Editing Mount Everest (section)

== Waste management ==
{{Further|Impacts of tourism#Mount Everest}}

In 2015, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association warned that pollution, especially human waste, has reached critical levels. As much as {{convert|26,500|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}} of human excrement each season is left behind on the mountain.<ref>{{cite news |last=Holley |first=Peter |title=Morning Mix Decades of human waste have made Mount Everest a 'fecal time bomb' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/03/decades-of-human-waste-have-made-mount-everest-a-fecal-time-bomb/ |access-date=31 January 2017 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=3 March 2015}}</ref> Human waste is strewn across the verges of the route to the summit, making the four sleeping areas on the route up Everest's south side minefields of human excrement. Climbers above Base Camp—for the 62-year history of climbing on the mountain—have most commonly either buried their excrement in holes they dug by hand in the snow, or slung it into crevasses, or simply defecated wherever convenient, often within metres of their tents. The only place where climbers can defecate without worrying about contaminating the mountain is Base Camp. At approximately {{convert|18,000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}, Base Camp sees the most activity of all camps on Everest because climbers acclimate and rest there. In the late-1990s, expeditions began using toilets that they fashioned from blue plastic {{convert|50|USgal|L|abbr=off|order=flip|adj=on}} barrels fitted with a toilet seat and enclosed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bishop |first=Brent |title=Peak Poop: The Feces Problem on Everest Needs a Solution |url=https://www.outsideonline.com/1965696/peak-poop-feces-problem-everest-needs-solution |access-date=18 June 2021 |magazine=[[Outside Online]] |date=7 April 2015 |publisher=Mariah Media Network LLC.}}</ref>

The problem of human waste is compounded by the presence of more anodyne waste: spent oxygen tanks, abandoned tents, empty cans and bottles. The Nepali government now requires each climber to pack out eight kilograms of waste when descending the mountain.<ref>{{cite news |last=Saul |first=Heather |title=Human waste left by climbers on Mount Everest is causing pollution and could spread diseases |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/human-waste-left-by-climbers-on-mount-everest-is-causing-pollution-and-could-spread-diseases-10081562.html |access-date=31 January 2017 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=3 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222105040/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/human-waste-left-by-climbers-on-mount-everest-is-causing-pollution-and-could-spread-diseases-10081562.html |archive-date=22 December 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In February 2019, due to the mounting waste problem, China closed the base camp on its side of Everest to visitors without climbing permits. Tourists are allowed to go as far as the [[Rongbuk Monastery]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-47249141|title=China closes Everest base camp to tourists|date=15 February 2019|access-date=15 February 2019}}</ref>

In April 2019, the [[Solukhumbu District|Solukhumbu district]]'s [[Khumbu Pasanglhamu]] Rural Municipality launched a campaign to collect nearly {{cvt|10000|kg|lb|sigfig=1}} of garbage from Everest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/major-clean-up-of-everest-aims-to-bring-back-10000kg-garbage-bodies-of-dead-climbers|title=Major cleanup of Everest aims to bring back 10,000&nbsp;kg of garbage, bodies of dead climbers|date=29 April 2019|website=The Straits Times|access-date=1 May 2019}}</ref> Five years later, 2024, waste removal is receiving continuing attention.<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/everest-nepal-sherpa-garbage-0e9ce2b7f1622244e3fc628f84b74000 A record-holding Sherpa guide concerned about garbage on higher camps on Mount Everest], apnews.com, Binaj Gurubacharya, May 29, 2024</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/article/mount-everest-cleanup-garbage-environment-nepal-0e123e215854b2c2a172492769348ee6 Mount Everest’s highest camp is littered with frozen garbage, and cleanup is likely to take years], apnews.com, Binaj Gurubacharya, July 6, 2024</ref><ref>[https://apnews.com/video/nepal-kathmandu-d726e1821027434c94d04efb95c08390 Everest’s highest camp littered with frozen garbage, and cleanup likely to take years, Sherpas say], apneas.com/video, July 6, 2024</ref>