“There is only one Qinling. We must cherish her. We hope everyone who enters the mountains takes all their belongings with them and does not leave behind new trash or pollution.” Yesterday, the Qinling “Clean-up Crew” environmental volunteer activity was held, with over 700 volunteers from multiple outdoor clubs across the province giving the Qinling Mountains a thorough “cleaning.”
Five teams of “Clean-up Crew” clean along the routes
Volunteers cleaned in designated areas as per prior arrangements. At around 8 a.m. yesterday, our reporter joined the main group of volunteers near the east gate of the Provincial Stadium and headed for the Qinling Mountains. According to the plan, the volunteer environmental cleanup route was divided into five sections: Ziwu Valley, Baolong Valley, Shaochai Valley, Shangluo Jinsixia, and Baoji Xiejiatan. At around 10 a.m., our reporter followed a team of 120 volunteers who started from the back valley entrance of Baolong Valley. This area is a popular spot for outdoor leisure, and along the way, soft lunchboxes, instant noodle containers, food packaging bags, and general household waste could be seen everywhere.
“Many people just throw things away casually. It might be convenient for them, but they don’t realize how many years it will take for that trash to decompose. The amount just keeps growing,” said a volunteer from the Mountain People Outdoor Club. “They treat the Qinling Mountains like a garbage dump.”
Volunteers walked up the mountain paths, cleaning in small groups. The trash thrown into the woods beside the path was the hardest to clean up. Volunteers had to crouch down and walk several steps into the underbrush with trash bags to collect the litter, and many got their hands and clothes scratched. Among the collected trash, food packaging waste made up the majority, with over 60% consisting of plastic bags and similar items.
Volunteers remind hikers not to litter again
To ensure the safety of the volunteers in the wilderness, the Shaanxi EPV Outdoor Rescue Team deployed over 30 members to provide full safety support. The team leader, Shark, and others also set up a radio relay station at the foot of the mountain to monitor the location of the various volunteer teams in real time.
The volunteers our reporter followed picked up trash all the way up the mountain, carefully wrapping full bags and carrying them down the mountain later.
During breaks, the collected trash in the area was placed in deep pits and burned and buried after fire prevention measures were taken. Then, some more physically fit volunteers continued onward. As the altitude increased, the amount of trash gradually decreased. However, plastic waste could still be found. At an altitude of 1,600 meters, there were also several used empty high-altitude gas canisters. Trash near cliff edges was difficult to reach and clean.
“Wherever people go in the Qinling Mountains, there is trash. Even above an altitude of 3,700 meters on Mount Taibai, discarded trash can be seen,” the volunteers said.
By around 4 p.m. yesterday, the volunteers began to descend in an orderly manner, carrying trash bags. By around 8 p.m. last night, our reporter learned that just the team from Baolong Valley had collected over 500 bags of trash, weighing more than 200 kilograms. The volunteers reminded everyone that the Qinling Mountains are our home—please cherish them and stop littering.
By our reporter Gao Yue