|
23rd June 2010
Volunteers of the Clean Upper Dharamsala Project have joined Jodie Underhill and her team of Mountain Cleaners in their fourth clean-up of Triund in the month of June 2010 alone. Almost 20 volunteers gathered on Monday, 21st June to collect rubbish in and around Triund. During the main tourist season, the Mountain Cleaners meet every Monday morning to provide a voluntary rubbish separation and collection service for Triund.
|
|
View of stunning Dhauladhar mountains from Triund
|
Triund, the most popular trekking destination in the McLeod Ganj / Bhagsunath area, had seen its environmental and sanitary situation deteriorate over the past two decades. Increasing levels of rubbish lined the path to Triund and accumulated on the top. Rubbish was either tossed down the slopes of Triund, or burned and thereby transformed into toxic gasses. However, the Mountain Cleaners have set out to reverse this trend.
|
|
Starting in April 2009, Jodie Underhill from England has been dedicated to counter the environmental damage caused by ignorant littering in and around Triund. Her ambitious and highly successful project involves a weekly 'mountain cleaning' trek during the main tourist season, where volunteers get the oportunity to improve the environmental situation while enjoying the natural beauty of the Dhauladhar range.
|
The Mountain Cleaners depart regularly on Monday mornings, hike up to Triund and stop at two chai shops on the way, where they separate the garbage that has accumulated over the week into recyclables and non-recyclables. The same is done at the three chai shops up in Triund. The separated waste is then transported down to Bhagsu by donkeys that are hired for this purpose. The volunteers spend the night at the Forestry Department Guest House in Triund and, after a rubbish-collection session on the hillsides the following day, return to Bhagsu. Some of the volunteers carry bags of waste down the mountain themselves, to save the cost of the donkeys. Non-recyclable waste ends at the Dharamsala landfill, while recyclables are given to ragpickers that can then sell them.
|
 |
|
Jodie (second from left) directing the rubbish separation at one of the chai shops on the path leading up to Triund
|
The Mountain Cleaners have made and are making a fantastic contribution to the environment in Upper Dharamsala, while at the same time offering travellers and everybody else the opportunity to get involved in a very worthwhile cause. |
|
In honour of her work, Jodie and her team of Mountain Cleaners will, in July 2010, receive the 'Green Hero' award at the Shimla CMS VATAVARAN-Environment and Wildlife Travelling Film Festival & Forum 2010, an environmental festival organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), Gov't. of India, and WWF-India.
|
Volunteers cleaning the slopes leading to Triund
|
|
Volunteers Andrew and Alexandra with the bagged rubbish, ready to be transported downhill
|
|
For more information, or if you would like to volunteer with the Mountain Cleaners or offer any other form of support, please contact Jodie Underhill at +919857476999
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or see the facebook profile at http://www.facebook.com/people/Mountain-Cleaners/100000154971525
|
|