet the increasing demands for environmental health services - water, sanitation and household (HH) energy.

There are huge opportunities for municipalities, NGOs and INGOs to work in collaboration with the community in order to improve their access to safe drinking water; better sanitation facilities; improved hygiene practices among community people including women and children through strong partnerships between state and non-state actors and improved linkages between state, non-state and private sector actors to institutionalize environmental health improvement measures.

Source: SWASHTHA project, Accessed through ENPHO.

Solid Waste Management in Thamel

According to the study conducted by ENPHO (2010), Shanti Pujari Clinic Service established in 2046 is the only private sector involved in collection and management of waste in Thamel area. The study showed "there are 12 three wheeler pullers (volume 23.2 cubic ft) owned by private sector. Door-to door collection system is used to collect the waste early in the morning from hotels, restaurants and households in 26 trips by three wheeler puller each day. Daily waste from business centers are collected through 3 trips in the afternoon".

It was observed that waste collected from Thamel area was transferred to the container (volume 576 cubic ft) provided by Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) at Dhlako transfer station, Bishnumati river side. All waste that can be recycled is segregated by four waste separators for selling it to Kawadi. Secondarily, waste was taken to Sisdol landfill site through KMC’s vehicle by replacing the old container with new one. Data showed that 2389 kg (22.67%) of the recyclable inorganic waste are sold to Kawadi, 1,954.62 kg (19.97%) of organic waste are taken by 22 pig farmers directly from the Thamel area and only small amount of waste is taken from Dhalko by two people involved in waste segregation. Most of the waste 6046.6 kg (57.37%) is taken to landfill site which is mostly organic waste.

Comparing the number of beer and mineral water bottle produced in season and off-season, it was found that beer bottles are generated 3 times more than off-season and mineral bottles are produced 2 times more than off-season. Currently, beer bottles are sold to bottle collector weekly with the cost of each bottle from NRs 1.5 to 2.25. Almost all hotels throw mineral water bottles as a waste.

"Conclusion:
•In a total 10.54 tons of waste are collected daily from 2200 hotels/restaurants/shops/houses out of which 68.36% are organic.
•Data showed that 22.67% of the recycled waste are sold to Kawadi, 19.97% of waste are taken by 22 pig farmers directly from the Thamel area and only 57.37% waste is taken to landfill site.
•Total amount of waste generated by per person per day in 150 restaurants was 0.29 kg.
•The existing practice of collection of waste and coordination between waste collector is effective
•Collection of waste by private sector even during strike is appreciated by hotels and restaurants

Recommendations:
•Hotels and restaurants have recommended to collect waste very early morning
•Waste can be used for composting and production of bio-gas
•Proper system for collection of waste by pig farmers should be developed and they should be encouraged to collect the waste
•Multiple vendors should be introduced for competitive market and proper management of waste
•Waste collectors and segregators should be encouraged to use the safety measures during handling wastes".

Source: ENPHO (2010) Final Report on Study of Solid Waste Management in Thamel Area.

The Rotation System in Landfill Sites.

Landfill is the easiest way of disposing waste. But the major question is: Is it safe? If not managed properly, landfill can create various problems to human health and its surrounding environment. One of the crucial problems is accumulation of leachate which can create an increased risk of seepage from the site, causing a negative effect on the environment. The alternatives of discharging the leacheate are:
• Direct discharge to sewer,
• Treatment followed by discharge to sewer,
• Treatment followed by discharge to watercourse,
• Shipment by tanker to a third party,
• Pre-treatment of leachate in a “facultative” lagoon system, followed by drip irrigation onto short rotation coppice (SRC), maximising SRC growth to produce a biomass products (environmentally-accepted option).

The process of the fifth option uses two pre-treatment steps, undertaken in primary and secondary lagoons. Liquid levels in the primary lagoon are maintained consistently throughout the year, the excess being transferred to the secondary lagoon where it receives further treatment. Liquid levels in the secondary lagoon fluctuate during the year, being reduced during the spring and summer as a consequence of irrigation, and recovering over winter. The secondary lagoon is designed to provide winter storage of treated leachate for use as an irrigation resource for the following growing season.

The facultative leachate treatment process seeks to encourage a self-regulating environment that supports a complex community of aerobic, anaerobic and facultative bacteria (bacteria that can behave as either aerobic or anaerobic) resulting in an increased opportunity to degrade contaminants. The process utilizes three zones:
• An anaerobic (without oxygen) digestion zone at the lagoon base.
• A facultative intermediate zone which prevents the exposure of anaerobic bacteria to the aerobic environment.
• An upper aerobic with oxygen zone.


Compared to the aggresively mixed aerobic treatment processes, this process only requires gentle mixing, which also allows sludge self-digestion by encouraging all solids to settle within the anaerobic zone. With a lesser requirement to mix/provide supplementary dissolved oxygen this process benefits from generating negligible quantities of waste and, at the same time, requires significantly less power and process chemical requirements.

Utilizing the treated leachate as a water and nutrient resource, directly placed via ground water drip irrigation makes use of the plants’ high nutrient and water demands and aims to optimise the crop’s growth potential. However, approval of such schemes is required, as the process is considered to be biological treatment of waste.

Source: Molland, D. (2009) The Rotation System. CIWM. November issue

FACTS:

China’s population of 1.3bn is about four times that of the US, however, each Chinese citizen uses only 25% of the energy consumed by each individual in the US.

Boosting investment in conservation, restoration and management of natural ecosystems will provide the most effective way to slow down climate change and accelerate sustainable development, according to a report released by UNEP in 2009 where the major target was “ Safeguarding and restoring carbon in three systems – forests, peatlands and agriculture – in the coming decades that would reduce well over 50 gigatonnes of carbon emissions that would otherwise enter the atmosphere”.

Aiming for Zero Waste

There is the need to achieve landfill diversion and recycling targets in order to meet the challenge of “Zero Waste”. Apart from that, there is the requirement of funding organizations and technology to derive energy from waste. The important things to consider include public perception and awareness raising, food waste, eco-design, recycling rates, combined heat and power and landfill bans.

Waste prevention, reduction and re-use should involve the larger proportion of the national waster stream. However, significant challenges could be addressed through Public-Private-Partnership, multi-sector partnership, the leadership and committment of the Government and public support.

Keep your area tidy!

It is difficult to keep the whole nation tidy at the same time by just depending on our government and its policy. Everyone should do a little to keep their own area, Chowk and Ward tidy. We all hate the site of rubbish/garbage accumulating next to our home or in the roads we walk. But do we care about how they got accumulated there? Don’t we just sit and complain that the municipality and the government are not doing any thing to control it? But what about us who are actually dumping the garbage outside?


Do we even have the courage to tackle someone who is dropping the rubbish on the road rather than in the bins? No, too many of us rather not get involved at all and tend to get away with it. It’s such a shame because if we do not stand up to those dropping it, we kind of give in and agree that one can throw garbage anywhere they like to. Ultimately it’s laziness, a total disrespect for the environment. But sometimes it’s just habit, a dirty one at that.

People get away by creating the environment dirty again and again, because no one has ever pulled them up over it. Don’t create nuisance and don’t live with it. Try that no one around you does too. At least you can take the first step and try to make the environment cleaner and make it easier for the responsible organizations to manage the waste efficiently.

Transformation

To change our society and to make development possible, transformation is essential –both individual and social. Here transformation refers the change in terms of following sectors:

a) Physical vulnerability to physical security.
b) Degradation of resources to conservation of resources.
c) Economic vulnerability to economic security.
d) Powerlessness, alienation and conflict to empowerment, dignity and peace.
e) Social vulnerability to social security.
f) Insecure and unsustainable livelihoods to secure and sustainable livelihoods.

However, tranformation doesnot occur in a short span. It takes time, patience and generations of hard work.

Waste Minimization

To reduce waste or track any pollution level, they should be measurable at the first place; unveil the standards and plan for waste reduction and pollution control.
We need to rethink how we view and treat waste. If the waste can be used as resources then why send it to landfill? Let’s reuse where applicable, then recycle and recover into energy through composting or anaerobic digestion.

Resources should be used very wisely. Sending anything to waste is something we need to pay for later.

To create more sense on how waste management should work and how they can be really implemented depends on every individual, every customer, every business and every organization.

Use of new technologies can help us to reuse things, for e.g. reuse of papers through printing media, Anaerobic digestion that creates energy from food and farm waste. Even businesses can apply appropriate technologies to reuse what they waste into innovative products and can use products that use less resources or contain recycled materials.

Let’s plan for a decade to reduce at least 50% of household waste to either be recycled or used for energy, and over time this figure will increase even further. Aiming for zero waste is the way we have to think to get us to where we need to be.
One approach could be to encourage people to rethink the waste they create by reducing and re-using where possible; and make them recycle the waste at the source if possible.

Innovative ideas should be developed to cut waste at home, work place and community. If organizations work together, it is possible to make great achievements in sustainable waste management and supporting further development.

Setting Targets

With the suite of environmental measures established, based on firm-data collection methods and aligned to the priorities of the business and its stakeholders, target setting is possible.


The process by which targets and objectives are set should reflect the improvement that the organisation and its stakeholders require over the plan and target period, and the relative significance of issues such as:
1. current regulatory and legislative requirements, and the extent to which the business is performing against these;
2. the scope for setting the measures that allow the business to comply with anticipated or announced future legislation, or to get it on the correct path to do so;
3. the role that the environmental performance measure can play in delivering the organization's strategic objectives;
4. the effect that measures can have on improving costs and efficiency, especially relative to the cost of implementation; and
5. the stakeholders' view of which environmental measures are most critical and/or require most in terms of improved performance, potentially as an enabler for the organization to achieve a brand-enhancing, stand-out leadership position in a particular environmental dimension.



Once the choice of target is made, the measurement of progress against them, and the review of the targets and measures themselves, should be an ongoing process, conducted at least annually for target review, and often more frequently for measurement.

Setting Measures

From the data collected, a general picture of what key measures and targets to choose can be formed in order to help manage performance over time. Considerations in determining the measures and targets to use include:
1. Legislative considerations and compliance indicators;
2. Supporting business efficiency - for example, reduced vehicle-fleet emissions going hand-in-hand with reduced ineffective visits and improved customer satisfaction and lower cost of fuel;
3. Engaging employees effectively in furthering environmental improvements, or measuring the performance of employee engagement; and
4. Stakeholder considerations-ranging from the interests of investors and analysts to NGOs, regulators and others, dependent on the nature of the industry concerned.

Measures should relate to the areas of the greatest impact in your business - for example, raw material or energy use-and may be absolute, relative or weighted measures and targets. Which of these to use (or rather which combination), will depend on the need to measure simple absolute consumption-for e.g. KwH electricity per annum; to measure consumption relative to units of production in order to show effeiciency of resource use; or to combine measures on a weighted basis where the end product or service whose environmental impacts being measured is a combination of different elements. It is also important to consider whether broader indicators may be included within the portfolio selected to measure environmental performance. These might, for e.g., include measures that reflect employee engagement with environmental impacts, for e.g. staff surveys to measure engagement with energy reduction in the business.

While these measurements are not directly linkable to improved environmental performance, they provide a powerful indicator of the level of employee engagement in making changes and reductions. Whatever metrics are chosen, the resulting data will need to be presented clearly in order to ensure appropriate impact with key stakeholders, whether they are internal or external. Use of graphical presentation, trending of data and summary analyses are among the techniques that will have maximum impact.

A key decision is also what to publish externally, and what to retain for internal purposes only. Many organizations are also faced with a decision as to what to publish online, and what to put in the traditional hard copy annual report/sustainability report. Again, these decisions will be driven primarily by the needs of the audience.

Environmental Effect and Data

Establishing the effect of your organization on the environment and gathering the associated data involves taking a holistic view of your business with the aim of capturing those aspects that should be measured and targeted. This needs to be conducted alongside the business strategy process, such that it enables a view to be formed not just of the effects as they are now, but as they will evolve as the strategy is deployed over time.


The business strategy and business context will determine where to start this review and the areas to focus on, and it should align to the key risks faced by the business. Typically, the following would be topic areas to include within the review:
1. Energy Use;
2. Water Use and Discharge;
3. Raw Material Production, Consumption and End-of-Life Management - that is, Reuse, Recycling and Waste; and
4. Emission to Air.

Data may be gathered via a full life-cycle assessment, which itself can be compiled from a number of existing activities or business metrics to ensure consistency with other business processes and to minimise the risk of the data being invalid. These metrics and activities can include invoices (for e.g., for energy consumed), purchase orders (for raw materials for production), and stock and raw material records.

Source: Hill, I. (2011) Great Expectation. The Environmentalist. IEMA. March issue.

Strategy and Stakeholders

All well-run businesses have a strategy, and without exception all businesses have stakeholders - including customers, investors, suppliers, employees, NGOs, government and regulators, and the communities within which they operate. If environment performance management is to move from merely a compliance and measurement activity to one that genuinely adds value to the business and helps guide its strategic direction, then understanding and relating to its strategy and stakeholder is key.


By considering environmental impacts (and hence measures and targets) in the context of strategy, two things are achieved.

First, the process becomes forward looking and contextualises the performance measures and targets, meaning there is greater potential to influence the strategy. Second, it engages a different level in the organization.

By incorporating stakeholder considerations, both internal and external, the process can become something that is of relevance to the expectations of both audiences. It therefore has the potential to not only meet, but also to influence, those stakeholder considerations. Each stakeholder may have its own perspective on environmental priorities, and understanding and mapping these is important to ensure the relevance of the measurement set chosen and the targets established as a consequence.

Steps on setting targets.

Ian Hill, non-executive director of IEMA and Chief Sustainable Officer at Openreach, outlines his four steps to setting great targets. According to Ian, effective management and communication of encironmental performance relies on its effective measurement. The process falls into following four steps:

1. undestand your business strategy, your key stakeholders and the intersection of environmental impacts with them;

2. establish the effect of your organisation on the environment and gather the data;

3. select the measures; and

4. set targets against the measures and determine objectives associated with them.

The World's Marginal Lands

Marginal lands are areas where low and variable rainfall, low temperatures and/or steep slopes severely limit natural biological productivity: they are called 'marginal' as intensive agriculture is not possible. Distributed throughout the world, including many industrialized countries, they are typically found in the poorest countries, occuring in 24 of the least developed countries listed by the United Nations. They support about one-third of the world's rural population who earn their living mainly by livestock gazing.

Because marginal lands are ecologically very fragile, they require particularly careful management. In the past, when human population were small, man established a harmonious partnership with nature. Today, with increasing population pressure, marginal lands are often used in ways which are ecologically unsound: for example, in arid zones overgrazing can set off a chain of events leading to irrepairable soil degradation. To satisfy human needs, without damaging the environment, new management systems must be developed for these areas.

Why do we need to conduct research??

The size and distribution of the world population, average life expectancies, literacy levels, rates of energy consumption, techniques of information transfer ... just some of the agents and manifestations of change in our rapidly changing world. And just as the world is changing apace, so its problems are changing in scale, in nature and in complexity. Hence it is highly important to consider research to keep track of the changes and the improvements need to be made.

Research in the environmental sciences should serve those who are responsible for deciding how natural resources will be used. Decision-makers include the legislators, administrators, industrialists, farmers, fishermen, and foresters who decide how many forests will be logged, where a dam will be built, what area of land will be cleared, how many animals will be run, or how much money will be allocated to particular areas of research. Decision-makers are better able to predict the long-term effects of such activities if appropriate scientific information is available.

Research Centres around concrete management problems, bringing together whatever disciplines of the natural and social sciences are needed to cover the many facets of the problem at hand, and often involves local populations in the research effort.

Solution to Packaging Waste

Packaging waste mostly included recyclable papers and re-usable plastics; both of which have high recycling market in Nepal and abroad. The wasted packaging materials, once recycled, can benefit the sustainable waste management due to landfill avoidance.


The recylced packaging papers can be reused by paper mills for pulping, new materials or production of corrugated packaging. Use of such corrugated packaging can maximise efficiencies throughout supply chain including disposal. Apart from that, the process is highly cost-effective.


With the increasing problems and conflicts in waste disposal, the reuse of packaging has even made a positive impact on the consumers and manufacturers alike. Most of the eco-friendly consumers prefer using products with recyclable and recycled packaging. In Kathmandu alone, 82% of the students among 5000 surveyed said that they either avoid excessive packaging or prefer using recyclable packaging. Our maket, however, still needs to focus on producing corrugated packaging from recycled papers and promote reusable packaging.

When making a decision on buying-in packaging solutions, purchase cost is clearly a major variable, but the true holistic cost has to be considered (CIWM, 2009) so that at the end one can “physically reduce their carbon footprint by investing in recyclable packaging materials, thereby avoiding the cost of sending the waste to landfill – sound economic performance and sound environmental practice” as stated by Chartered Institution of Waste Management, UK.

Below is given a case-study of “Severnside Recycling” in the UK which has made it a huge way by being the largest fibre recycle in Europe for keeping the corrugated loop of packaging.

“Severnside Recycling collects around 1.8m tonnes of fibre each year providing a complete recycling and waste facilities management service to some of the UK’s best known brand names. The company is part of DS Smith, a multinational corrugated packaging and paper group which also owns St Regis Mills, the UK’s leading manufacturer of packaging grade paper. The relationship between these three companies provides a unique closed loop recycling service to customers – Severnside recovering the paper and packaging, providing fibre to feed the producing process at St Regis, which in turn provides the packaging materials for DS Smith.

The UK has taken huge steps forward in recovering and recycling packaging waste over the past 10 years, disposing of around 10.5m tonnes of packaging waste in 2007, of which about 59% was recovered and recycled. Paper and cardboard packaging made up significant levels of most waste streams and , as such, the paper industry is the UK’s largest recycler. But millions of tonnes of waste paper are still sent to landfill each year, causing the industry to import fibre to meet its needs. This simply doesn’t make economic sense.

DS Smith Group’s paper-making operations are the largest users of recovered fibres in the UK and this is sourced predominantly from Severnside’s collection business. Providing the correct sized containers to suit the individual situation enables packaging to be separated at source, often the best way to achieve segregation and avoid contamination, which can lead to recyclable materials ending up in landfill. Severnside provides staff with the training needed to make the maximum use of the waste container storage. This leads to fewer collections, which in turn saves energy and emissions. Once collected, the materials are taken to one of Severnside’s depots for baling.

In next stage of the “loop” the bales are transported to St. Regis Paper Company Mills, where the cardboard is reduced to individual fibres during the pulping process. Chemical, heat and mechanical stages then follow, which improve the quality of the raw material. This is then rolled and layered to make huge paper reels, ready for the production process.

The third part of the journey is the transportation of the paper reels from the mill to one of the DS Smith Packaging production facilities. This is where the paper reels are converted into consumer-ready packaging produts, effectively closing the loop. From collection to production the whole process has been completed in just 14 days."

Measuring to Manage

"Achieving cost savings and other benefits from adopting a systematic waste minimisation programme depends on regular measurement and analysis of the resources (raw materials, energy, water, packaging, etc) used by your company and the wastes it produces. Waste measurement can help your company save money by improving the management of its processes to become more resource efficient. Measuring to manage can also help your company to improve its environmental performance and to identify opportunities to increase throughout without the need for major investment.

Taking regular measurements and analysing data will help you to:
-reduce the true cost of waste to your company;
-determine the base-line against which to judge the progress of your waste minimisation programme;
-identify cost-effective opportunities to prevent and reduce waste;
-control your process(es) more effectively;
-set improvement objectives and targets;
-determine progress towards your targets and set new ones."
Source: Envirowise (GG414) Measuring to Manage:The Key to Reducing Waste Cost. Enviros Consulting Ltd., Envirowise.