Pollution At Everest

It might come as no surprise that above Everest Base Camp, there are no toilets. Also, in the rarefied atmosphere where every step is laborious and your life hangs in the balance, very few can afford the good sense of bringing their garbage back down. Hence, in the four camps above base camp, the pile of poop is rising and the trail to the top is landmarked with dead bodies and oxygen cylinders. And so big is the problem that the 'safety' card doesn't cut it anymore. As such, various measures have been put in place to control this degradation. Among others, expedition are required to deposit a refundable fee. The amount that is returned depends upon the amount of waste they bring back. Expedition are also increasingly using various kinds of bags to bring human waste down to base camp. Also noteworthy is the work being done by Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC). They oversee trail clean up till Everest Base Camp after each season and also maintain most of the dustbins you saw along the trail. If you are looking for a great cause to donate stop by their office at Namche. Also, dedicated cleanup campaigns run by various organizations is also helping reduce pollution in Everest.