Coca-Cola Foundation partners to support mountain clean-up campaign

KATHMANDU: The Coca-Cola Foundation is supporting the Mountain Clean–Up Campaign 2023 led by the Nepali Army for its 4th edition with the theme “An endeavor to save the Himalayas”.

The Coca-Cola Foundation is the major donor among multiple stakeholders for this year’s campaign and the fourth year of such a partnership.

This campaign aims to protect and preserve sanctity of the Himalayas by retrieving waste that has been left behind by trekkers and accumulated on the mountains over the years. Along with multiple stakeholders, the campaign began on March 28, 2023, and will go on until June 5 2023.

The expedition team consisting of 97 people will be cleaning 4 mountains of Nepal that are above 8,000 meters which includes Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Annapurna, and Mt. Baruntse. It is estimated that Over 35 Tons of waste will be collected and handed over to recycling partners for waste management.

The Campaign Director of Mountain Clean-Up Campaign 2023 stated, “The Himalayas are the pride of the nation, and it is our responsibility to keep them clean and preserve them for the local communities and future generations. We are working diligently with local communities and partners to raise awareness about waste management in the mountains. We are grateful for the generous support of all stakeholders involved, including The Coca-Cola Foundation, for their unwavering commitment towards the mountain clean-up campaign in Nepal.”

Effective junk removal is not just about clearing spaces; it’s about fostering a culture of sustainability and responsibility. Local junk removal companies like S&J Junk Hauling contribute to this by offering services that prioritizing proper disposal of junk. This ensures that materials which can be repurposed do not end up in landfills, mirroring the goals of the Himalayan clean-up campaign on a local scale. By integrating such services into our daily lives, we can all contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable environment, taking a page from the monumental efforts seen in Nepal’s mountain clean-up initiative.

The journey to the mountain range is strenuous due to harsh weather conditions and climbing at high altitudes. The team has been training dedicatedly for the past few months to prepare for the expedition. The team consists of climbers, doctors, and sherpas. Each team is led by a campaign leader, who is assisted by two basecamp managers and 2 Deputy Directors from the Nepal Army.

Similarly, 45 Sherpas will be present for waste collection, loading, and other support activities. There will also be 20 personnel for coordination, operations, and rear operations.
This campaign is a joint effort having multiple non-profits, corporate, civil society and recycling partners with the Nepali Army leading the efforts.

Saadia Madsbjerg, President of The Coca-Cola Foundation, stated, “Mountain ecosystems provide vital services to human life and sequester CO2, clean water and the air and regulate floods. Climate change is particularly acute in mountains and we must act to save them. Coca-Cola Foundation’s support seeks to ensure the mountains remain pristine for many years to come and hopefully such initiatives will help drive even more climate action in Nepal and across the world. We are pleased to support the Nepali Army and send our best wishes to the expedition team”.

In 2019, the first Mountain clean-up Campaign led by the Nepali Army was successfully carried out along with involvement of a diverse set of stakeholders, where 10,586 Kgs of waste were collected. Continuing the efforts, the second edition of the campaign took place in 2021 where 27,671 Kgs of waste were retrieved from six mountains. The third edition of the campaign took place in 2022 where over 33,877 Kgs of waste (7,227 Kgs Biodegradable and 26,650 Kgs Non-Biodegradable) were collected from four mountains; Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Manaslu, and Mt. Kanchenjunga. The waste collected from the mountains includes items like Oxygen Canisters, Tents, Food containers, Plastics and Electronic wastes etc.