The exponential increase in the number of tourists in Dharamsala has led to the problem of waste mismanagement in the wettest place in Himachal Pradesh. Jodie Underhill, a seasoned traveller and founder of Waste Warriors along with some young team members has been working tirelessly to preserve the ecology of the place. Waste Warriors, a not-for-profit organisation and registered society has dedicated itself to addressing India’s waste problems and has been working in Dharamshala for the past five years. Presently, their green projects are located in Dharamsala, Dehradun and around the Corbett Tiger Reserve. They do this through a combination of direct action, liaison and awareness raising, with an emphasis on education and raising awareness among people.
Since 2012, Waste Warriors have collected and processed over 1300 tonnes of waste from Bhagsunag and Triund. The waste that was collected was initially stored in front of their office, out in open or in the waste container located in the main square area. To solve this storage problem, a young team of 30 members including both Indian and non-Indian volunteer decided to bring in waste sorting equipment for which they recently managed to raise a required sum of 3 lakh on Impact Guru, a crowdsourcing platform.
From starting with The Jakhan forest in 2010 to expanding their waste collecting project to areas like Astley Hall, Rajpur Road, Anekant Palace and Dalanwala Dalanwala, a residential colony in Dehradun, Waste Warriors has very well managed to maintain the ecological balance of
the areas.