Converting Garbage sites to Sidewalk Gardens
The most powerful way to stop a place from being used as a dump is to make it too beautiful to destroy. That is exactly what we did.
Overview
The Challenge
In Kheel Jasli, certain stretches of road and open land had become so consistently used as dumping sites that residents had simply accepted them as part of the landscape. Piles of plastic, food waste, and construction debris had accumulated over years. The areas smelled, attracted stray animals, and sent a signal — visible to every resident, tourist, and child who passed — that this place did not deserve care.
Cleaning these sites once was not enough. Without something to replace the empty space, the dumping would simply resume. The challenge was not just to clean — it was to transform.
What We did
Dr. Priya Saklani developed what became one of Earth Healers Foundation's most distinctive approaches: the sidewalk garden. After clearing each dumping site of accumulated waste, our team prepared the soil, laid stone borders, and planted flowering plants, shrubs, and native trees in their place.Over 200 plants were planted across multiple sites in Kheel Jasli — transforming neglected, stinking corners into pockets of green and colour along the roadsides.
The gardens were designed to be visible and beautiful enough that residents would feel a sense of pride in them — and social pressure to protect rather than pollute them.The process was deeply hands-on. Dr. Saklani often planted alongside volunteers and community members, making it a shared act of reclamation rather than something done to the village from outside.
Impact & Current status
The results exceeded expectations. Sites that had accumulated garbage for years are now maintained as gardens. Residents who initially watched with scepticism have become protective of the plants — watering them, reporting damage, and in some cases extending the gardens further on their own initiative.
The visible transformation has also had a psychological effect on the broader community. When people see that their environment can be beautiful, their relationship to it changes. The gardens are not just green spaces — they are proof of what is possible.
What's next
We plan to continue creating sidewalk gardens at every former dumping site in Kheel Jasli and to introduce the same model in Kheel Barser. We are also working to involve schoolchildren in the planting and maintenance of new gardens, building environmental stewardship into the next generation from an early age.
