Climbers have turned Everest into a garbage dump; sustainable solutions within reach
Spring is go time for climbers who hope to summit Mount Everest, Earth’s highest peak above sea level. from around the world travel to Asia in April and May, headed for base camps in Nepal and Tibet.
But jagged peaks won’t be the only thing they see. Especially on Everest’s more heavily traversed Nepal side, they’ll find fields of garbage – including cans, bottles, plastic and human and animal excrement.
Each year, more than 60,000 trekkers and climbers visit the , a high-altitude swath of the Khumbu region in northeast Nepal that includes Everest and seven other peaks. Some 400 to 500 climbers attempt to summit Everest every year.
The trash problem in the 1980s and 1990s, when climbing on the mountain and trekking in Khumbu began to increase. Climber and trekker numbers .
Most coverage of this issue focuses on negative and sensational aspects, such as the who remain where they died on the mountain because removal operations are risky and expensive.