Recycle, Reuse and Revive: Giving everything a second-third chance

‘Recycle, reuse and reduce’, a simple slogan to most but to 25-year-old Karma Yeshey, it is a personal mantra for her daily life. To this motto she adds her own personal touch by including with it the word ‘Revive’. Revive Bhutan is an online social media platform created by Yeshey at the height of the pandemic in May of 2020. The project inspires the community to adopt sustainable friendly practices and mobilizes volunteers to recycle waste and carry out cleaning campaigns. When Yeshey is not finding innovative ways to upcycle items she can be found actively volunteering. Her inspirations for her life stem from everyday experiences and interactions with her community,

“My late grandmother would always tell me to become a woman who continues to learn and to be able to adapt to whatever life would put me through. So, I remember to take every lesson from people I meet in my life as inspiration to me.” Yeshey shared.

Growing up Yeshey recalls always placing great meaning on things that were in her possession, collecting mementos throughout her life. Slowly starting to take up space but cherishing these items and the memories they represented, Yeshey was reluctant to throw them away. She would then ‘revive’ these pieces by upcycling them to new and refreshed items,

“I would not throw away a pretty cup even though its handle was broken and keep it as a flower pot and that is how, I think without even realizing it I was into upcycling and recycling” said Yeshey.

The global pandemic with intermittent lockdowns, has tested us to remain connected, positive and creative and for Yeshey she responded to this challenge by giving life to Revive Bhutan. She explains the pandemic impacted her headspace and her coping mechanisms during these difficult times were to continue to write, innovate and create. The heart of Revive Bhutan is to create a social ecosystem where people are encouraged to upcycle and add new value to their waste. Initially starting as a place where like-minded people could share their recycling tips and upcycling stories, Revive Bhutan evolved to be so much more as interest grew and the page became a haven for those looking for ways to meaningfully occupy themselves. Soon enough people even started to reach out to the project with hopes to purchase the upcycled items and thrift pieces featured on their social media page,

“This highlighted to me first-hand that one person’s trash can be someone else’s treasure.” Yeshey said smiling.

Understanding the strain that the pandemic has had on people’s mental health, Revive Bhutan started the amazing initiative to create a safe space that could be rented out to an individual to simply create, meditate and just exist,

“The space was something I always needed and if there was anyone who felt the same, I would like to help provide it. Especially during COVID-19 when mental health needs to be given the importance that it deserves, to open up conversations we would have never have had otherwise. Anxiety and depression can happen to anyone and I wanted to provide a place where an individual would be able to absorb all their emotions, accept it and grow from it.” Yeshey shared passionately.

Karma Yeshey is a prime example of resilience, recycling the emotions of feeling lost and out of control during the pandemic, into creating a positive community. She has created a corner of the internet where people feel less alone and can see the real power they have to change the things around them. Regardless of who you are or whether you have a 9-5 job, you always have the power to create.  The motto of Revive Bhutan is to ‘Give everything a second-third chance’ and its explanation behind it applies to learning how to revive objects and yourself during such trying times,

“Begin at home. Start with the basics. There are very small ways to begin. If you give things a chance, they will eventually find their purpose. In the end, the calm is always hidden in the chaos; we just need to find it, accept it and give it as many chances as required.” enthused Yeshey.