Namaste and Tashi Delek!

                                                   
                                                       Thame Monastery

Sagarmatha Next project was started back in early 2016 by Mr. Phinjo Sherpa, Mr. Varun Saraf and myself Tommy Gustafsson.

The idea was to create a public facility, a combined innovation hub and a visitor center in the upper Khumbu valley above Namche Bazaar the main hub on the way to Sagarmatha/Mount Everest Base Camp.

 
    Sagarmatha/Mount Everest & Lhotse                    Cholatse

The concept and the objective of the Center was to promote sustainable tourism with a first focus on creating and implementing a sustainable solid waste management system for the Sagarmatha/Everest region.

A cooperation agreement between the local communities, the local organization Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee/SPCC and Sagarmatha Next was made in early 2017 and the start of the construction of Sagarmatha Next located at Syangboche Airstrip began in September 2017. 

The first two years of construction went smooth and the four buildings were almost up by the end of 2019 and then the Covid 19 happened and for the past 18 months work has been halted and restarted off and on.
The last two years has been challenging for everyone around the world and especially for people in countries like Nepal and remote regions like the Khumbu and Sagarmatha/Everest region who depend heavily on tourism as a main driver for jobs and economy.  

Currently in mid August 2021 we are in the final phase of mainly interior work and landscaping and we are planning to do a soft opening for locals in the Khumbu by the end of 2021 and the official public opening is planned for March 2022.

  

 

 Sagarmatha Next main concept is to showcase how waste materials can be reused and upcycled into artwork and design products by invited international and local artists and designers that during a residency can create and produce the artwork and design products. 

By turning waste into valuable artwork and design products that we will sell we hope to change peoples mindset and inspire them to see the waste materials as a resource that can become a value instead of only consider it trash. 

We have tested the concept with local artists already and been able to sell artwork both in Nepal and in Europe which will be extended to include internationally renowned artists in the years to come.

Furthermore, we have created a first line of design products souvenirs made from collected plastics in cooperation with a Dutch design bureau which will be produced locally starting from February 2022 and offered for sale to visitors at the Sagarmatha Next Center.

              

    

Apart from creating the Sagarmatha Next Center we in cooperation with SPCC and recycling company Blue Waste To Value/BW2V have also produced a solid waste research documentation for the whole upper Khumbu Valley & Sagarmatha National Park in 2017-2018. 
The research document shows the level of waste that needs to be handled in the region and it also was the fact foundation for the Solid Waste Management Master Plan that was developed in cooperation between Sagarmatha Next, BW2V and Professors Alton Byers, University of Boulder,CO, Netra Chhetri, University of Arizona and Milan Shrestha, University of Arizona in 2019. 
The Master plan has since then been peer reviewed by The MRD/Mountain Research & Development Journal and was published by them in April of 2021.

In addition we have created and tested a crowd sourced waste transportation system called Carry me Back in order to be able to remove the waste not used at Sagarmatha Next back to Kathmandu and our recycling partner BW2V for proper recycling. 
It is a simple bag which is filled with shredded plastics, bailed metal cans and other waste materials weighing about 1 kg and we ask visitors, tourists, guides/staff and locals to pick it up in Namche Bazaar and bring it back to Lukla where the majority catch their flight back to Kathmandu.
In atumn of 2019 we tested the system during five weeks in October/November and the response was very positive and 2500 visitors participated and brought down 5500 bags adding up to approx 4500 kg.

    

After almost six years of preparations, planning and construction we are looking forward to soon be able to open the Center and to start the five step Master plan in cooperation with the local communities in Khumbu in order to start the journey towards a fully sustainable waste management handling of solid waste  in the Khumbu region.

If you want to know more please visit our website: www.sagarmathanext.com and #sagarmathanext on Instagram.

Namaste

Tommy