Our Facilities
The Clean Upper Dharamshala Programme is part of the environmental desk of the Tibetan Settlement Office (TSO) in Dharamshala, formerly referred to as Welfare Office.
Besides the Environmental Office we run our own Paper Recycle Factory along with our Recycle Paper Workshop and the Green Shop.
Furthermore, we operate the Segregation Centre for sorting the collected waste by the Green Workers, the Composting Plant to compost biodegradable waste, and the Environmental Education Centre to educate present and future generations about proper waste management.
Our Green Workers are going around Upper Dharamshala daily to collect dry waste from Tibetan households and institutions that hold a valid waste collection card and inform them how to separate their waste properly. The waste is then pre-sorted in the truck and further separated in the Segregation Centre, which is also operated by the Green Workers. They were the first institution to be established with the start of the CUDP in 1994 and thus mark the beginning of our mission to clean Upper Dharamshala.
Green Workers
The trash collected by the Green Workers is sorted by the same into 28 different categories of recyclable and non-recyclable waste in our Segregation Centre. Paper is recycled in our Paper Recycle Factory, biodegradable waste is taken to our composting plant. Recyclable plastic, glass, metal, or other materials are sold to recycling agents in Dharamshala from whom we can be sure that they are processed properly. Non-recyclable waste is brought to the landfill.
Segregation Centre
At our composting plant we compost all the biodegradable waste from houhseholds, restaurants and other establishments in Upper Dharamshala. Founded in the 2000er years, supported by generous donations from the Rowell Found and TCV School, it is our newest facility. The composting plant is run by the TCV environmental club. They are working together with the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University in Palampur to make the composting process and the resulting hummus increasingly efficient.
Composting Plant
In our Recycle Paper Workshop, our artisans make beautiful products from the recycled paper produced in the factory. Most of them have been working here since the establishment of the CUDP, so for more than 25 years, coming from predecessor environmental organisations to the CUDP. All of them are Tibetan refugees living in Dharamshala nowadays. They can literally make anything you can imagine out of paper, be it funny shaped boxes or birds’ nests of newspaper. So, if you have any special request, let us know.
Recycle Paper Workshop
Our Paper Recycle Factory is operating twice a year, in March/April and September/October. All the raw paper comes from the Segregation Centre and thus from households all over Upper Dharamshala. It is shredded, poured into water, pressed, dried, and flattened to make recycled paper. We can produce a great variety of recycled paper, e.g., different colours or different density. Most of the recycled paper is used in the Recycle Paper Workshop, but it is also sold directly, especially to artists.
Paper Recycle Facotry
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In the Green Shop all the products from the Recycle Paper Workshop are sold. In addition, products from other Tibetan settlements and institutions across India are available in the shop. We are open every day from 09:00 to 18:30, but you can also check out our Green Shop online. In our shop you will find many different things, from our handmade recycled paper books, boxes, photo frames and lampshades to dolls, incenses, perfumes, and rosary beads. All our products are ideal as a gift but also to use yourself.
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Green Shop
