Community Composting Center & Dry waste recycling facility
Waste is not the end of a resource's story. In Kheel Jasli, we proved that with the right system, garbage can become compost, scrap can become income, and a village can begin to sustain itself.
Overview
The Challenge
Organic waste — kitchen scraps, food waste, garden cuttings — made up the majority of the garbage being generated in Kheel Jasli every day. Without any composting infrastructure, all of it was being mixed with dry waste and either dumped in the open or burned on roadsides, releasing toxic smoke into the mountain air.
Dry waste — plastic, glass, paper, metal — was similarly mismanaged. Residents had no knowledge of its recyclable value, no infrastructure to separate it, and no mechanism to convert it into anything useful. Valuable materials were being destroyed rather than recovered. The problem was not a lack of resources. It was a lack of systems.
What We did
With community support and donations, Earth Healers Foundation designed and built a dedicated community composting and dry waste recycling facility in Kheel Jasli — the first of its kind in the area.The facility's centrepiece is a 700-litre composting drum, purchased and installed to process organic waste from households across the village.
Alongside it, we built segregated storage bays for dry waste — separate sections for plastic, glass, paper, and metal — allowing residents to deposit materials that can be collected and sold to scrap dealers, generating income for the facility's maintenance.Our team managed every aspect of the project personally — from site planning and construction to sourcing materials and building the physical structure.
We then trained local residents, particularly women, on how to operate the composting drum, maintain the facility, and use the resulting compost for kitchen gardens and local agriculture.
Impact & Current status
The stone work transformed the cleared site into a structured, purposeful space. The terraces have held through multiple monsoon seasons without significant erosion.
The pathways have made the valley accessible and inviting. The tree reinforcement structures have given the existing trees the protection they needed to recover and thrive.
When visitors walk through The Healing Valley today, the stone work is one of the first things they notice — not because it is showy, but because it feels right.
The facility was inaugurated in a public ceremony attended by the ADC (Additional District Commissioner) and BDO (Block Development Officer), both of whom praised the project publicly as a pioneering, forward-thinking model for rural waste management in Himachal Pradesh. Local and regional media covered the launch extensively.
Gifting the first batch of our compost to DC sir
What's next
We plan to expand the number of households participating in the composting programme, increase the capacity of the facility, and replicate the model in Kheel Barser. We are also exploring the sale of finished compost to local farmers as an additional revenue stream that could make the facility fully self-sustaining over time.
Media Coverage of the Inauguration event
