The trouble with rubbish at higher elevations is that what goes up, often doesn’t come down. Volunteers are aiming to gather up ten tons of garbage left lying in the Alps by the end of this summer. That could be just the tip of the ‘mountain’. Nowhere has the problem been more in the spotlight than on Everest where hundreds of climbers set out each spring to get to the top of the world’s highest peak. The discarded tents, ropes, food containers, and empty oxygen tanks (not to mention human faeces) became such a problem that a few years ago Nepal’s government decided to introduce a $4,000 deposit per expedition team, only refunded if the group returns with an amount of waste in kg that corresponds to the average amount each person produces during a climb. No such fee is demanded of climbers and hikers in Switzerland, and theoretically piles of leftover garbage shouldn’t be an issue here. There is no need in the comparably low-lying Alps to haul up heavy gear, let alone oxygen...
