Abandoned garbage in nature is a real blight on the environment: it pollutes water and soil, has a direct impact on wildlife, and ruins the landscape, with negative consequences for tourism as well. This problem becomes especially evident as the snow melts. It is from this realization that the foundation, created by Laurent Thurnheer in 2001, was born. Reducing the impact of human activities in the mountains must be a priority in an Alpine country such as ours. Many waste collection initiatives exist in Switzerland. Summit Foundation seeks to bring together all those that take place in the mountains within the Clean-Up Tour.

Microplastics are everywhere. According to a recent study, a human being ingests on average more than 5 g of microplastics per week, the equivalent of a credit card (1)! In addition to waste (macro waste, micro waste and nano waste) being carried by water, microplastics are also transported by the wind. The first scientific studies have shown their presence in completely uninhabited mountain regions, in alpine lakes at over 1500 m altitude (2). Switzerland is considered the water tower of Europe, yet its waters
are as polluted as those of the Mediterranean Sea (3). It is urgent to act against plastic pollution, also in our mountains and in our waters.

(1) Kieran D. Cox, Garth A. Covernton, Hailey L. Davies, John F. Dower, Francis Juanes and Sarah E. Dudas. Environmental Science & Technology 2019 53 (12), 7068-7074. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.9b01517
(2) Allen, S., Allen, D., Phoenix, V.R. et al. Atmospheric transport and deposition of microplastics in a remote mountain catchment. Nat. Geosci. 12, 339-344 (2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41561-019-0335-5
(3) Océaneye. (14.07.2019). Plastic pollution in Lake Geneva is identical to that in the oceans. Retrieved from: https://www.oceaneye.ch/14-07-2019/