Environmental degradation of charity events in the UK

Large-scale charity events that involve hundreds of participants are common all over the world. Getting lots of people together in the name of a cause sounds like a good thing, but it leaves behind waste and environmental problems. The New York Times reports on an English community's outrage against the landscape degradation caused by a charity event:

"'The mountain is wearing out' under the pressure of charitable boots scrambling in all kinds of weather for the summit [says Richard Palmer the ranking regional official of the National Trust].

Typically, in the midsummer months of long days and short nights, people seeking to complete the Three Peaks Challenge start to the north at Ben Nevis or south at Snowdon in the late afternoon. Then they drive hundreds of miles to their next destination — Wasdale Head where the trail to Scafell Pike begins, arriving here usually at around 2 a.m. to begin the ascent.

This tiny hamlet is reachable only by a one-lane road, and parking spaces here are few. There is one public toilet, and one public faucet for drinking water. Yet, according to Mr. Palmer, there are sometimes as many as 75 minibuses disgorging more than 500 hikers at a time. The hikers park their vans, conquer the peak and then depart — leaving behind rudely awoken residents and bags of garbage."

Read the full story: Charitable hikers erode mountain and town's patience