11/09/2018
The incredible initiative started by one man has resulted in over 800,000 pounds of waste being cleaned up from the Himalayas in just four years! Pradeep Sangwan, founder of the Healing Himalayas Foundation, organizes trekking expeditions to the summits, but while on the path, trekkers have gloves and sacks ready and collect all waste they find en route.
In 2016, Sangwan launched the Healing Himalayas Foundation. He hoped to find other people like him, equally dedicated to helping the mountains – and that was exactly what happened. The foundation is now made up of a number of volunteers who join Sangwan and his core team on their expeditions to many popular trekking and religious routes.
After the plastic waste is collected, it is brought to the base village and transported to two recycling plants with the help of the villagers.
Sangwan emphasizes that to understand the importance of keeping the mountains clean, tourists first need to learn to love them. He himself makes that relation very clear and works hard to make others see why we need to care – and the results of his and his team’s efforts are truly heartening!
