Climate activism shaped by books

Sustainability practitioner Shilshila Acharya shares how non-fiction books shaped her understanding of sustainability, guiding her journey from grassroots action to national advocacy.

Photo: Courtesy of Rajkumar Shrestha

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Jony Nepal

Published at : March 26, 2026

Updated at : March 26, 2026 06:58

Kathmandu

Sustainability practitioner and climate activist Shilshila Acharya stands at the forefront of Nepal’s environmental movement, bridging grassroots action and national policy transformation. Her campaign, ‘No Thanks, I carry my own bag’, led to the nationwide ban on plastic bags in Nepal.

Recognised among the BBC 100 Women 2024, Acharya has emerged as a leading voice, advocating for sustainable development and informing young politicians about environmental, economic, and social justice.

As the co-founder of Avni Ventures, one of Nepal’s largest plastic recycling networks, she envisioned waste as a propelling force for empowerment, employing women from marginalised communities.

For Acharya, environmental activism was deeply shaped by curiosity through reading. Non-fictional books became early tools for understanding the interdisciplinary aspects of nature, society, and governance. Influenced by formative readings, Acharya built an intellectual foundation that continues to shape her approaches today.

In this conversation with the Post’s Jony Nepal, Acharya discusses literature’s role in climate activism.

Which literary work has brought a pivotal change in your professional life?

Reading was a driving force for my career. Researching and starting conversations about the ozone layer during my primary school years were pivotal to who I am today.

‘Small Is Beautiful’ by EF Schumacher argues that doing things on a small scale is less harmful to the Earth. Realising how we often take things at a grand scale, this book helped me navigate complex issues in small, incremental ways.

I was working on a project related to hiti. We had to restore an old hiti—digging to its core. First, we were planning to take help from the community volunteers to dig the soil. When no one showed up for more than a week, the ward office asked the contractor to help, who used a bulldozer to remove the top layer of soil. A large portion of the soil collapsed above the main Hiti structure. The whole structure got destroyed, leaving a void in the centre. This was when ‘Small Is Beautiful’ resurfaced in my consciousness. In a quest to save time, using a large machine proved more risky to the fragile structure beneath. We approached the problem with a grand solution, when we should have gradually dug the hiti, taking rather more time.

The book also helped me dive deeper into indigenous knowledge in Nepal, prompting me to see the importance of topics that are often overlooked and considered ‘minor’.

I had always felt the need to read. Since fiction was not available in the place where I grew up, I was inevitably inclined to read non-fiction and fact-based writings. This book, in particular, helped me navigate complex things with a small, remnant set of approaches.

Do you believe reading can shape how the youth view the environment?

From my generation, we were aware of environmental issues through our course books. There is a significant, vivid difference between the generations that were exposed to environmental ideas and those who were not.

Writings, fictional or non-fictional, continually evoke curiosities. I used to read a lot of newspaper articles and question political terminology since I was in grade six or seven.

Reading helps an individual gain a holistic perception of how the world works. Just knowing about the environment is not enough. People, especially the youth, must read at least something from each sector to understand the causes and effects from the ground level.

Gathering knowledge through reading might not always be immediately impactful. Over time, as you encounter different situations in life, it is important to keep a cloud of information.

When did you realise that conversations about climate should be politically reinforced?

To understand the environment, rather than simply covering trees, birds, nature or shifting into a plant-based diet, it should be approached holistically. Aspects of economics cannot be overlooked, and when we work in these two domains, politics inevitably permeates the events.

Raising voices about just the environment is not enough in Nepal. We realised that when the consequences of climate change are linked with a social problem, it gets attention. Supporting the livelihoods of indigenous women, we began addressing social and economic issues, reinforcing environmental conversations, and simultaneously running campaigns to question the National Policies. We connected the three domains together.

Activism demands urgency and immediate reactions, while reading demands slowness. How do you balance the two?

Fitting the time to read into the schedule is a challenge. However, I do not believe that being involved in activism and reading are contradictory.

Reading, at any time and in any place, takes me back to the days when I used to be around books just to pass the time. Worrying about anything at all seemed distant. Reading today helps me fall back to those simpler times. Reading and activism can be complementary. I don't read today to change the world tomorrow. Accumulating as much knowledge as possible helps me create a concrete baseline for what I have yet to encounter.

Naturally, rather than being fixed on only one field, I wish to understand diversity. Problems are not limited to a single subject or situation; therefore, solutions, too, demand multidisciplinary approaches—reading helps me develop this perspective.

Shilshila Acharya’s five book recommendations

Small Is Beautiful

Author: EF Schumacher

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Year: 1973

Schumacher changed my perspective on development. I realised that development solutions needn’t be big; small things can be impactful.

The Junkyard Planet

Author: Adam Minter

Publisher: Bloomsbury Press

Year: 2013

This book gave me a clear picture of the people, networks, practices, and volumes involved in handling waste scrap on a global scale.

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