Why Do A Special Green Trails Trek
At Indiahikes, we have always seen trekking as a way to feel closer to nature. Almost all our trekkers head back home promising themselves to be more sustainable in their daily lives.
Our Green Trails initiative looks at making trekking a sustainable and eco-friendly sport. It's done through efficient human waste and food waste management, greener alternatives, non-degradable waste reduction, collaborating with Government and creating awareness among locals and visitors.
All groups of Indiahikes strive to leave the mountains better than we find them. Yet, there's a need for such special groups.
During a trekking season, the trails are maintained as Indiahikes trekkers are consistently going on trails and leaving them better. But things are different at the start or end of a season. This is where we felt the need for such specialised Green Trails groups.
"At the beginning or end of a trekking season, you find a lot of litter hot spots on trails. This litter is left-behind by trekkers trekking in an unsustainable manner in between seasons, or if the season has seen a heavy footfall of trekkers during the season," says Arjun Majumdar, Founder-CEO, Indiahikes.
We are conducting this Special Green Trails group to address this situation.
Why Do A Special Green Trails Trek
At Indiahikes, we have always seen trekking as a way to feel closer to nature. Almost all our trekkers head back home promising themselves to be more sustainable in their daily lives.
Our Green Trails initiative looks at making trekking a sustainable and eco-friendly sport. It's done through efficient human waste and food waste management, greener alternatives, non-degradable waste reduction, collaborating with Government and creating awareness among locals and visitors.
All groups of Indiahikes strive to leave the mountains better than we find them. Yet, there's a need for such special groups.
During a trekking season, the trails are maintained as Indiahikes trekkers are consistently going on trails and leaving them better. But things are different at the start or end of a season. This is where we felt the need for such specialised Green Trails groups.
"At the beginning or end of a trekking season, you find a lot of litter hot spots on trails. This litter is left-behind by trekkers trekking in an unsustainable manner in between seasons, or if the season has seen a heavy footfall of trekkers during the season," says Arjun Majumdar, Founder-CEO, Indiahikes.
We are conducting this Special Green Trails group to address this situation.
How A Special Green Trails Trek Is Different From A Regular Trek
We believe in leaving our mountains better than we found them. As trekkers, we are closely connected to the natural world. The future of trekking depends on keeping nature in its natural state.
With more people visiting the mountains, each visit can cause irreversible damage. It will take bold steps to stop this and improve our world.
“Leave no trace” is a principle that works towards leaving the mountains as they are. We work toward making it better. At Indiahikes, we have taken on the responsibility of making trekking more sustainable. This is our Green Trails project.
in this special group, it won't just be about picking up the litter. There will be a sharp focus on building a culture of sustainable trekking. This includes deep insight into waste management, on the trail and at the base camp. If needed, you'll also be involved in spreading awareness about sustainable green trail practices to ensure that more trekkers know how to trek sustainably.
At the end of the trek, you will be rewarded with a Green Trails Certificate.
How A Special Green Trails Trek Is Different From A Regular Trek
We believe in leaving our mountains better than we found them. As trekkers, we are closely connected to the natural world. The future of trekking depends on keeping nature in its natural state.
With more people visiting the mountains, each visit can cause irreversible damage. It will take bold steps to stop this and improve our world.
“Leave no trace” is a principle that works towards leaving the mountains as they are. We work toward making it better. At Indiahikes, we have taken on the responsibility of making trekking more sustainable. This is our Green Trails project.
in this special group, it won't just be about picking up the litter. There will be a sharp focus on building a culture of sustainable trekking. This includes deep insight into waste management, on the trail and at the base camp. If needed, you'll also be involved in spreading awareness about sustainable green trail practices to ensure that more trekkers know how to trek sustainably.
At the end of the trek, you will be rewarded with a Green Trails Certificate.
Green Trails
Leaving mountains better than we find them
On this trek you'll focus on implementing practices that can reduce our impact on the environment by diving deep into the G6 (GOLDEN 6) practices.
Golden 1: Green Sweep - Clean the trail of visible litter.
Golden 2: Segregation At Source - To divert waste away from landfill.
Golden 3: Food Composting - Converting kitchen waste to humus or food for mules.
Golden 4: Biotoilets - Using specially designed dry toilets.
Golden 5: Water efficient dispenser - Using water contraption to reduce water wastage by 70%
Golden 6: Save energy - Using solar panels limits the use of gas for cooking.
Our trekkers are a big part of us keeping our promise to leave the mountains better than we found them.
- Indiahikes trekkers do not carry anything that can harm the environment - be it wet wipes, or any packaged food on the trek. In fact they practice a zero waste trek.
- Indiahikes trekkers do not buy any packaged food in the dhabas on the trek - they do not take part in feeding the demand for packaged food
- Indiahikes trekkers clean the trails of waste using the eco bag as part of the Green Sweep Initiattive
- Indiaihikes trekkers carry their own backpack on the trek. They do not offload unless absolutely necessary
- Indiahikes trekkers do not pee/poop near any water source
- Indiahikes trekkers do not stray away from the marked trail
Trekkers who sign up with us pledge to follow these practices. When you sign up with us, you do too.
Everything you do on a trek creates an impact. Everything has an impact on the trail you trek on, the water you use, the waste you generate, how you poop, how you cook, what you eat. The higher the impact, the greater the damage to the environment.
Yet, when done sustainably, trekking is one of the most environment-friendly sports.
When you trek with Indiahikes, you trek to leave the mountains better than we find them. This is part of our Green Trails promise.
Treks Where We Have The Special Green Trails Groups
These are treks with either high volume of waste or have little waste management available.
Frequently Asked Questions
All groups of Indiahikes strive to leave the mountains better than we find them. Yet, there's a need for such special groups.
During a trekking season, the trails are maintained as Indiahikes trekkers are consistently going on trails and leaving them better. But things are different at the start or end of a season. This is where we felt the need for such specialised Green Trails groups.
"At the beginning or end of a trekking season you find a lot of litter hot spots on trails. This litter is left-behind by trekkers trekking in an unsustainable manner in between seasons, or if the season has seen a heavy footfall of trekkers during the season," says Arjun Majumdar, Founder-CEO, Indiahikes.
In the case of Kedarkantha it's the latter.
Kedarkantha is known as a prime winter trek. And it saw a heavy footfall of trekkers during winter season. Unfortunately, many trekkers failed to leave the mountains better. We are conducting this Special Green Trails group to address this situation.
In the upcoming months we are conducting a Special Green Trails group on many treks. They're going to happen on Kedarkantha, Deoriatal-Chandrashila, Har Ki Dun-Ruinsara Valley, Hampta Pass and Bhrigu Lake. You'll find the dates to these special treks on the calendars of these treks.
Green Trails at Indiahikes
Indiahikes Green Trails Trek Experience in Pictures
Family Trek Stories
Why Waste Crisis Is A Behavioral Problem - A TedX Talk By Our Green Trails Head
The Evolution Of Human Waste Management On Treks
How To Reduce Your Inorganic Waste To Almost Zero
Why Indiahikes Doesn't Run The Chadar Or Stok Kangri Treks
How ONE person Can Change The Mountains In Just A Week
9 Ways to Leave No Trace on a Mountain Trail
What happened when two Americans decided to intern with Indiahikes
A personal account of the first Green Trails project
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