We recently reported on the ‘ghost-hunters’ – the volunteer divers who are helping to clear up discarded fishing nets and other junked fear from the depths of the UK seas.
It got us thinking: where else are projects tackling rubbish that’s largely hidden from view? It turns out that such ambitious cleanups abound, from the Alps to Angola.
1. Dismantling old ski resort architecture
As global warming forces more and more ski resorts, especially those at lower altitudes, to shut, what should be done with the ski lifts, cables and other scrap material that’s left behind?
Since 2001, Mountain Wilderness France has been mobilising volunteers to remove abandoned resort architecture and “reverse the human footprint on the environment” as part of its ‘obsolete facilities’ campaign. It also lobbies governments to support its work through legislation. In 2023, the NGO had dismantled 22 lifts in France, though it estimates that more than 100 remain across 59 sites in the country.
Find out more: mountainwilderness.org
