Every long weekend we try to travel to the mountains to leave our worries back to the city. But with every person reaching the mountains, we bring all our city trash and treating mountains as a trash bin.
We don’t understand that these small havens in our mountains are not capable of handling garbage of these many people like a city.
You might ask, “What can you do to not mess up our mountains?”.
The solution is simple, just do a few small things to make your next trip an eco-friendly trip. And these small things will make a big impact on the ecosystem of the mountains if everyone does them.
1. Eco-friendly trip 101: Don't take plastic bags
Don’t take plastic bags with you because if you don’t take it you don’t throw it.
I know it is not always possible but a few plastic bags per person can make a huge difference.
Remember no one is going to pick these plastic bags once you leave them. And you don’t want anyone blaming you for that plastic bag after 500 years because it takes that much time to biodegrade.
Alternatively, you can use a tiffin box to bring your snacks or other food items and leave the plastic in the city.
2. Carry your own water bottle
How hard it could be to take your own water bottle with you. Just purchase a good quality water bottle and use it throughout your trip.
You can refill your water bottle from hotels or maybe just ask a local in the mountains, they will fill it for you without any cost.
3. Use Local Transport
Taking Local transport when traveling is one of the best things you can do for the mountains. You save the environment from any additional pollution from private vehicles.
Using local transport will also help in reducing traffic jams at hill stations. And you can enjoy the scenic mountain instead of keeping your eyes on the next curve.
And the most important part you don’t have to search for parking on busy long weekends.
4. Take your own Garbage Bag
The ecosystem of trekking destination is largely affected by the garbage we leave on this location.
Trekking location doesn’t have any dustbin, so it is a good idea to take a garbage ban and put everything in it. You can collect from maggie packets to candy wrappers in it.
And you can go a step further by picking some garbage from the place near to your camping location or from the path you are coming back.
You can also join organizations like Healing Himalayas who are trying to clear the mess on our mountains.
5. Eat and drink locally
What is the point of going to the mountains if you want to eat and drink the same things you eat and drink in the city?
Try some local dishes which are known in the region. And instead of buying a cold drink try to find some juice shops which make juice from seasonal fruits.
Eating and drinking locally will also benefit the local economy as there will be more demand for local and fresh fruits and vegetables.
I understand you can’t do everything I mentioned above but following some of the steps to make our travel eco-friendly. And this could save mountains for our future generations.
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