The Himalayan Cleanup unearths high volumes of plastic trash at Deorali Chorten area

GANGTOK,: On World Environment Day, students of Deorali Girls’ School were joined by volunteers from Zero Waste Himalaya, ECOSS, IMI, Guru Lhakhang Deorali, Grow Trees, Deorali Taxi Drivers’ Association, individual volunteers and the team of SBM Urban to conduct The Himalayan Cleanup (THC) at Deorali and Chorten area.

The event was conducted by Zero Waste Himalaya in collaboration with and support of SBM Urban, Urban Development department.

A press release informs that THC is organised every year with the theme of ‘Reflect, Switch and Demand’ that gives a call to deeply look at our own lifestyles, how it contributes to the waste crisis and to take actions towards low waste sustainable habits. Importantly, THC brings a narrative change on the plastic pollution discourse by pinning responsibility on plastic producers and demanding real action from them through Extended Producer Responsibility framework.

Brand Ambassadors of SBM Urban – filmmaker Tribeny Rai and actor Shyamashree were also present during the event to motivate the participants and to lend their hand for the cleanup and audit process.

As part of the campaign, participants collected dry waste from Chorten area which were then sorted and segregated in different waste types, and according to the brands. Each piece of plastic along with the brand details was counted by the volunteers and noted down as part of the audit exercise. This data would be collated at a mountain level to reveal the top polluters of THC 2026.

Energy drinks such as predator and sting were collected in high numbers, along with maaza juice boxes. Plastic water bottles were also collected in huge numbers. Multilayered plastics of food wrappers were also collected in high numbers.

The high amount of tetrapak juice boxes (maaza) seemed to be from earlier events in which these had been distributed, and the waste was thrown below the road side. Volunteers from the cleanup urge that events should not be distributing such items which only end up as trash, and all events be organised in a zero waste manner, the release mentions.

Participants reflected on the lessons from the exercise to conclude the event. Zero Waste Himalaya members highlighted the need for real action against plastic pollution, and the importance of waste segregation at source. They also mentioned that supporting local unpackaged items instead of junk food wrapped in plastic was one of the biggest actions that one could take. Keeping with the objectives, the day ended with sumptuous unpackaged local food which was organised in a way to produce no waste.

Miss Neelu, teacher from Deorali Girls’ School mentioned that The Himalayan Cleanup was an eye-opening exercise for the students that taught practically about segregation of waste and types of plastics, as well as on taking individual action.

Jigmee Bhutia, Mission Director SBM, highlighted the need for everyone to come together to resolve the waste problem, and that students had a big role to play in making it possible.

The Himalayan Cleanup 2026 was conducted from May 26 – June 5 across the mountain States of India with participation of over 8000 volunteers cleaning up over 400 sites with waste and brand audits, the release mentions.