Everest is a landfill and must no longer be: this is why Nepal has decided to send an expedition to clean up, at least in part, what used to be one of the most pristine places on the planet. And give it back life and beauty
Everest is a landfill and must no longer be: this is why Nepal has decided to send an expedition to clean up, at least in part, what used to be one of the most pristine places on the planet. And give it back life and beauty.
A "cleansing" rather than punitive expedition. Decades of commercial mountaineering have indeed turned the mountain into the highest landfill in the world, and a growing number of climbers pay little attention to the questionable memories it leaves behind.
For this about two months ago China has access to the mountain is prohibited for tourism purposes: visitors who do not have a climbing permit will therefore no longer be able to visit those fantastic places, obviously not sufficiently remote to be protected from human damage.
On the other hand, in 2018 alone, China conducted three cleaning sessions above 5.200 meters, collecting "over eight tons of household waste, human feces and mountaineering waste". A landfill, the highest in the world.
Tents, climbing equipment, empty gas cylinders and even human excrement pollute the well-trodden path up to the summit of 8.848 meters. The government of Nepal has therefore decided to coordinate an action with mountaineering associations, the army and local organizations to try to run for cover.
"We are proud of Mount Everest, but are often accused of not being able to clean it - said in this regard Dandu Raj Ghimire, Head of the Nepal Tourism Department - Now we are all here together to do it ”.
On April 25, a team of 14 members will be sent to Everest Base Camp with the aim of taking away 11 tons of garbage. Eight crew members will then ascend to Camp 2, located at 6.400 meters, and teams of three will take turns to ascend to Camp 4 at 7.950 meters, where they will spend 15 days collecting litter on the snow-covered slopes.
Not only that: climbers and high-altitude workers will be given incentives to bring the garbage back to base camp and recyclable materials will be transported by airlift to the capital. And it will not be enough anyway.
"This is the first time that the government has taken the initiative to clean the mountain - explains Santa Bir Sherpa, of the Nepal Mountaineering Association - but it cannot be done in just one year, we must continue".
However, it is not really the first initiative: six years ago, in fact, the country had allocated other incentives for climbers who had cut down at least eight kilos of waste, but only half of them actually returned with the garbage.
But why is this a problem that is only being talked about now? On the one hand, we hope, attention to the environment is growing, but above all the melting of the glaciers caused by the global warming is unearthing a "hidden" mass of waste, which has begun to accumulate since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reached the summit 66 years ago.
And it is not only a problem of the mountains: it is feared that the pollution on Everest also affects the water sources downstream.
All of this has to stop soon.
On the problem of pollution on Everest, read also:
- Everest transformed into the highest garbage dump in the world
- Everest covered in human waste and excrement
Roberta de carolis
Cover: Phys.org
