Mt Everest: A Reminder There Are No Safe Havens from Man's Pollution

Jeff Clapp after viewing a documentary about garbage left by thousands of adventurers at Mt. Everest had an epiphany of sorts. He felt man should be reminded of his neglect of the treasures in his world. As is the American way, why not make money doing it. He ventured to Nepal and collected discarded oxygen tanks left by climbers to bring home. Jeff being a craftsman of sorts turned them into bells, bowls and the like recycling the garbage as souvenirs to serve as reminders of our historical negligence.

When we look at photos of the pristine white mountain cap, we forget man has been there. When we see pictured of the rainforest, we do not realize that somewhere nearby humankind has left his mark. Wherever man goes, he discards proof of his presence at the scene. No place is safe and it is a time-honored tradition of man to perform.

Infecting the new world in historical tradition.

There are stories told that Christopher Columbus and crew not only discovered America, they infected it. Well documented in lore and legend are the sexual escapades of the seafarer that hits the shores in search of quelling their desires. Columbus' mates were no different. In their acts of desperation to satisfy their needs, they exposed the natives to venereal disease. That disease nearly wiped out the native people. These incidents were repeated time and time again as the Europeans conquered the new found world. They brought disease and pestilence to once pure areas. On occasion the favor was returned in kind to old world.

Smuggling weed into the promised land

Many common weeds found in the US are not indigenous. They were brought over by the relocating Europeans. Sometimes by accident as spores clung to clothes. Other times by ignorance mistaking a weed for a plant, which once introduced to new soil spread like a California wild fire. And so it is, we continue this tradition in our modern time. Expanding our horizons by littering other planets and the area in between we call space.

Is nothing as sacred as the tradition itself?