14 DAY TRIAL // Authorities in Nepal are dead set on keeping Mount Everest clean. To this end, they have recently rolled out a new set of rules saying that those who climb it must return to base camp with 8 kilograms (almost 18 pounds) of trash.
Should some hikers decide to ignore these new regulations and show up at base camp empty-handed, they risk losing a $4,000 (€2,910) deposit.
Information shared with the public says that the requirement to return from exploring Mount Everest with 8 kilograms of litter will go into effect this coming April. According to Daily Mail, it will target climbers who venture beyond the base camp.
In an interview with the press, Madhusudan Burlakoti with the Tourism Ministry in Nepal explained that the purpose of these measures was to limit the impact of visits from hordes of tourists on local ecosystems.
The official further stressed that asking climbers to return to base camp with said amount of litter only meant asking them to clean after themselves.
Thus, it is estimated that, more often than not, tourists who go about exploring Mount Everest leave some 8 kilograms worth of trash, i.e. everything from food wrappers to shredded tents, behind them.
Otherwise put, the new rules and regulations will not exactly help clean up the region. They will, however, keep people from disposing of even more trash in the area.
“Our earlier efforts have not been very effective. This time, if climbers don't bring back garbage, we will take legal action and penalize them,” Madhusudan Burlakoti reportedly said in a statement.
Should several campaigns to collect the litter that is already lying on Mount Everest's slopes be carried out over the following years, it could happen that the region will eventually become trash-free.
In his interview, Madhusudan Burlakoti detailed that, once brought back to base camp, the 8 kilograms of trash would have to be turned in at an office expected to open sometime next month.
As was to be expected, green groups welcomed this initiative. Thus, Dawa Sherpa with Asian Trekking, an organization that currently organizes a yearly clean-up tour of the Everest, said that the new rules were, “an encouraging measure to try and keep the mountain clean.”
Since 2008, when it was launched, Asian Trekking's Eco Everest Expedition has managed to rid the mountain of 15 tonnes of garbage, 600 kilograms of human waste and even 6 bodies. Still, it would appear that there is plenty of trash left.