Turning Waste into Opportunity: The GreenShift Journey of Rupak Ghimire
In the growing city of Bharatpur, located near the rich forests of Chitwan National Park, 23-year-old Rupak Ghimire saw something others often missed. Where many saw piles of plastic and unmanaged waste, Rupak saw an opportunity to act. With a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and more than seven years of experience in grassroots activism, his dream was always simple: stay in Nepal, do something meaningful, help his community breathe again.
Bharatpur has long struggled with waste management. Plastic and household garbage were regularly dumped along the Narayani River and in forested areas, threatening wildlife and the health of local residents. At the same time, climate change brought rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and floods that made the city even more vulnerable. Rupak had seen enough. He wanted to be part of the solution.
During his grassroots activism, Rupak came across Saral Nepal, a youth-led civil society organization working on community development. He became active in the youth group, eventually becoming a core member and project lead. In 2024, Rupak got involved with Restless Development when Saral Nepal learned about the GreenShift Youth Advocacy Grant. The team saw it as an opportunity to expand their environmental work. Rupak stepped forward to lead the application process, as the theme of climate action and waste reduction resonated deeply with him. For years, he had dreamed of a cleaner, greener Bharatpur. This was a chance to turn that dream into a plan.
Under Rupak’s leadership, Saral Nepal developed a proposal focused on community waste management, plastic reduction, and empowering youth and women. Their application was one of the three selected for GreenShift Year 2. For Rupak, it was a breakthrough moment. “This wasn’t just a project. It was a chance to take action on the issues I care about most,” he reflects.
Saral Nepal launched a variety of community-based activities under Rupak’s guidance, like Narayani River cleaning and advocacy programs. One of the most impactful was a four-day training on handicrafts for women in Bharatpur. Participants learned to upcycle household plastic waste into beautiful traditional items like Dhakiya and Chakati. The initiative helped women gain income-generating skills while promoting the idea that waste can be a valuable resource.
Rupak also became an active user and advocate of TagMe, a mobile-based platform introduced through GreenShift to help identify and monitor waste hotspots. The team started not only using TagMe regularly to plan clean-up campaigns and track areas needing attention, but also trained and mobilized volunteers to use the app to map and report waste hotspots. The Saral Nepal team also conducted several orientation and awareness programs for TagMe. “TagMe made our work more focused. We no longer work blindly. Now we know exactly where to act,” he explains.
At home, Rupak practices what he preaches. He carefully segregates his household waste and avoids single-use plastics. He has even encouraged local restaurants to stop using plastic straws. Through GreenShift, he also learned more about the circular economy and how to turn waste into products with social and economic value.
Rupak’s experience with GreenShift opened new doors. He built stronger connections with Bharatpur Municipality, visited landfill sites to better understand the system, and gained insights into sustainable waste management. Inspired by these learnings, he now plans to explore green enterprise opportunities. Specifically, he is eager to launch a business that transforms plastic waste, banana fiber, and corn husk into marketable products, all while creating job opportunities for women and marginalized young people.
“My dream has always been to stay in Nepal and do something useful. GreenShift helped me see how that dream could come true,” says Rupak. “We can turn waste into beauty and problems into purpose. That is real change.”
