Challenges of Consumer Culture and Solid-waste to the Environment Protection in Pokhara Metropolitan City, Nepal

Abstract

Abstract Changing consumer culture and increasing solid-waste have become global environmental issues leading to myriad challenges for management, especially in urban spaces. Against this backdrop, this study explores the challenges of solid-waste attached to changing consumer culture in the context of Pokhara, an urbanized tourist city in Nepal. The study has followed the qualitative research design generated through primary and secondary data. For this purpose, five informants have selected by purposive sampling and gathered their experiences, knowledge, and understanding of the relationship between changing consumer culture and increased solid-waste through in-depth interviews. The findings reveal that the leading cause of the environmental problem in this area is due to changing consumer culture along with rapidly growing urbanized cities and an increased attachment towards readymade items, which are in forceful demand with the stretching of the global market. It leads to an increase in solid-waste, and now it is a burning issue for protecting the environment in this area. Hence, consumer culture and solid-waste have interconnected aspects and contributing factors to an environmental problem in Pokhara.