Single-use plastic bags and plastic bottles can take over 1000 years to dissolve and recycling is close to impossible in the remote mountainous areas of Nepal. Plastic is hazardous for health and cause pollution that is extremely difficult and expensive to clean up in Nepal’s fragile eco-system. As an example, a kilo of garbage collected from Clean Everest Campaign cost 95 dollars per kilo.
The ban is possible : it has been done in other Himalayan regions (Ladakh, Sikkim, Bhutan) and locally, since 12 years, on the Chomrung – Annapurna Sanctuary trekking route by a local association initiative.
Preserving Nepal pristine nature, promoting sustainable tourism for long term income for local communities and enhancing Nepal’s image abroad are the main objectives of this civil society initiative