Big spring clean on Mount Everest
AMSTERDAM – Cleaning up litter in your street is one thing, cleaning up litter nearly 9,000 meters up a dangerous mountain is quite another. But, that’s exactly what the world’s most experienced Sherpa, Appa Sherpa, is doing this year. He’s teamed up with the Eco Everest expedition for his 19th climb of Mount Everest.
The expedition is to highlight the devastating effects of global warming on Mount Everest and clean up some of the 50 tonnes of trash lining the route to the summit.
Last year in a similar expedition, Eco Everest collected nearly 1000 pounds of waste. The situation is so bad that the organisation is preparing an ‘Eco Code of Conduct’ for mountain climbers.
Appa is on his way up the mountain as we speak. Next time you’re wheezing up the stairs, spare a thought for our little Nepalese cleaning hero!
What a welcome initiative. Unfortunately its like this on all big mountains where hikers come. Half a million people ‘climb’ the Kilimanjaro each year and the waste along the track is incredible. I think making people award by these kind of initiatives of locals are the only way (besides huge penalties)