Photograph by Luca Galuzzi / Wikimedia
Authorities in Nepal have begun enforcing a rule where climbers of the peak will have to clear up after themselves and bring 8kg of rubbish back down with them to base camp.
Around 4,000 people have scaled Everest since it was first summitted in 1953 by New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary and a Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay. This volume of climbers has meant that a large amount of rubbish has been left on the mountain by climbers more concerned with getting up and down in one piece than looking after the environment.
The Nepalese authorities, which administer the mountain’s south approaches, estimate that each climber currently discards about 8kg of rubbish on the climb, but now if they do not return and deposit this rubbish at base camp then they will forfeit their $4,000 (£2,400) deposit.