Nepalese climbers remove 2.2 tons of waste from Everest in 47 days amid COVID lockdown

Nepalese climbers have managed to remove 2.2 tons of waste from base camps of the world’s highest mountain peaks in the Himalayas in less than 47 days. 12 Nepalese climbers covered a total distance of more than 450 kilometres on all 8,000m peaks around Mount Everest. The initiative, launched by Bally Peak Outlook Foundation, began in September 2020 when official trails in the mountains were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 10,000 expeditions have attempted to climb Mount Everest since 1905. The expedition starts by setting up camps at the base of the mountains, which goes on to become polluted in the process. 

The cleanliness drive that was slated to start in early 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic. According to the Bally Peak Outlook Foundation, the expedition team managed to clean up base camps of Cho Oyu (8,188m), Everest (8,848m), Lhotse (8,516m), and Makalu (8,485m) in the Himalayas. The inaugural clean-up drive was led by environmental activist and mountaineer Dawa Steven Sherpa and his team of professional climbers, cleaners, sorters, packers, porters, a group whose income source has been significantly impacted by the pandemic. 

The project also helped local communities

The Bally Peak Outlook Foundation was able to provide income to the affected communities that live around the world’s highest mountain peak. Nepal’s tourism industry is a major contributor to the country’s GDP and since the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease, the sector has suffered enormous damage. The Bally Peak Outlook Foundation was able to lessen the impact by providing employment to the affected communities. 

But, most importantly the project was able to restore the base camps to their natural state by cleaning up the garbage, which includes food waste, batteries, beer cans, oxygen cylinders, human waste, plastic, batteries, etc. According to Bally Peak Outlook Foundation, the second phase of the project will continue in 2021, under which teams will clean up the base camps of Kanchenjunga (8,586m), Dhaulagiri (8,167m), Manaslu (8,156m), Annapurna (8,091m), as well as Everest for a third time.

(Image Credit: Bally/Website)