"Man this rubbish is disgusting". After repeatedly saying this to myself and each other everyday for the first 2 weeks of hiking we decided to make a stand. Taking a handy plastic bag we began picking up rubbish that lay on the trail or near vicinity. Frustratingly, trail rubbish is the norm here rather than the exception. The sight of paper cups, cigarette butts, lolly wrappers, tissue and various instant plastic snack wrappers continually winds me up, especially on the bad days.
I can't get my head around the mentality of littering. Some people just seem to walk up, have a nice picnic, then happily leave the plastic and tin-foil strewn in their wake. Worst still is when the trash is jammed under a root or rock, indicating knowledge that this action is unsavory, but still partaking.
Of course this phenomenon is global, and I guess Korea doesn't fare too badly considering their population of 50 million lives within the valleys these mountains create, inevitably bringing that 'edge' between the perceived natural and unnatural environment that much closer.
But for me it is just inexcusable, and again has urged me to take up the cause for education and environmental awareness in attempt to change the mentality of our extremely wasteful modern societies.
Not to mention that the litter has also exposed our own filthy little stream of waste, generated as we walk through this landscape. Ramyeon packets, lollies, ice-creams, gas- containers, biscuits wrapped inside plastic inside cardboard - all have been used. Constantly when shopping we must be aware that no, we don't need that plastic bag to carry our purchases 10m outside to our backpacks. Trying to consciously reduce our waste stream has become a bit of a challenge to be faster than the Korean shop owners and checkout operators!
In all honesty, before I came over I had a sort of romantic vision of eating local foods direct from the forests and fields, as well as cooking on open fires or at least a wood-fired rocket fuel stove. The realities of this ridge walk are much starker. Although the areas surrounding the trail usually contain small farms and villages, the prospect of a steep 3km descent and ascent the next day, especially after a long day on the trail, is an immediate deterrent. We eat local wherever possible, yet packing your own food is essential and lighter is better over longer hikes. Inevitably, these factors along with our intense sugar cravings, Scottish budgets and time frame lead us to the ramyeon, egg noodle and instant coffee scene. And that scene is one of convenient, one-use trash generation. Hmmmm.
So again, back to my point. Every few days or so, or when the rubbish is really glaring we strive to pick it up. Even though we are just removing it from the mountain trails to be disposed of elsewhere in some landfill, it feels good to at least do something. This mentality of leaving a place better than you found it is actually quietly rewarding, as we found out. On the first day of picking up litter we met a man, had an innocuous conversation then moved on. Upon reaching a small mountain shelter we were astounded when the owner said to order anything we liked, as the man we had met earlier had phoned ahead to pay for our order.
Just another round of Korean jeong? For me this was a sign that any action performed with others in mind will have it's reward, immediately or at some other time.
Oh yeah, and also big bonus points for Korea's technological connectivity, which allowed that phone call to be made!
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