Foreigners Clean Up Mountain Trails
By Tony MacGregor
A group of expatriates and Koreans who spend their spare time cleaning up litter on Koreans mountains are being met with applause and cries of encouragement from Korean hikers.
Shawn James Morrissey, a Canadian and president of the Korean Mountaineering League (KML), said Korean hikers have applauded them and sometimes stopped hiking and helped them clean up litter.
``It's obvious what we are doing because we have garbage bags attached to our waists as we collect the liter,'' he said. ``One woman said she feels ashamed because foreigners are doing the work that Koreans should be doing.''
Kevin Tarpey, a U.S. citizen and a member of the league, said the reaction of Korean hikers is 100 percent positive. ``They're overwhelmingly thankful. They have applauded us and even stopped to help us.''
Morrissey said over its three-year-old existence, the league _ with seven council members and about 25 Korean and foreign volunteers _ has removed 2,827 liters of trash and recyclables from Korea's mountains.
``Mountains should be a place of peace and pristine beauty,'' he said. ``People go to the mountains to get away from garbage. They shouldn't have to walk through litter on the mountains.''
The league has 20 to 30 cleanup trips on Korea's mountains, mostly focusing on the heavily hiked mountains in or near Seoul, such as Bukhansan National Park but have also worked on Mount Jiri in the south and Mount Gyeryong.
The KML is currently running a campaign with the slogan ``Pack it In, Pack it Out'' campaign to encourage hikers to dispose of their garbage properly off the mountains. At the same time the league is running the ``Root of the Problem'' sub-campaign to convince companies to reduce the amount of packaging that they use for their products.
The KML is also lobbying the government to pass legislation that would force companies to reduce the amount of packaging used on products.
Moorrissey said one of the biggest problems is lack of receptacles for litter. ``The attitude seems to be that having on litter receptacles will discourage people from littering, when the opposite is the case.''
He said the mountains, traditionally revered by Koreans who saw them as the home of spirits, need to be treated with respect. ``They are the source of clean water and contain a huge variety of plant, animal and insect species.''
He added that it takes thousands of years for some litter such as plastic and glass to biodegrade. ``Everything comes from the environment, but not everything is renewable. We have to prevent harmful chemicals from entering the environment.''
Morrissey, who grew up in Newfoundland, a mountainous province on Canada's east coast with much pristine wilderness, said he got the idea for the league when he came back to Korea from a trip to the Himalayas.
``Growing up in Newfoundland, I didn't fully realize the ecological importance of mountains because they were not only abundant but largely untouched. It was only after I came to Korea and came to love her highlands that I realized how important mountains are as bastions of wilderness and nature,'' he said. ``We need to take care of them.''
For more information see the league's Web site at www.kmleague.org/membership/4514461813