Port-a-eco-potty Everest climbers

Reuters reports on a Nepali mountain climber who advocates for more eco-friendly climbing, starting with portable toilets.

There are no toilet facilities at the Everest Base Camp, where hundreds of climbers visit every year; the usual modus operandi is to squat behind a rock.

"Dawa Steven Sherpa, who led an eco-Everest expedition in May to collect trash dumped by previous climbers, said his team used a plastic bucket as well as a gas-impervious bag designed to safely contain and neutralize human waste and keep in odor.

'It is portable and very secure,' Sherpa, 25, told Reuters.

'I want to promote anything that manages human waste on the mountain.'

'To date, no other container designed for human waste exists in this size, weight or strength,' Sherpa said of the U.S.-designed bucket, which is 11 inches tall and weighs 2.4 pounds, and has an opening that is eight inches in diameter."

Read the full story: Climber plumps for portable toilets for Everest