Samuel Johns (OS 2008) has been working for Partnership for Sustainable Development (PSD Nepal) in the Langtang Valley. The area is battling more than 200,000 plastic bottles left behind by the 15,000 trekkers that visit the National Park each year.

'I’ve been doing social enterprise work in Nepal in 2017. I am a geographer by trade – I studied Geography at University of Oxford, then did my Masters in Human Geography and Business at University of British Columbia in Canada – but it was my passion for mountains and mountain people which led me to Nepal.

PSD is a Nepali advocacy group involved in the retrieval and recycling of plastic rubbish in cooperation with the Kyanjin Gompa Langtang Society. PSD is also partnering with Sustainable Mountain Architecture to build a model pavilion entirely of plastic bottles in Rasuwa to raise public awareness. It supports the work of Nepali scientists to turn plastic waste into diesel. It is estimated there are around five million plastic bottles in the whole Langtang Valley. I work with local Nepalese to collect and recycle plastic trash, as well as trying to raise awareness of the damage plastic has on the local environment.

I strive to build capacity in vulnerable and remote communities, as well as working to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and facilitate projects that showcase both environmental sustainability and economic viability'.