I noticed that the hotel we stayed at in Birgunj had no trash bins. I had left a snack bar wrapper on the side table expecting that it would be collected and put into the garbage bin that I assumed was sitting around on a lower level awaiting the daily trash collection from the rooms. On the way to Pokhara we had to stop and change buses. The bus that we vacated had a driver who walked the length of the bus and found a couple pieces of left behind trash which he then tossed out the window onto the ground. It was amusing at the time, but then I began to wonder what happened to my snack bar wrapper. Did it make into a trash bin? Is it lying on the sidewalk in Birgunj?

While in Pokhara we saw the most amazing scenery along the hiking trail we took with 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking. A lot of the gorgeous mountain views that we post were taken around that area.

along the hiking trail near Pokhara

However, it was on the way down that I began to notice how much trash was lying around the trail we were walking on. I also began to wonder exactly who it was that tossed their chip bags and candy wrappers aside so carelessly. Was it tourists? Was it the local children with their handwritten proposals requesting funding for sports equipment? Was it a small animal that stole it from a trash receptacle and drug it out for public viewing? It led to discussions regarding eco-tourism and what role the local community could play in ensuring that the trash would not litter the beauty of the natural landscape. My colleague, Jeff, delves into this issue in a previous post, “Thinking about Ecotourism.” It is apparent that the growth of this industry without some sort of policy towards solid waste collection and removal is not sustainable.