As beautiful and grand the mountains might sound and look like, the experience is vastly different. It’s up to us to make sure we don’t leave a mark surrounding the same as well as stay safe and healthy.

For all of us who have had the opportunity to surround ourselves with the breathtaking view of snow-capped mountains, often, if not always, we have come across hundreds of broken beer bottles along with truck load of plastic wrapper clogging streams or just dumped near them.

We try our best to ignore them, sometimes we go “tch tch” looking at them while enjoying our warm Maggie. Ecosystem in these regions are highly fragile and are filled with flora and fauna indigenous to these places only. This copious amount of plastic will slowly break down into micro plastic and enter our ever delicious once completely healthy food and water.

Not just ours but the hundreds of animals drinking and eating around the dump. So, next time don’t just double tap and comment “so sad” on a video of a tortoise whose nostrils are jammed with a plastic straw, take action where it actually matters.

Here are 5 very easy and simple things to take care of when you travel in the mountains –

1)Do not trash the place you go to get away from the city, maintain the sanctity of the place. Always carry a garbage bag with you and fill it with anything and everything trash even if its not yours.

2)Carry a refillable water bottle with you and try to avoid packaged water as much as possible if not left with any other option.

3)Eat local food or cooked food as much as possible and avoid packaged food. Try new cuisines and expand your taste palette.

4) Carry energy-rich foods such as jaggery bars, nuts, dried fruits, etc for snacking when you feel the need. This makes sure you eat well and save money as well while traveling.

5) Carry bio-degradable pads and tampons if you feel like your periods might barge in at any given day of the travel. You could switch to a menstrual cup but it might be difficult to find hygienic conditions depending on the way you are traveling.

(Check out Barsa’s Blog here)