The Value of Waste: The Cycle of Products and Byproducts in Nepal’s Eastern Hills

• Main Author: Moore, Emily
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholarship @ Claremont 2017
• Subjects: Nepal; Environment; Waste Management; Subsistence Agriculture; Urbanization; Arts and Humanities
• Online Access: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/946; http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1962&context=scripps_theses

The purpose of this thesis will be to explore conceptions of waste in Nepal’s rural village of Simigaau to understand what constitutes waste and in what ways it is critical to the community’s physical and cultural survival. Due to the contribution of many aspects of daily life in the creation of “waste” in Simigaau –what it is and what it means – I hope to use a whole systems approach to understand the multitude of factors that affect how villagers view waste and whether its value can provide insight into a local way of life. Moreover, I aim to explore whether a community’s waste – seen and unseen – provide insight into a local way of life and if so, how this insight may be applied to both Nepal at large and connotations of “waste” in the West.