A Day at Devkund Waterfall – Ecopurple’s Third Successful Clean-up Trek

Devkund waterfall - a must-visit place for a Clean-up Trek!

On 24th October 2021, Ecopurple organized its third successful Clean-up trek under the ‘Trek for Nature’ initiative. After making a difference at mount Kalsubai and fort Harihar, this time, we chose the crowd-favourite destination – Devkund Waterfall.

I am super grateful to have been able to make a difference with these 21 amazing earthlings! Together, 22 of us collected 14 huge bags of trash from the waterfall to the base village. We trekked, chilled, and cleaned!

Despite being such an exquisite place, the trail was littered with tons and tons of trash! We found the same-old waste items – food wrappers, single-use bottles, masks, slippers, shoe soles, polyethene bags, and much more! To say it was disturbing would be an absolute understatement.

It is saddening that people consider nature a good place to dump their ‘kachra’ and not care for the consequences. The 14 bags we collected don’t even constitute 1% of the total trash that must be lying in and around the forest. So much of the waste was inaccessible to us. We certainly need thousands of participants to clean this beauty of a location.

Nevertheless, we feel proud about the fact that we did our part. We left the place cleaner than how we found it. Our intent to create awareness was pretty successful, thanks to all the volunteers!

As always, we ended our clean-up trek by donating all the trash to Sangam Pratishthan (a waste management NGO), making sure the waste is taken care of responsibly.

Ecopurple looks forward to organizing more clean-up treks in the near future. If you are reading this, we count on your valuable participation 🙂

Watch this reel to get a glimpse of how Ecopurple's clean-up trek looks like 🙂

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Ecopurple’s 2nd “Trek for Nature” at Fort Harihar

2 Comments / By Sharayu Mishal

For the love of Mountains..

After the success of Ecopurple’s first clean-up trek at Mt. Kalsubai, this time, we found ourselves on the mighty fort of Harihar in Nasik.

It was Ecopurple’s second clean-up trek under the initiative: ‘Trek for Nature’. Teaming up with the Trekker Warrior Organization, and having Sahyadri Rangers as our trekking partners, 9 of us hit the road on 20th March 2021 (a night prior).

On reaching the base village the next day (3:00 am), we devoured the ultimate breakfast of trekkers – Poha! More often than not, it is always one of the village households that provide such meals for the trekkers. And in doing so, they also hand out disposable cutleries. So, as we finished our meal, we made sure to collect those paper plates and plastic spoons in our trash bag. Therefore, kickstarting our clean-up drive.

Under a starry sky, as we made our way up through the foliage, we found very few hints of trash, wondering whether we chose the wrong location. But it wasn’t until the light poured in and we realized the scenario is the complete opposite!

Getting Started with the Clean-up Trek

By the time we reached the top, the morning hues begin to light up the place. It was all nice and bright and so was the very noticeable trash!

With our green bags and purple gloves, we fanned out and began with our drive. We found almost all kinds of trash; there were flip-flops, plastic bottles, wrappers, wet wipes, tobacco sachets, plastic straws, single-use bags, some metal, etc. Indisputably, we did not doubt the choice of location anymore. The sad part was, we were just 9, compared to our previous clean-up trek where we had over 20 participants. Also, most of the waste was in places inaccessible to us; this was saddening, and we could not do anything about it. Yet, we did manage to create some much-needed awareness.

As we were busy cleaning up the irresponsible mess, the people around were cheering, applauding, and even thanking us. Some even asked us for bags to collect trash themselves; that was the best form of appreciation. Instead of all the cheering, when people get involved, that is one of the best acknowledgments of your work. You know you made an impact when people around you get influenced to do their rightful duty. You’ve made a difference, and this makes your efforts worthwhile.

via GIPHY

But What Happened to the Trash? What did we do with it?

While we trekked back to the base village, our green bags drew a lot of attention. It was clear that our intent to spread awareness against irresponsible trekking was pretty successful. But this wasn’t all. Our clean-up trek isn’t just about picking up trash, it is also about diverting that waste to a responsible destination. And we ensure this by sending the trash for recycling, thanks to the folks at Sangam Pratishthan. We brought all our trash bags back to the city and donated them to Sangam Pratishthan, a waste management NGO. This simple gesture helps us to end our clean-up trek on a responsible note, for we did not let our efforts go in vain – in a landfill!

In Conclusion..

It is visible that the amount of waste collected was not enough; this is where the lack of volunteers affected us. We could’ve collected a lot more had there been more volunteers. This factor did affect the impact we could’ve made, the waste we could’ve collected. Yet, the low participation did not in anyway demotivate us. That’s because the energy is a whole lot different when you work together as a team. The enthusiasm does nothing but fuel the motivation.
It’s a grateful feeling for all the support Ecopurple receives for such a noble cause. While we appreciate the acknowledgment, this is not something we desire. We aim for your participation. We count on responsible people such as you taking a stand, taking action.
Almost always, we overlook our mountains when it comes to arranging a cleaning drive. Since most authorities do not reach there, the villagers tend to burn the waste they both create and stumble upon. There are very few communities taking up the initiative, and we need to change that.
Let’s do our best to make that change happen and drive waste away from our beautiful nature. Let’s trek for nature, one mountain at a time!

Kalsubai Clean-Up Trek, a “Trek for Nature”

The One where We Trekked for Nature..

Till now, Ecopurple has been blogging about several communities that are doing their bit for the environment. But today, this blog post is to highlight Ecopurple’s very own initiative: Trek for Nature.

On 25th December 2020, Ecopurple organized a Clean-Up Trek under the initiative – “Trek for Nature”. Teaming up with one of Mumbai’s trusted trekking communities: Trekmates India, 24 of us set off to the highest peak in Maharashtra, mount Kalsubai.

Clean-Up Trek, a Quick Overview..

Kalsubai, although being a beautiful mountain was loaded with trash! We found numerous single-use bottles, bags, wrappers, slippers, shoe soles, metal scraps, etc The most amount of trash was unfortunately in places inaccessible to us. It was disturbing to see such irresponsibility. However, we did all we could and collected as much waste as possible. Together, we managed to collect 7 big bags of trash. People were noticing us. A few even picked up wrappers and discarded them into our eco-bags. This showed us that our job was done. Our Clean-up trek managed to spread awareness!

The Initiative didn't End there though..

A cleanliness drive makes more sense when you not only clear the trash but also discard it to its rightful place. Happy to say, our Clean-Up trek stayed true to this ideology.

After the waste segregation, we carried the trash bags back with us to Mumbai to donate the waste to Sangam Pratishthan.

Sangam Pratishthan is an NGO that educates and works on environmental issues and waste management. It was generous of them to provide a pick-up service for waste collection and in ensuring that the trash will find itself where it belongs.

Although we collected only 6 bags of trash, Ecopurple acknowledges the efforts put by the participants. What’s more satisfying is that Sangam Pratishthan made those efforts even more meaningful.

In Conclusion..

Trekkers can be significantly irresponsible and disrespectful to our beautiful natural world. Mount Kalsubai is one of the biggest evidences to prove this claim. Nevertheless, Ecopurple‘s initiative to Trek for Nature intends to shed light on this issue. One mountain at a time.

That said, Ecopurple isn’t the first to do this in India; there are other communities who have taken such an initiative that, too, on a larger scale. A part of the inspiration to organize this Clean-Up trek stems from those handful communities (Healing Himalayas, Trekker Warrior, Indiahikes, etc).

You see, when it comes to organizing a cleanliness drive, beaches and cities get most of the attention. While that isn’t wrong, mountains, however, rarely make the cut. Thus, such clean-up treks although small, are important to create awareness and induce the ripple effect of acting responsible.

Event

Devkund waterfall - a must-visit place for a Clean-up Trek!

Watch this reel to get a glimpse of how Ecopurple's clean-up trek looks like 🙂

For the love of Mountains..

Getting Started with the Clean-up Trek

But What Happened to the Trash? What did we do with it?

In Conclusion..

The One where We Trekked for Nature..

Clean-Up Trek, a Quick Overview..

The Initiative didn't End there though..

In Conclusion..