Every winter, several million skiing days are spent on the Swiss ski slopes. After the snow melts, there is often a lot of waste left on the slopes by snow sports enthusiasts. In the mountains, as elsewhere, waste has a negative impact on nature and thus on the entire ecosystem - this is particularly harmful for wildlife.

Gstaad Saanenland Tourismus (GST) and Bergbahnen Destinationen Gstaad AG (BDG) are committed to sustainable development in the region in a wide variety of areas. With the Clean-Up Days, they want to raise public awareness on the issue and actively combat pollution together with the participants. Last summer, Patrick Bauer, Head of Destination Development & Sustainability at GST, organised a clean-up afternoon in cooperation with the Alpina Gstaad and the JFK public school. This was followed last Sunday the 15th of May by a clean-up day with the BDG and the non-profit Summit Foundation. Despite the short notice, a total of 28 people came forward to volunteer. The participants came from the region as well as from further away (Geneva, Belp, Lugano). There was even a group of ten refugees from Ukraine. More than three quarters of the participants were families with children.

After morning coffee and croissants at the Eggli cable car valley station and a short instruction on the procedure, the terrain was searched in two groups. On the one hand from Chalberhöni along the black piste and the chairlift track, from the Eggli Lounge around the entire area of the station and the restaurant as well as along the Schopfen ski lift, the Mojo snow bar and the upper part of the Eggli chairlift. Conventional waste such as cigarette butts, packaging, masks, and various plastic waste was collected. But also, curiosities such as champagne bottles, metal sheets or an ancient string mower came to light.

In between, there was time for lively discussions in the fresh mountain air with a view of Gummfluh and Rüblihorn. At the end, the participants met at the Eggli Lounge to reward themselves with a lunch offered by the BDG and GST before taking the gondola down to the valley. Once down there, the collected waste was meticulously sorted and prepared for disposal. Over 59 kilograms of waste were collected during the entire campaign. Of this, around 30 kilograms of metal, 3 kilograms of glass and three 110-litre waste bags with residual materials and 19 masks.

At the end of the day, Patrick Bauer, on behalf of the organisers, thanked all those involved for their great support. Especially for the volunteers, some of whom had to get up very early so that they could arrive on time by public transport.

Based on AvS/PD 

 

CLEAN-UP TOUR: A NATIONAL SERIES OF EVENTS FOR CLEAN SWISS MOUNTAINS

In collaboration with the Summit Foundation of Western Switzerland, the Clean-Up Tour supports ski resorts in cleaning up their ski slopes. To underline the importance of the issue and unite all clean-up activities on a national level, Summit Foundation has launched a tour throughout Switzerland. The Clean-Up Tour aims to raise public interest and awareness for the protection of the Swiss mountain environment.

The foundation has been actively promoting environmental protection in the mountains for over 20 years. In addition to the fixed date with the fixed daily programme, companies, schools, or other groups can organise their own Clean-Up Day and register with the organisers on site.

Read more and join if you want to be a volunteer: https://www.cleanuptour.ch