Everest Environmental Expedition
Everest E nviron m ental Expedition B ob M c C o n n e l l and L iz N ic h o l
O N T H E N O R T H E R N FLA N K O F EV ER EST, popular trekking and clim bing areas have been scoured clean by a m ulti-national expedition, the first targeted solely at cleaning up this side o f the w orld’s highest peak. O ur expedition consisted o f a staff o f seven, which included A m erican, British and E cuadorian m em bers. Both the B ritish and the E cuadorian actually reside in the G alá pagos Islands, w here they are professional photographers and guides. In addition to our staff o f seven, we brought in one seventeen-m em ber group o f trekkers and another o f thirteen. We also hired tw enty-three T ibetans to w ork in various capacities such as cooks, drivers or yak drivers. The expedition returned to the U nited States on A ugust 21 after spending six w eeks collecting and bagging well over a ton o f trash and hauling it dow n. This had been left by previous clim bers and trekkers. The expedition included Tom L eech, an artist and paper m aker from C olorado Springs, who taught m onks from the Rongbuk M onastery to m ake paper using w aste products found on the m ountain. O ther trash w as carried dow n by backpack, yak, tractor and truck. At present, recycling in T ibet is lim ited and so the trash was deposited in a landfill near X egar, about 110 kilom eters from the Rongbuk Base Cam p. The trash bags will be reused by the new ly established C hom olangm a N ature Preserve officials. The expedition donated a truck w hich will be used by Preserve officials for the regular rem oval o f trash in the future. D uring 700 person-days, we built eleven stone holding areas for the tem porary storage o f trash as it accum ulates. We are extrem ely encouraged by the cooperation and enthusiasm o f local and regional officials with w hom we are proud to have w orked on this project. Preserve officials sought creative solutions to problem s o f trash and hum an w aste gener ated by foreign visitors to their beautiful m ountains. Trekkers and expedition m em bers m ust assum e responsibility for preserving the beautiful yet fragile environm ents in w hich they travel. We shall recom m end to host nations around the w orld to establish codes o f environm ental ethics for visitors; m ake a call to travelers around the w orld voluntarily to com ply with these codes; strongly suggest that sponsors o f future expeditions inquire o f those seeking sponsorship how they plan to deal w ith environm ental issues before
sponsorship is granted; and finally urge clim bing organizations to support the enforcem ent by host nations o f environm ental codes o f ethics by fines, expulsion from protected or pristine areas o r denial o f future visas or clim bing perm its w hen voluntary com pliance is not forthcom ing. T hese codes should em body the concepts o f “pack-it-in, p ack -it-o u t,” respect for local custom s and beliefs such as those related to the protection o f w ildlife and burning garbage, reduction o f the quantity o f packing m aterials, food and equipm ent taken into developing countries and the preparation o f w aste m anagem ent plans as part o f pre departure planning. O nly if each one o f us w ho visits M ount E verest or any o f the beautiful rem ote areas o f the w orld shoulders the individual responsibility to leave no trace o f our passing will these areas be preserved for our children to enjoy. Now, m ore than ever, as the num ber o f visitors increases, we m ust adopt the sim ple rule: Take only pictures; leave only fo o tp rin ts.
O N T H E N O R T H E R N FLA N K O F EV ER EST, popular trekking and clim bing areas have been scoured clean by a m ulti-national expedition, the first targeted solely at cleaning up this side o f the w orld’s highest peak. O ur expedition consisted o f a staff o f seven, which included A m erican, British and E cuadorian m em bers. Both the B ritish and the E cuadorian actually reside in the G alá pagos Islands, w here they are professional photographers and guides. In addition to our staff o f seven, we brought in one seventeen-m em ber group o f trekkers and another o f thirteen. We also hired tw enty-three T ibetans to w ork in various capacities such as cooks, drivers or yak drivers. The expedition returned to the U nited States on A ugust 21 after spending six w eeks collecting and bagging well over a ton o f trash and hauling it dow n. This had been left by previous clim bers and trekkers. The expedition included Tom L eech, an artist and paper m aker from C olorado Springs, who taught m onks from the Rongbuk M onastery to m ake paper using w aste products found on the m ountain. O ther trash w as carried dow n by backpack, yak, tractor and truck. At present, recycling in T ibet is lim ited and so the trash was deposited in a landfill near X egar, about 110 kilom eters from the Rongbuk Base Cam p. The trash bags will be reused by the new ly established C hom olangm a N ature Preserve officials. The expedition donated a truck w hich will be used by Preserve officials for the regular rem oval o f trash in the future. D uring 700 person-days, we built eleven stone holding areas for the tem porary storage o f trash as it accum ulates. We are extrem ely encouraged by the cooperation and enthusiasm o f local and regional officials with w hom we are proud to have w orked on this project. Preserve officials sought creative solutions to problem s o f trash and hum an w aste gener ated by foreign visitors to their beautiful m ountains. Trekkers and expedition m em bers m ust assum e responsibility for preserving the beautiful yet fragile environm ents in w hich they travel. We shall recom m end to host nations around the w orld to establish codes o f environm ental ethics for visitors; m ake a call to travelers around the w orld voluntarily to com ply with these codes; strongly suggest that sponsors o f future expeditions inquire o f those seeking sponsorship how they plan to deal w ith environm ental issues before
sponsorship is granted; and finally urge clim bing organizations to support the enforcem ent by host nations o f environm ental codes o f ethics by fines, expulsion from protected or pristine areas o r denial o f future visas or clim bing perm its w hen voluntary com pliance is not forthcom ing. T hese codes should em body the concepts o f “pack-it-in, p ack -it-o u t,” respect for local custom s and beliefs such as those related to the protection o f w ildlife and burning garbage, reduction o f the quantity o f packing m aterials, food and equipm ent taken into developing countries and the preparation o f w aste m anagem ent plans as part o f pre departure planning. O nly if each one o f us w ho visits M ount E verest or any o f the beautiful rem ote areas o f the w orld shoulders the individual responsibility to leave no trace o f our passing will these areas be preserved for our children to enjoy. Now, m ore than ever, as the num ber o f visitors increases, we m ust adopt the sim ple rule: Take only pictures; leave only fo o tp rin ts.
