Save the Everest 2011: Improving Waste Management in Nepal

I recently returned from a month in Nepal, where I worked to help establish the Nepal Ambulance Service (NAS).  Because we had some time off for official holidays in Nepal, a group of ten trekkers was able to complete a fabulous journey in the Solu Khumbu region, meeting wonderful local people and enjoying magnificent scenery of villages and mountains. The trip was organized by my good friend Wongchu Sherpa of Peak Promotion Pvt. Ltd. of Nepal, who accompanied us in order to show us this area, where he spent much of his childhood. 

After the trek, during the week that I was finishing up the teaching and examinations of the emergency medical technicians (EMT) who comprised the first class of EMTs for the NAS, Wongchu invited me to sit in on a meeting of the organizing committee for the “Save the Everest 2011” Mission, which is a very ambitious program intended to clean the trail from Lukla to Everest Base Camp. This is being done in conjunction with “Nepal Tourism Year 2011.” The intent of the “Save the Everest 2011” Mission is first to be successful, then to use the program as an example throughout Nepal in order to promote environmental awareness and enlightened waste management by local people. During the meeting, I was impressed by the determination and dedication of the people who care so much about the environmental fate of their country.

The implementing organization for this program is the Everest Summiteers Association, with partnership and support from many other organizations in Nepal, including the Lions Club, Himalayan Rescue Association, Nepal Tourism Board, Nepal Mountaineering Association, and Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal. Other supporters include Steve Perryman Sport Travel AB of Sweden and Eco Himal of Austria. While the initial efforts will coincide with an official year celebrating tourism in Nepal, everyone realizes that this is much more than a single year’s effort. The cleaning activities and eco-friendly behaviors must be maintained in perpetuity to have a lasting effect. The organizers are committed to continuing the program until the mission is accomplished. Generations of local people and tourists must come to understand that each and every individual must do their part to avoid turning the most popular trails in Nepal into highways of discarded trash.

The preliminary brochure is telling. Since May 29, 1953, when Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary became the first known climbers to summit the peak of Mt. Everest, more than 2,693 mountaineers have successfully climbed Mount Everest from the Nepal side. When one considers the numbers of support persons and sightseers who have followed the main routes to Everest Base Camp and the amount of garbage that has been discarded without concern for its removal, it becomes clear that the cleanup will be a hugely important undertaking.

The goals are to remove at least eight tons of garbage the first year, and more thereafter. From base camp and high camp, the focus will be on discarded mountaineering equipment, such as oxygen cylinders and camping equipment. From the trail itself, there is litter, shed clothing, appliances, and more that must be removed.  Having seen the mountains of trash that are accumulated in Kathmandu and in virtually every nearby community—for which sanitation has no priority—it is clear to me that the project managers of “Save the Everest 2011” have their work cut out for them. However, having observed Wongchu Sherpa’s “can do” approach to solving problems, and having listened to the thoughtful commentary and witnessed the excitement of the planning committee, I believe that there is a good chance that this project will be successful.