Here is what happened to all the litter you picked up on your trek

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Here is what happened to all the litter you picked up on your trek

Category Green Trails Green Trails Impact Reports

By Nisha Ann Reginald

2015-07-27

Every trekker who has trekked with us will be sure about one thing – Indiahikes does not litter. 

At Indiahikes, we do our best to manage garbage and human waste efficiently. Unfortunately, the task is extremely difficult, but with the help of our trekkers and staff, we are getting closer to our goal.

Here’s a report of what happened to the garbage that our trekkers collected on the Rupin pass trail.

All our trekkers were given little orange Eco-bags that they could tie around their waist and pick up litter on the trail. Once the Rupin Pass season ended, all the litter was brought down on mules from our various campsites. They were collected at Dhaula – the base camp for the Rupin pass trek. We then drove down with the litter from Dhaula to Dehradun. At Dehradun, our partners, Waste Warriors, segregated the waste and further processed it.

Jagdish from Indiahikes handing over the collected garbage at the Waste Warriors unit in Dehradun

The eco bag by itself may be something really small. But put together, these Eco bags and you can make a whole lot of difference to this place.  Today, Rupin Pass is a lot cleaner thanks to our trekkers.

Here are a few responses from our trekkers:

“That’s really nice to hear and I feel great for having contributed in some little way for the betterment of our environment.” – Bhargav

“It’s really wonderful to know. And this motivates us to keep doing the good work on our next trek too.” – Priya Tyagi

“I want to assure you that as seasoned trekkers, we do the Eco bag on every trek of ours and more importantly, we don’t litter, even down to the chocolate wrapper at home cities. My family is committed to contributing in whatever little way it can to save this world from pollution and garbage.” –  Vasunandan S

To be honest, I was quite sceptical whether the waste we are collecting in the Eco-bags would be properly disposed of. All of us in our group were apprehensive and wondering whether it was merely a publicity-seeking gimmick. I had shared this concern with our trek lead, Hemang. He had assured us that the waste would be properly disposed. I am pleasantly surprised and indeed very glad to note that my apprehension has been proved wrong and my doubts were misplaced. That Indiahikes has taken the trouble to bring the waste all the way to Dehradun and handed it over for proper disposal adds further to its credibility. I hope others follow their lead.” – Devinder Malhotra

“I am really proud about IH’s effort and satisfied and happy that I am also a part of collection drive.  I am always highlight the eco initiative of IH to the public whenever I travel in train and also to my friends and they are surprised that such initiatives are also there.  ur mail is first of its kind to let the trekkers know of what happens to the garbages collected by them during trek.  Kudos to IH and continue the process of intimating the trekkers after the trek is completed and the initiative of sending such mails reinforces the commitment of trekkers in collecting garbages during the trek.” – Guruprasad Halkurike

Nisha Ann Reginald

About the author

Nisha Ann Reginald is a national level basketball player and has been playing for the last 18 years. She was associated with Indiahikes as a content manager, bringing out stories from the mountains.