- Littering is a major source of ecosystem pollution.
- Littering has aesthetic, environmental and economic consequences.
- To preserve our mountains, the Summit Foundation has set up the Clean-Up Tour, a series of pick-ups in ski resorts. During these pick-ups, we sometimes find strange objects such as telephones.
The pollution of ecosystems and the biosphere is a major environmental concern. It is also one of the 6 planetary limits already exceeded1, out of 9 in total2. The main sources of this pollution include littering3. Littering is defined as the deliberate or unintentional abandonment of waste in the environment. In Switzerland, the most frequently found objects4 in the environment are cigarette butts, plastics and glass fragments.
Littering has many consequences, which can be divided into 3 categories5 :
To protect our landscapes from the effects of littering, Summit Foundation has set up the Clean-Up Tour7a national litter-picking tour of mountain destinations. In 2024, we organised 36 Clean-Up8 which collected over 3,000 kg of waste! During these days, we obviously collect cigarette butts, pieces of plastic and bits of glass, but also more unusual objects such as hats, walkie-talkies and even telephones! Here's a small selection of the items we collect unexpected treasures9 collected in the mountains on our site.
To combat littering in the mountains, here are a few simple things you can do:
Let's work together to protect our mountains from waste.
