Standing at almost 30,000 ft above the sea level, Mt Everest attracts thousands of high altitude climbers. Hence it is not surprising to know about all the waste left behind by trekkers.
There have been numerous clean-up drives on the mountain. The government of Nepal announced last year that 24,000 pounds of garbage (plastic water bottles, food wrappings, plastic wrappers, tattered tents, equipment, batteries and even human waste) was collected on a 45-day clean-up project. The pollution is so deep seated that a study that sampled 11 different snow regions of various altitudes found that they all contained microplastics.
In an effort to create awareness about this issue, the country has announced plans to convert all the trash into art in order to save the great mountain from turning into a dumping site.
The Himalayan Museum and Sustainable Park organised an initiative called Sagarmatha Next to find solutions for the pollution. The Sagarmatha Next center will exhibit an artwork of treasures created with the trash.
The exhibit of the art gallery will be open sometime in spring this year for locals. The aim is to show how we can generate employment opportunities and encourage sustainability by involving a number of local and foreign artists to create the artworks.
Another part of the initiative involves asking climbers to participate in a &ldquocarry me back&rdquo scheme, in which they are responsible for bringing a two-pound bag of trash back to the Lukla airport, a hub for visitors. From there, the trash will be flown to Kathmandu. The government hopes that involving tourists and visitors in the clean-up project will encourage sustainable tourism and waste management.
