Surgeon AA Hai and (right) Green Village Zero Rubbish Project founder-director David Robert Priest at the news meet in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Minting money out of trash seems to be the mantra for the residents of Bateshwar Sthan village in Bhagalpur district.

Till a year back, the level of pollution in the village was so high that it shocked outsiders, including San Francisco-based radiologist David Robert Priest, going to Nepal via Bihar last year.

Priest resolved to transform the village and gave a unique offer to the villagers — to buy the trash generated in their village. The village became clean in a few weeks as the villagers collected trash and sold it to Priest.

Bateshwar Sthan villagers now only get money in lieu of trash but also make money by selling useful products made out of the garbage.

At present, David runs the “Green Village Zero Rubbish Project” under which he continues to buy trash from Bateshwar Sthan and some other villages.

Marking the completion of the first year of his project, Priest organised a programme at a city hotel on Tuesday in which he spoke of his further plans and achievements so far. “My project does make sense. That is why international organisations have noted my work and approached me expressing interest in striking a deal to carry out this noble initiative,” said Priest adding: “So far, we have removed 40,424kg of garbage under this project from the villages where we have worked. Trash has become a source of income for the villagers. We taught them how to segregate plastic and other useful materials from trash before using them to make home décor products. Villagers earn money by selling trash and home décor products.”

Priest said he would like to spread his project not only to the whole of Bihar but across India. “At present, I am approaching small villages so that I can acquire knowledge and experience,” said the radiologist.