To many climbers and guides are leaving their waste behind at the Mount Everest. The chief of Nepal’s mountaineering association, Ang Tshering is concerned because this might infect the environment and may cause diseases. More than 700 climbers and their guides leave their feces and urine on the slopes while they spend their 2 months climbing the mountain. The issue of climbers leaving their wastes has not been addressed so far.
He suggests government should make regulations on climbers to dispose of their wastes so that the mountain is clean and hygiene friendly. Mountaineering season in Nepal has begun already this week and will be on till May. There are four camps set up between the base camp at 7,380ft and the 29,035ft summit. These camps are equiped with tents and other essentials besides proper toilets.
“Climbers usually dig holes in the snow for their toilet use and leave the human waste there. The waste has been piling up near the camps.”
The base camp has porters, cooks and support staff during the climbing season. There are metal drums to through the waste. When the drums are full, they are taken to the lower area to get all the waste disposed.
Dawa Steven Sherpa, who leads the Everest cleanup expedition told that the climbers carry disposable travel toilet bags to use in the higher camps and these bags can create major health issues around the camps.
Puspa Raj Katuwal, the head of the government’s Mountaineering Department told that they are keeping a check on the climbers and climbers are being told to carry base camp 8kgs (18 pounds) of trash, an estimate of trash one climber will have during the expedition. Climbing teams will also leave $4000 dollars which will be taken if they fail to bring back the trash and comply with the rules.
