According to a report by Southern Metropolis Daily, Zhang Mingxing, head of the Office of the Mountaineering Management Center of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said efforts to clean up trash on Mount Everest will be strengthened. It has been planned to start charging climbers an environmental fee from this year and then organize a special cleanup operation for Everest trash.
Nepal’s mountaineering season began this week. A recent article in The Guardian cited the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association as saying that although temporary toilets have been set up at base camp and climbers are required to carry their trash down the mountain, a lot of human waste is still left along the climbing route. This not only pollutes the local environment but could even spread diseases on the roof of the world.
Zhang Mingxing said, “Last year the mountaineering management center also worked with the Everest Nature Reserve to organize personnel and yaks to specifically handle the trash around the base camp and advance base camp.” To ensure this work can be carried out in the long term, it has been planned to start charging climbers an environmental fee of $100 to $200 per person from this year.