When you buy an upcycled product, you are contributing to remove waste from the Khumbu region
In our shop, you can find the unique pieces created by our invited designers. All the products are made out of found raw materials in the Khumbu region and the Himalayas, and are sold under the brand moware design – mountain waste repurpose.
What is Waste to Product
Through the Waste to Product initiative, we aim to change the perception around waste by showing locals and visitors that with creativity, waste can be upcycled into new high-quality functional design products.
Our first set of products are made out of the most abundant waste in the region: plastic. By using the plastic waste which is generated we are diverting waste that would otherwise end up in the waste pits into design products that will be bought by the visitors. On average a visitor is consuming 3 bottles of packaged water in a day. With this initiative, we are able to transform this waste into a souvenir which the visitor is able to buy and thereby removing the transformed waste from the region.
This is Waste to Product – a closed-loop cycle, a waste removal system where those who bring the waste can be part of the solution by purchasing an upcycled item made out of it.
The beginning of Waste to Product
Since 2015 our sister organization moware design has been creating utility products by introducing design to tackle the ever-increasing waste in Kathmandu Valley. Together with Blue Waste to Value they have upcycled and manufactured high-quality glass and paper products. Through upcycling we not only reduce the waste that is sent to the landfill but also prevent precious limited natural resources from being used as raw materials for production.
At Sagarmatha Next we decided to replicate this idea and asked moware design to create a range of products by using the most common type of waste in the area – plastic waste.
To design our first set of products, we collaborated with Super Local, a design studio based in the Netherlands that specializes in creating design products out of waste. They have worked in various countries, conducted extensive research, and create products that can be produced using limited technology by the locals. For Sagarmatha Next they have cleverly designed products that would be appealing to visitors as well as use the most abundant waste material i.e. plastic.
About moware design
moware design is a social enterprise dedicated to upcycling waste into beautiful high-quality products.
moware design was born in 2013 as a design-led intervention to give meaning to the waste left behind in the Himalayas. The company started to promote paper waste management in offices while giving employment to low-income women from Nepal.
Over the years, moware design started to experiment and work extensively with other types of waste such as aluminium, wrappers, and glass bottles, hence creating a wide range of high-quality products that includes stationary, jewellery and dining sets. moware design has trained and empowered about 25 low-income women to utilize their skill set and innate love of creation to better their lives and better our planet.