On a mission for the environment

  19.10.2021 Local News

Children's voices echoing through the Alpina-Wäldli and along the hiking trail up to the Gstaad Palace gave away the rubbish collection campaign last Wednesday. The organisers of the project – The Alpina Gstaad, Gstaad Saanenland Tourism and the John F. Kennedy International School – could not have done better.

While some took the hiking trail to the Gstaad Palace, others reached their destination on the path through the Alpina-Wäldli. The mission was the same for everyone: to collect as much rubbish as possible. So, equipped with gloves and bags, they set off. An hour later, they were looking at over two kilograms of rubbish in the garden of The Alpina Gstaad.

The kids picked up shopping bags and beverage cans as well as glass bottles and batteries. Jasmina Kühne, marketing & earth check coordinator at The Alpine Gstaad, separated the rubbish in front of the children and gave lots of helpful tips and information about waste disposal.

Simple and efficient
While the children were rewarded with a delicious snack, Kühne disposed of the rubbish. Patrick Bauer, head of destination development at GST, took care of the snow post that the children had found in the forest. "The trail keepers will be able to use it again shortly."

Bauer accompanied the children on their sustainability hike and was quite impressed: "When we started on the hiking trail to the Gstaad Palace, I briefly doubted whether we would ever find any rubbish. Nothing was lying around. The fact that in the end, after only one hour, we found so much and so many different things amazes me. But it shows that unfortunately many people still dispose of their rubbish in nature, which may remain undetected despite regular tours by our trail keepers."

"This kind of initiative puts children in touch with the topic of sustainability without them having to listen to long lectures," Kühne explained. "Children take things into their own hands and can thus experience the topic, which is how they learn the right behaviour," she expressed her conviction.

Based on AvS/Jenny Sterchi


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