Brazilian poet and writer, Paulo Coelho, once said “It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary”.

Imagine if you could do something extraordinary for the planet by simply picking up 10 pieces of litter on your travels.
 

With our 10 Pieces, you can.

World Expeditions Schools partners with a simple but effective litter collection initiative that harnesses the collective power of travellers to keep wilderness trails free of litter.

Put simply, it encourages travellers to pick up 10 pieces of litter each day on its guided treks in Nepal, Bhutan and Peru and on Mount Rinjani and Mount Kilimanjaro climbs.

Here are 10 good reasons why you should consider joining the “10 Pieces” movement:

1. Impact: less litter on wilderness trails brings benefit to animals and humans. Not only is litter unsightly and capable of ruining our experience in nature, it also poses danger to animals that may ingest it. Often litter on a trail ends up in a river and we all know where our rivers lead! By removing litter from mountain environments, we are ensuring that it doesn’t end up in our oceans.


2. Scale: 10 pieces sounds like a nominal number, but it’s scaled immensely when the collective power of a group of travelers joins in. With a group of just 20 travelers, the 10 pieces quickly turns into 200 pieces of litter each day. And if there’s another group of 12 travelers at the same place the next week that’s another 200 pieces of litter. It soon adds up.


3. Ease: 10 pieces of litter can be collected in under 60 seconds, anyone can do it, it costs nothing, and World Expeditions Schools manages the responsible disposal of all litter collected.


4. Safety: we provide participants with our reusable litter collection bags. Participants bring their own protective gloves and hand sanitizer, and are asked to only paper and plastic litter; no hazardous litter.


5. Our planet’s future: as more travelers enter mountain environments, so does infrastructure and therefore non-biodegradable waste. Litter control programs are therefore critically relevant for future generations.


6. Leading by example: The communities we pass through along trails in Peru, Nepal, Bhutan, Indonesia and Tanzania may not have been exposed to litter education programs, but when they see visitors to their home collecting litter it encourages them to be responsible about their waste disposal. With this understanding they can lobby for better litter disposal methods for their communities and they also become less likely to throw litter into their environment themselves.


7. Leaving No Trace: we are all accustomed to the phrase “take only photographs, leave only footprints”. Well we have expanded the “Leave No Trace” concept to “take only photographs and 10 pieces of litter, and leave only footprints”


8. Forward planning: there’s no point in collecting litter if it’s disposed of incorrectly. Before offering 10 Pieces on a trek we ensure that we can dispose of litter responsibly. In some cases, this means transporting it to the nearest city to be delivered to a recycling plant and in other cases it’s the clean and thorough incineration of the litter at our campsites.


9. Inspiring others: we encourage the travellers everywhere and the travel industry to join the 10 Pieces movement, turning this into a collective movement that is propelled forward by travelers globally


10. And finally, because 10 Pieces helps make the world a better place!

Over the months of September to December 2017, over 100 students from five different Australian schools will be participating in 10 Pieces in Nepal. When we do the math, we figure that’s over 7000 pieces of litter collected from Nepal’s wilderness trails. Awesome eh?!

Want to learn how your school can be involved? Get in touch with one of our Youth Adventure Experts.