When we are traveling or trekking or camping in Mountains or forest areas or environmentally fragile regions, it is crucial to maintain the fragility & sensitivity of that region. We at Trekaholics not only promotes but believes in saving the environment with the best of our efforts. It is our utmost priority to safeguard the interest of environment & bio-diversity. Therefore, to ensure a sustainable & Eco-friendly environment we at Trekaholics follow the listed approaches:

1. Crowd Management

We at Trekaholics have idealized a number of Participants traveling in a particular batch/Trek. We believe the beauty of our environment & surroundings can only be preserved if explored within limits. Higher the number of people, the extensive damage to our ecology & nature. In order to preserve our environment & Ecology, we had caped our group/batch size to 15 Participants while our Ideal number is 12-14 Participants. We are committed towards this approach & will follow till the very end.

2. Follow “Shallow Ground, Higher Ground” to avoid re-usability of existing trails

Since we are passionate Mountaineers & are aware of the impacts on Ecology when we traverse or trek across regions, it is our utmost duty to preserve & minimize the damage. To ensure that we emphasize on “Shallow Ground, Higher Ground” with our focus on Higer ground while avoiding the Shallow ground.

• Usually due to the continuous movement, the ground or the surface tends to become shallow as it gets pressed & damaged.
• Therefore, we look for alternative ground to traverse while the existing damaged ground repairs/heals itself.
• To further avoiding damage to the alternative route/trail, we either juggle among trails or limit the number of batches/groups to that specific trek in one calendar year.

This way we minimize the damage to the Ecology & helps regain the damaged surface. But sometimes, the area of traverse is limited and no alternative route/trail is possible. In these scenarios, we either restrict our movement by not organizing treks/expeditions or we limit the presence with few group/groups.

Note: We at Trekaholics prioritize Safety for all our participants & Staff members. In order to find an alternative trail/route, we do not compromise on Safety. Our Experience has taught us to Innovate & implement both Sustainability & Safety.

3. Garbage Management

Whether we live in a rural area or Urban area, the concept of cleanliness & sanitation is vital with respect to our and environments health. We at Trekaholics prioritizes Garbage & Waste management in a very streamlined manner.

• We ensure the collection of all the non-biodegradable waste in a closed container/bag & bring it back to the civilization/city/town while we discard them within the guidelines of the specific Municipal corporation or authority.
• We follow segregation of both wet & dry garbage/waste into separate bags during the initial phase of collection when we are in Mountains.
• For Biodegradable waste, we look for areas far away from water resources, Meadows & Grassland/green patches. Once, we have found the suitable zone the waste is buried 1-1.5 ft deep down the ground. The Dugged area is then covered with Mud for it to decay naturally.
• For High Altitudes, it is difficult to dig the ground due to various factors like extreme temperatures, glaciers & non-availability of land. In such circumstances, we carry a human waste disposable bag & bring it back with ourselves to the civilization for discarding as per the guidelines defined.

4. Sustainable Approach

• We make sure the use of Plastic or related material is prohibited during our Adventure activity.
• To avoid littering, we provide with a garbage bag at every campsite.
• We emphasize on collection of plastic waste along with other non/biodegradable waste while on trail/route.
• We ensure the human waste/feces are dumped into the ground for it to be naturally decomposed. We strictly prohibit the use of water & wet wipes in our dry pits.
• To ensure the hygiene, we dig a pit far away from water resources, Meadows, grassland/Green patches.
• The pit is then covered with a specially designed Toilet tent for the convenience of the participants.
• For Odor management, one small ventilation is erected within the structure of the tent along with a small Odonil sachet.
• To ensure the hygiene is maintained, we cover the pit with Mud after using it on one campsite while we move ahead. Keeping the fragility of the environment in mind, we ensure the size & depth of the pit is contained.

5. Reducing our Carbon Footprint

In todays emerging trend of curiosity among various age groups for exploration in Mountains, we ensure that we do not contribute in increasing our carbon footprint. The concept of Carbon footprint is not limited to Industries, factories & cities. Even a single human being is capable of generating carbon & increasing the risk of emissions.

• We emphasize on re-using the clothes meant for treks/expeditions instead of buying new clothes every time you visit Mountains.
• We emphasize on limited purchase of equipment to avoid straining our fragile environment with more carbon emission.
• We emphasize of using a single transportation for the commute of participants instead of multiple or individual transportation.
• We prohibit non-vegetarian food as it leads to emissions of approximately 0.8 tons of carbon footprint annually.
• We prohibit washing clothes while in mountains as washing alone can cause emission of about 0.46 tons of CO2.

Sometimes we are limited to conserving our environment and ecology due to extreme weather conditions & High-Altitude scenarios. But we at Trekaholics are committed towards learning new approaches, Implementing new ideas for the betterment & sustainable environment.

If you have ideas for improving sustainability, send them to support@trekaholics.com. If your idea is useful, we may implement it and offer rewards such as:

Rewards for Innovative Sustainability Ideas

• You can get an entire Trek/Expedition fully sponsored by us.
• You can get a voucher starting from Rs. 500 to Rs. 10,000 or discount of up to 70% on your next Adventure.
• Your profile with your idea & innovation pinned on our Social Media handle & Web Application.
• You can get a Tour/Trip sponsored by us anywhere in India or Abroad.
• Surprise gifts from us.

• These Rewards are awarded with proper discretion of Trekaholics Management.
• We do not guarantee the above-mentioned rewards as there can be several other monetary & non- monetary benefits.
• Trekaholics reserves the right to cancel/alter/revise these awards from time to time without any prior notice/approval.