It is a misconception that being a vegan is expensive. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need exotic ingredients to replace the non-vegan ones. So, it’s a myth that traveling as a vegan is difficult. It is not.

In this blog, vegans from Indiahikes offer the best way to go about it by sharing tips, tricks, recipes and ingredients that are readily available, easy to use and delicious to consume.

Is it really difficult to travel as a vegan?

It is easy to be a vegan in India. You will find many dishes that don’t involve animal products. But what about dishes that do?

“The problem lies in finding vegan alternatives for non-vegan food. Outside metro cities, especially en route to a remote Himalayan basecamp, you may not find alternatives to your vegan menu. In that case, you need to prepare and carry your vegan items with you” says Venkat Ganesh, Head of Training at Indiahikes.

This is where the experience and creativity of vegans come into play.

Vegans at Indiahikes have been traveling within the country and even internationally. Here they share recipes of their favourite vegan snacks that are delicious and easy-to-make. We will get to that in a while. First, let’s start with travel hacks that vegans at Indiahikes swear by.

The travel kit of a vegan. Image shared by Lakshmi Selvakumaran

5 Great Travel Hacks for Vegan Travellers 

1. Carry Vegan Snacks – Keep home-made snacks handy for times when your stomach starts rumbling between meals. This could be before a trek, on the way to the base camp,  or even in between campsites when you are on the trek.

For such times, pack snacks like — nuts, fruit, bread, seeds, cereal bars, and biscuits.

2. Know the local phrases – If you are traveling in the same country you are residing, you may not face any problem communicating with the local people. But while traveling abroad, you must be acquainted with the local vernacular when you ask for the local vegan menu.

“Most eateries do veganize their menu upon request. But it would be important to ask if the items have any dairy product in them and ask them to swap it for non-vegan ingredients.  This can be done for items where the dairy item is applied topically — like aloo paratha, no cheese in a burger, no cheese in pasta, etc.

In India, places like Rishikesh, Manali have lots of restaurants that offer a full vegan menu.” says Lakshmi Selvakumaran, Head of Experience at Indiahikes.

3. Pack vegan toiletries – Toiletries are also as necessary as food. Therefore, you have to pack your vegan toiletries beforehand. In a country like India, you don’t need to worry, but in a few countries (like China) you need to be mindful before buying the toiletries from a local shop.

4. Locate the fruits market – It is most common in all the places. Even if you are traveling to the base camp, you can quickly locate a local fruit shop, and stroll in for a quick, healthy vegan snack.

5. Check Mobile Apps – Here, technology offers you a helping hand to maintain your vegan diet. Before you are traveling, install the apps like HappyCow (Android/iOS), goVegn (iOS), or Vegman (iOS) on your phone. You just need to update your present location, and you can find the vegan restaurant locations around you. 

Hacks are good, and the best one involves making your own snacks. “I feel it is the best way to ensure a healthy meal along the way. Especially while going on a trek because where you are taking your own cutlery, this can be done easily,” says Lakshmi.

In fact, Lakshmi has a quick recipe for delicious Vegan Millet Cookies. And it takes only 25 minutes to prepare! They are easy to make and super-easy to carry when you are travelling. 

Listen to Lakshmi’s instructions in this audio on how to make these vegan cookies.

As a vegan traveller, preparation is the key. It ensures that your snacks last throughout the trip.

Preparation also helps in minimising plastic waste. Being a responsible outdoor enthusiast, you must avoid plastic-wrapped package food in the mountains.

That brings us to the prime question on every vegan’s mind:

Let’s divide the vegan menu into broad categories of proteins, carbohydrates, grains, fats and fibres. 

Your packing plan should balance all these ingredients in the food. A plan which leans towards one kind of nutrient and away from others won’t fulfill the nutritional requirement of your body. This can affect your strength and immunity when you are travelling and trekking. 

For directions, observe what your body needs from time to time. 

“As we need to have proper nutrients from the foods, I search for alternative home-made vegan recipes. For munching, I keep dry fruits handy. For sweet, I keep some jaggery to satisfy sweet cravings,” says Senior Trek Leader Dushyant Sharma. 

Dushyant has a favourite vegan, high energy mixture that he carries everywhere. It is super-easy to make. In this audio, he takes you through the entire process.

Indiahikes · Vegan Mixture With Dry Fruits

Protip Pack them in a reusable container to avoid plastic. Decrease your carbon footprint.

Coming back to the menu, if you are not mindful, you may end up eating the same food day after day. That gets monotonous. This is why you must mix up the variety. For this, it is important to have a rough idea of what comes under nutritional categories which are given below.

Note: If you are open to dehydrating food, then you may dehydrate and take the following sources of protein. They are great to mix and match and prevent your menu from getting monotonous.

1. Dehydrated Beans: Dehydrated beans are high on protein, fiber, calories. This is a ubiquitous camp recipe. Try to arrange dehydrated refried beans — pinto or black beans, depending on your requirement and your trip length.

2. Gojjus/Chutneys: You can enjoy these with rice, whole-grain crackers, sandwich thins, or chapatis. It is easy to cook, flavourful and last really long.

3. Bean Flakes and Split Lentils: You can have both carbohydrates and protein benefits with them. You may pack pre-cooked dehydrated lentils or faster cooking red split lentils. Those will take less time to cook in your outdoor camp.

1. Semolina flour (Rawa): This is an excellent source of protein and can be used as a base to prepare a variety of dishes. All you need 

2. Oatmeal: Oat is a combination of high protein and fiber. With the porridge texture, oatmeal is inexpensive and convenient for backpacking.

3. Roasted Wheat:  Simply roast the wheat grains till they are crispy. You can have them as a snack as you travel. They are flavourful and very nutritious. 

1. Peanut Butter: It is the alternative to dairy butter, and you can put it in oatmeal, on a flatbread, or eat directly. When you are on the city’s outskirts, you may not find the right alternative to dairy butter. Therefore, it is prudent to carry peanut butter. If you are allergic to peanuts, you can find almond, sunflower, or cashew butter options. These are the sources of high calories and fat to satisfy your heavy meal.

2. Fruits, nuts, and veggies: Cashew, raisin, apricots, etc. are convenient for backpacking. For DIY weekend treks, you can use them as the trail-mix. They are good to eat and a high resource of calories. Nuts contain a low glycemic index and contain many antioxidants, vegetable protein, fiber, minerals, and healthy fatty acids, and they are quite resourceful to generate your energy.

│ Note: Avoid classic vegan crutches: It is always advisable to avoid a vegan diet of simple starches or sugary food. You must treat your body well to cope with the exhaustion due to hiking. You can save some Oreo to instill some energy at the end of the day.

1. Banana Chips: If you are looking for snacks full of starch and fiber, try some banana chips as your evening snacks outdoors.

2. Home-made Energy Bars: Energy Bars are relatively easy to prepare at home. You need to grind peanuts, almonds, chia, sesame, poppy seeds, flax seeds, and make bars with liquid chocolates. These are a quick source of energy.

Izzat Yaganagi, Head of Experiential Program at Indiahikes has a lovely recipe for an energy bar with a very interesting name. It is sweet, vegan and quite easy to make. Listen to this audio by Izzat to know how to make it.

Indiahikes · Vegan Energy Bar With Dates

With that, we come to the end of this blog. Does being vegan still feel difficult? If you are facing any challenges while designing a menu for your vegan travels, drop your problem in the comments and vegans at Indiahikes will promptly come to your rescue.

Happy trekking! And, happy World Vegan Day!

Find the vegan menu while travelling may be a challenge. Get some practical travel hacks to enjoy your vegan dish on World Vegan Day.

World Vegan Day Special – Practical Travel Hacks from Vegan Indiahikers

Menstrual cups have been around since the 1930s to my knowledge (at least in the US). But they continue to be a niche. The reasons for this probably reside in deeply rooted taboos surrounding period management and the market power of sanitary article companies. 

I was introduced to the cup by a friend, about 14 months ago. And my experience has been surprisingly positive! I had used tampons for about 15 years, and I was never really happy with them (due to the sometimes dry and itchy feeling they cause, and due to some limitations while doing sports).

Menstrual cups are great alternatives to pads and tampons. They leave no inorganic waste behind and are safer to use.

Hence, I would like to share my personal experience to debunk some of the myths about this, perhaps underestimated, product. Every woman is different, and preferences are different, too. Feel encouraged to try something new!

This is a personal account, not medical advice. Please consult your gynaecologist for health-related concerns.

Why use a menstrual cup in the outdoors? 

1. A menstrual cup can hold blood longer on average as compared to tampons. Despite my heavier flow, I still feel that I need to change less often as compared to tampons. 

2. The cup “blends in” with my body quite smoothly, thanks to its flexible material and soft surface. Hence, when I’m moving and stretching, it feels very natural and comfortable. In fact, most of the time I don’t feel it at all (which for me, was different for tampons).

3. It does create far less trash compared to tampons and pads. The blood is natural, and direct disposal should not pose a problem for the environment. This is a big advantage when you’re out for a multi-day trek and/or camping.

4. If you are confident with the cup, you might have less things to carry as compared to pads and tampons. You need your cup(s), drinking water, and some paper tissues for cleaning.

Using menstrual cups, you have to carry lesser paraphernalia in your backpack.

How do you sanitise them? How do you dispose of the sanitary waste?

Step 1: Before you take the cup out, always wash and/or disinfect your hands.

Step 2: You need clean/drinking water to rinse and wash it. Take a small bottle of drinking water with you when you are changing it.

Step 3: Warm water might feel more comfortable because it warms the cup before you put it back in, but it is not a requirement. Alternatively, you can also wipe it dry with tissues if there is no water available. Then rinse it with clean water the next time you take it out. I use a combination of drinking water and paper tissues.

Step 4: Take a plastic ziplock bag with you to dispose of dirty tissues, until you find a trash bin.

Step 5: Wash your hands after the procedure.

Step 6: After the end of your period, you disinfect the cup by boiling it for 10 minutes in a pot of water (or about 2 to 3 minutes in a container with water in the microwave).

Step 7: If you are still in the outdoors when your period ends, rinse it thoroughly with water and wipe it dry. Store it in a light, closable (but breathable!) cotton bag until you are back home or at a place where you can conduct the above mentioned cleaning ritual.

Tip: Do not use disinfection wipes to clean the cup if you put it back in afterwards (alcohol and fragrance compounds may irritate or damage your vaginal flora).

In general, no. As stated in section 1, it starts fitting quite smoothly after some practice. Before inserting the cup, fold it (check online for different folding options). It opens up inside your body.

While inserting the cup, you might feel it is too big to fit in. There might be a moment when you feel some back pressure. However, this gets resolved a soon as you relax your pelvic floor muscles. Making the cup wet before inserting it might help, too.

What some women may consider a disadvantage is the fact that it takes longer to insert the cup because you need to fold and adjust it. Also, cleaning the cup may take another 2 to 3 minutes. 

You need to touch yourself more to make it fit and to check if the cup has opened up inside. This might feel strange at first. I got used to it very quickly. In fact, it improved my body consciousness! The cup does not make your vaginal flora dry during the period. Hence, it may improve your vaginal flora over time.

This requires some experience. Knowing your cycle, your timing of the lighter and the heavier days, you can rely on your previous experience using tampons or pads. On average, the cup should hold the blood for a bit longer than a tampon.

For me, it is quite an intuitive feeling. It starts feeling a little “heavy” when it’s getting full.

To be on the safe side, use a pad or tissues in addition to the cup during the heavier days.

If you’re in the outdoors, and you can’t remove it, what do you do? 

The same thing you would do using pads or tampons – try to get a pee break as soon as possible and put some additional pads or tissues in your underpants, just to prevent the blood from leaking any further.

Talk to one of your hiking mates or to your guide. Tell them that you got your period. Having your period on a trek or adventure trip is a very common thing to happen. Many women have been there! Most people will be empathetic and ready to help.

Can you use a menstrual cup when you have a urinary tract infection, or if you’re generally prone to UTI?

Since I haven’t suffered from UTI in the last 10 years, I asked my gynaecologist (licensed by the state in Germany) for advice. She says, “When you have a UTI, do not use the menstrual cup.”

If you often contract UTIs, it is best to only use the cup for shorter periods of time to prevent infections.. Change it every 2 to 4 hours, if possible.

Some people may contract UTIs more often when they use the menstrual cup. This is because the cup may put pressure on your urethra and trap urine in your urethra or bladder. Bacteria can get trapped more easily, too. In that case, use a smaller or differently shaped cup. However, if it doesn’t work at all, the cup might not be the best solution for you.

Any tips for those who consider using it while trekking?

Cups come in different sizes, for the lighter and the heavier days.

Practice using a cup in everyday life, and see if it works for you in general, before going on a trek.

If you’re not sure (yet), use a combination of the cup and pads. Bring some tampons for situations in which you can’t insert the cup.

Search the internet for more information, testimonials, and instructions of use. Ask other women (e.g. me).

I recently discussed cup usage with 3 other women I had met at a conference. 2 of the 3 happened to use cups, both of them affirming an overall positive experience with it.

At the end of the day, it is really your decision based on what you feel most comfortable with. Which product do you trust the most?

Trekker Tanja Matheis tells us why menstrual cups are great alternatives to pads and tampons. She also puts down tips on how to use them on a trek.

Why Menstrual Cups Are Great Alternatives To Pads And Tampons On Treks

Before going on a trek, most people swarm the supermarket to load up on namkeen, chips and cream biscuits as snacks for their treks, instead of healthy snacks like trail mix or Protein Bars. We have seen backpacks spilling with packets of junk.

But all this junk food isn’t just additional weight for your backpack. Carrying these above 4,000 ft. wouldn’t serve the purpose of keeping you satisfied for long. And, not to forget, the empty calories only add further weight to your body.

While trekking, your body is constantly working up a sweat and consuming energy. Since humidity levels are much lower in the mountains, you might not even feel the sweating. You need to refuel your body at regular intervals in order to keep it going.

Eating heavy meals at high altitudes isn’t a good idea either. Yes, the cold will make you hungry. But you still have to digest all that food. Low oxygen levels make it difficult for the body to digest food. The oxygen levels, as you know, only drop as you go higher.

So avoid having three heavy meals. Break these down into six small meals instead. This is where protein bars come in. To break the monotony of the meals, you can have a couple of protein bars.

Well, for starters, they are healthy. They are certainly the most efficient snacks to carry on a trek, and take up much lesser space. Also, they taste good when frozen (which also means that they have a good shelf life). They keep you satisfied for long.

Besides, you don’t want to increase the number of plastic wrappers up on the mountains. As a part of the Green Trails initiative, we actively discourage packaged foods because of the plastic used in the packaging. You can carry protein bars in zip-lock pouches which can be reused. That ticks all our boxes of portability, storage, eco-friendliness, taste and health.

Most protein bars available in the markets are expensive. This could be discouraging for those of us who want to eat clean. So we’ve specially designed recipes for protein bars that can be carried on high altitude treks.

These can be made with easily available, store-bought ingredients and require little or no baking time. So they don’t burn a hole in your pocket. On your next trek, make some space in your backpack to tuck some of these homemade protein bars.

The sattu & oats protein bar is a surprisingly tasty treat. I’m sure you wouldn’t look at the humble sattu the same way again. Bursting with flavor, this protein bar has the texture of a soft cookie.

1. Mix all the dry and wet ingredients separately, and combine them later.

Recipe by Chaitali Raizada, founder of Taantraa Organic Baking.

This one is simple with minimum ingredients and no baking time. I used to make these to last me for atleast a week during my days of being a gym rat. 

a wooden spoon, mix in the dates and nuts

The soya chunks and peanut protein bar looks like a gooey brownie and tastes like one too. This one will be a hit with those who enjoy dark or bitter chocolate, and who are not afraid to experiment with textures. Keep these airtight to make sure they remain crisp even at extremely low temperatures.

1. Heat the water and add the soya granules to it. This will soften the soya.

Recipe by Chaitali Raizada, founder of Taantraa Organic Baking.

This is a classic. Who doesn’t love granola bars! The pastry flour makes them high carb, which is perfect for high altitudes.

1. Preheat oven to 94°C. Line a 9- by 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper / butter paper.

So here are the easy-to-make Protein Bars that you can carry on your next trek and say no to packaged snacks, forever!

Have you tried any other DIY on-the-go snack recipes? Let us know in the comments below.

Here are a few healthy protein bar recipes that you can make and take on your trek. These are greener alternatives to packaged protein bars.

4 Healthy Protein Bar Recipes for Trekkers

I‘m Only One Person, What Impact Could I Possibly Have?”

This is a question that many of our trekkers have as they listen to the their trek leader who passionately talks about our Green Trails program during the pre-trek briefing.

Firstly, you have paid 10,000+ INR to come on a vacation; to experience nature in its purest form, to escape your nagging boss’ emails piling up in your inbox. And quite possibly, to enjoy some of Indiahikes’ signature sweets above 14,000 ft – not to pick up trash! Secondly, even if you do agree to become a mountain trash man for the week, you can’t help but wonder, “What difference will it really make?”

On my recent trek to Hampta Pass, I decided to get to the bottom of this question. I wanted to find out the exact impact one person could really have on an Indiahikes trek.

My plan was simple. I would fill my EcoBag completely all five days of the trek. By the end of the first day I would dump all the collected waste into a sack at the campsite. I would carry the same sack with me each day to ensure I don’t lose track of my precious harvest from the previous days. 

At the end of the trek I would weigh the bag and analyze the contents to figure out how much impact I was able to make cleaning the mountains in just five days.

What was in my sack at the end of the trek?

To be more precise I had one hat, one pair of pants, three socks, three gloves, half a shoe, two shoe soles, one zipper, 18 plastic bottles, one glass bottle, two tin cans, six wet wipes, one toothbrush, one horseshoe, one sponge, one metal nail, one piece of a foam mattress, two handfuls of aluminum foil, seven cloth bags, one broken lighter, two lids for plastic jars, one plastic container, one toilet paper roll, one cardboard box, two matchboxes, 11 paper cups, 25 tetra packs, and 200 assorted plastic wrappers of chips, biscuits, tobacco products, maggi and more.

All this amounted to five kilos of trash! 

I was astounded by that number! That means that one person can collect one kg of waste per day by doing nothing more than filling their EcoBag completely. No big clean ups needed. Just simply taking the time to stuff your little green bag to the max each day.

For those who are worried about missing out on the  trek, I did not have to detract from other trek experiences in any way. I still had plenty of time to talk with trekkers, enjoy the views, and even take a quick power nap every afternoon! 

Now let’s imagine that all 13,427 people that trekked with Indiahikes in 2016 made it their personal mission to fill their EcoBag each day of the trek. With our trekkers on slope for an average of 5 days, we could have removed 67,135 kg of trash from the mountains!

While you might be impressed by reading that number (and you should be!), another thought might pop into your head: “So what?” 

Sure, trash is an eyesore in the mountains. I don’t think anyone wants to see a pile of Cadbury wrappers in their view when they’re walking through a majestic Himalayan wildflower meadow at 12,000 ft, but what if we just looked the other way? 

Often, when we talk about the negative environmental consequences of trash in the mountains, we spit off a list of the time it takes for products to decompose. A plastic bag takes 1 millennium, a glass bottle takes 1 million years, a tin can takes half a century, yada yada yada. 

But that answer leaves me unsatisfied, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one. 

I want to understand what impact trash has on the mountains during those years before it decomposes.

How does waste really impact mountain ecosystems?

Plastic is the most common source of trash in the mountains. It is also the most harmful. So for the sake of keeping this article short of a novel, we’ll only examine the impact of plastic waste on mountain ecosystems.

Let’s start with the soils and work our way up. 

In any land based ecosystem, soil is the foundation of all its life and productivity. Soil is where three elements – earth (dirt), air (oxygen) and water (moisture) come together to create sustainable conditions for life. 

Soil also creates the basis of any food chain. It is the small organisms and plants that live and grow in the soil that allow all other life to flourish. 

Without healthy soils in the mountains, you wouldn’t see the rainbow colored array of Himalayan wildflowers strewn about, the vast grass meadows spanning as far as the eye can see, or any of the beautiful song birds hopping around looking for tasty snacks.

Plastic causes soil erosion. It gets stuck in the soil, preventing permeability and water absorption. This makes the soil drier. The loose dry soil is easily carried away by harsh mountain winds and storms. The fertile topsoil gets eroded. This reduces the ability of the soil to sustain any vegetative life. 

Without any grass, shrubs, flowers, or trees, the soil becomes even more unsteady because there are no roots holding it in its place. This leads to even more erosion, causing the whole cycle to repeat itself.  

But it’s not just erosion that we have to worry about. 

Plastic is made up entirely of chemicals. Some of which are highly toxic. We’re talking about heavy hitters like lead, mercury, cadmium, and others that would scare the socks off of any sane toxicologist. 

Over time, as plastic starts to break down and degrade, these chemicals leach into the soil. When small organisms in the soil like insects and earthworms roam around looking for their afternoon snack, they often ingest these toxins. 

You might not care if a few earthworms die (even though they’re critical for soil health!). But I bet you’d care if you came across a dead Monal, the fantastically beautiful state bird of Uttarakhand, on your trek. Through a process called “biomagnification,” that is exactly what can happen when toxins enter the soil at the bottom of the food chain.

Ill-effects of plastic on mountain wildlife

It’s quite simple: earthworms consume toxins, and then Monals consume earthworms. The more earthworms they eat, the more toxins they accumulate in their body, and the more likely are they to face issues like reduced fertility. 

In this manner, toxins can move from the tiniest organisms in the environment to the largest, accumulating inside each of their bodies, causing a multitude of biological issues.

As for herbivores, they don’t get off easy either. As previously explained, soil erosion will lead to less vegetation, which means less food for other iconic animals like the Himalayan Blue Sheep. Even though some animals are lucky enough to escape the harmful toxins as they make their way up the food chain they might just get unlucky and consume them directly.

Let’s take birds for example. They are majestic creatures that people spend their entire lifetimes observing, studying and tracking. But let’s face it, they’re not the sharpest tools in the box. They lookout for shiny colors for food that can often be found on insects like Beetles. However, they can’t really tell the difference between the shine of a Beetles back, and the shine of a Pulse wrapper.

Once they consume these unpleasant plastic snacks, their digestive systems can’t break them down properly and they die. In the long run, plastic waste could significantly reduce the populations of mountain birds and mammals.

Birds tend to ingest plastic which eventually kills them. Picture by Ajit Hota

Deteriorating quality of water due to plastic

Thanks to gravity, whenever it rains, much of the waste scattered on the mountains gets carried along with the water flow into nearby streams. And just as plastics break down in the soils over time, they do the same thing in the mountain waterways that provide water for thousands of local villages throughout the Himalayas. 

Chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA), Diethylhexyl Pthalate (DEHP), Styrene, lead, mercury and cadmium get dissolved in the water which cause a nightmare-worthy range of human health issues like breast and prostate cancer, infertility, retarded mental function, birth defects, respiratory problems, immune system suppression, and endocrine disruption. 

This water ends up in the houses of the same adorable children you smile and wave at as you pass through villages along the trek.

And remember, much of the drinking water in India originates from these small mountain streams that accumulate into larger rivers as they flow downstream out of the Himalayas. As the water accumulates, so do those pesky chemicals, too. So you might be drinking the glass full of poison yourself! 

So the reason we can’t just “look the other way” when we see that pile of Cadbury wrappers in the wildflower meadow is that every time we pick up a piece of plastic waste in the mountains we’re protecting the future of that very same meadow. 

We’re preventing the death of the songbirds dancing in the sky above us and we’re helping the smiling local dhaba wallah who sold us a cup of chai stay healthy. 

That’s why we can’t just “look the other way.”

Just beside that pile of Cadbury wrappers you’re likely find a pile of half burnt Maggi packets. 

Rather than carrying waste down from mountains many people choose to light their trash aflame. 

While that prevents the negative consequences described above, it leads to a whole host of other equally damaging issues. It’s like choosing between being buried alive or burnt. Neither option is all that great.

Unsurprisingly, the same chemicals we find in water and soil when plastic degrades over time are released into the air when they’s burned. 

However, that’s not the end of it. Chemical reactions occur when the plastic is burned, transforming some of the already hazardous toxins into super toxins. 

One of the toxins produced is called “Dioxin.” 

Dioxin is one of the most dangerous chemicals known to mankind! It has been linked to numerous cancers. It has the ability to severely interfere with hormone production, weaken your immune system and cause reproductive issues. 

Burning plastic has another very undesirable effect. It is leading to the disappearance of our precious Himalayan glaciers.  Let’s think about it. Plastic is an oil based product. When we burn oil what is the number one chemical that is released? 

By now, the fact that man made CO2 emissions are the number one source of climate change is just about as obvious as saying 2+2=4. More CO2 in the air leads to more climate change. This is rapidly melting our glaciers and diminishing our water sources. 

Black carbon or soot also has a considerable impact. Soot is the black material you see rising with the smoke from a fire. This is also the reason your fingers get black when you touch the bottom of a pan after cooking over a wood fire. 

Soot is the result of imperfect combustion – not everything gets completely burned in a fire, some of it remains as microscopic black carbon particles that float into the air. This black carbon is one of the greatest unknown villains in the fight against climate change, and especially against melting glaciers.

The Gaumukh Glacier, one of the few glaciers in the Himalayas being affected by pollution in the Himalayas. Picture by Nitish Waila

White is a highly reflective color that doesn’t absorb much heat. So normally, the white snow of glaciers reflects UV rays, keeping them cool and intact. However, with more and more black carbon rising into the air from open trash (and wood/dung) fires in the Himalayas, a lot of soot is finding its final resting spot on the white glaciers and turning them black. 

Unlike white, black is the highest heat absorbing color. So when glaciers turn black, they absorb more UV rays and melt at an increased rate. Once the glaciers begin to melt, the dark rock is exposed underneath. This has a higher rate of heat absorption than the white snow leading to more melting, more exposed rock, and so on, until the glaciers completely disappear.

So, to answer your question: No, we can’t just burn it either. 

Which now leaves only one option for trash to leave the mountains, YOU!

“I’m only one person, what impact could I possibly have?”

After all that, lets return to the question plaguing the mind of the weary trekker, exhausted from the bumpy ten hour drive to base camp, listening to the trek leader who has now moved on to discussing the importance of evenly spreading cocopeat over poop in the toilet tent.

Yes, weary trekker, you are just one person. 

But with a modest effort, you can remove 1 kg of trash from the mountains each day of your trek; and with every piece of plastic put into your EcoBag, you are saving Himalayan vegetation, wildlife and villagers from having unfortunate ends. 

By forcing yourself to pay attention and to not “look the other way” you are preventing countless kilos of trash from being burned, releasing super toxins into the air that local children breathe in while walking to school. You are also protecting the glaciers capping our peaks from turning into puddles.

Always remember, you are far from one person. 

You are part of an army of Green Trails trekkers fighting to make our mountains cleaner. 

With all our eco-soldiers on board, we can remove 67,135 kilos from the mountains each year, and make the mountains feel like it is 1907 again. A time before plastic was invented!

So, my tired friend, to your question, “what difference will it really make?”

Ori Gutin explains how just one person can make a huge difference in preserving the ecosystem on the mountains. The statistics are going to surprise you.

How ONE person Can Change The Mountains In Just A Week

Maggi wrappers, old muddy underwear, empty whiskey bottles, and those half used wet-wipes you really don’t want to touch. Chances are that if you’ve been on a trek with us, you’ve seen at least one of these ugly unwanted guests in the otherwise drop-dead gorgeous scenery of the Himalayas.

You all know the story: Trekking in the Himalayas is growing faster than Justin Bieber’s ego, and with it, so are the number of the UUGs (ugly unwanted guests). Without intervention, these iconic mountains will soon resemble the very same dirty city streets you try to escape when you come on a trek.

So that is where YOU, the conscientious trekker, comes in.

With the help of your trusted Eco Bag (and the consistent reminders from your Trek Leader!) you, cold, out of breath and sometimes barely able to feel your legs, make the extra effort to bend over on the trail and pick up the “half used wet-wipe you really don’t want to touch” because you know that if you don’t, no one else will.

Thanks to the incredible commitment of our trekkers and mountain locals, Indiahikes has been able to remove roughly 6,000 kg of trash from the Himalayas each year. SIX THOUSAND KGS. Let’s take a second to think about that.

As a green trails trekker, you can only see a fraction of the positive impact you’re having on the mountains by picking up UUGs – the trail becomes a bit cleaner – but, that is far from the whole story. As you pick up each plastic wrapper, you can’t see thousands of other trekkers before and after you doing the same, and you can’t see the 6,000 kg leaving the mountains all at once. You don’t see that each and every single piece of trash removed from the mountains is one piece of trash NOT damaging soil and preventing future vegetative growth; NOT leaching chemicals into water sources and causing diseases for locals downstream; and, NOT harming wildlife that accidentally consumes it. But, nonetheless, that is exactly what your efforts lead to. Never forget that!

So, at Indiahikes, we would like to give each and every one of you a deep and heartfelt THANK YOU. Whether you’ve been on one or twenty treks with us, and whether you’ve picked up one piece of trash or five hundred, because of YOU the Himalayas are a better and more ecologically balanced place. And that is something truly commendable. Thank you.

But, just like your trek leader pushing you to keep on going at 15,000+ ft when it’s snowing, your legs are beat, and you can’t help but daydream of a hot shower, we’re not going to let you stop here. You’ve done an amazing job so far, but you’re still only at basecamp, and you’ve got a long way to go before you reach the Green Trails Summit.

We are challenging you to take the Green Trails spirit back home with you.

Let’s think of the whole of India as a Himalayan trek. It’s got beauty, culture, and a whole lot more. But just like trekking, the Indian population is skyrocketing. Soon enough, India could be the most populated country in the entire world! And as the population increases, unfortunately India is also experiencing some UUGs, but this time, they’re not just limited to Maggi wrappers, dirty old underwear, whiskey bottles, and that damn persistent half used wet-wipe.

Litter is definitely a HUGE problem, but issues like climate change, water scarcity and pollution, and resource depletion are also wreaking havoc. Just like in the Himalayas, without intervention, India could be in some seriously deep doo-doo. So that’s where YOU, the conscientious Indian citizen, comes in. (Sound familiar?)

Unfortunately, as much as we’d love to, Indiahikes cannot equip you with an Eco Bag or with encouraging Trek Leaders, Guides and Sweepers for life! Out of the mountains, things aren’t quite as simple as “see trash, pick it up.”

At home, living an environmentally conscious life requires a little more effort, but don’t worry, we won’t leave you empty handed. We can’t offer you an Eco Bag for life, but we can equip you with an “Eco Toolkit.” So, without further ado, here are Ten Ways to Keep the Green Trails Spirit Alive at Home.

Avoid disposable paper and plastic products, buy a reusable water bottle for drinking and reusable cloth bags for shopping, buy products in bulk rather than in single-use packaging, and choose repairs over new purchases (e.g. clothes, shoes, electronics).

We live in a world with finite resources, and currently, we’re using those resources at a rate 1.6 times faster than they’re generated each year. That is not sustainable. The expression is “reduce, reuse, recycle,” with the first step being REDUCE. The more we reduce what we use, the less we have to extract, and the less impact we’ll have on the planet.

Green Trails Crusader, Ori Gutin, puts down ten simple ways of keeping your Green Trails spirit alive. Start your green home with this article.

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