[JSRNC 8.4 (2014) 405-428] JSRNC (print) ISSN 1749-4907 doi: 10.1558/jsrnc.v8i4.25050 JSRNC (online) ISSN 1749-4915 © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2014, Unit S3, Kelham House, 3, Lancaster Street, Shefleld S3 8AF. ____________________________________________________ Waste and Worldviews: Garbage and Pollution Challenges in Bhutan ____________________________________________________ Elizabeth Allison California Institute of Integral Studies, 1453 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103, USA eallison@ciis.edu Abstract The global trend toward urbanization has led to increasing waste challenges, especially in developing countries. Although Bhutan is still one of the world’s least developed countries, its economy and capital city have grown rapidly during the past two decades, causing solid waste production to outstrip management capacity. The government instituted new waste management initiatives in 2007, but they gained little traction. Ethno- graphic research in communities across the country revealed competing paradigms about the identilcation of waste, the disposition of waste, and household practices of waste management. Vajrayana Buddhism, the dominant religion throughout much of the country, profoundly shapes local beliefs and practices. Local environmental imaginaries and cultural concerns about ritual pollution have conmicted with technocratic manage- ment protocols, leading to confusion and incompletely implemented policies. Waste management policies may be more effective if they engage with the values and practices inherent in a lived religion that contributes to cultural understandings of waste. Keywords Household waste, pollution, urbanization, sustainable development, politi- cal ecology, Bhutan, Tibetan Buddhism, worldviews, spiritual ecology. In 2007, urban residents outnumbered rural dwellers worldwide for the lrst time in history. By 2050, 70% of the world’s population is expected to reside in urban areas. With this growth in urbanization comes a host