Mount Everest is looking a whole lot cleaner these days thanks to the efforts of the Nepal Army, who just removed two tons of trash from it.

The soldiers teamed up with government and non-government organizations to clean up trash and debris left by climbers over the course of five days, and they flew in 2.5 tons of tools and resources to make this happen. All of the biodegradable trash, which made up about one ton of the rubbish, is being transported to Kathmandu for disposal by the Blue Waste To Value group. The rest of the trash is currently being disinfected for treatment.

The Nepali Army released a statement saying that these cleanup efforts will continue through May 19, so they are just getting started!

“We take pride in Mount Everest but we are often accused of not being able to clean it… We have now come together to clean the mountain,” explained Dandu Raj Ghimire, chief of Nepal’s tourism department.

These efforts were organized by the regional Sagarmatha National Park Office as part of the 24th annual Wildlife Week. They are hoping that efforts such as this one to keep Mount Everest clean will continue in the years to come.

“This is the first time the government has taken initiative to clean the mountain… but it can’t be done in just one year. We have to continue this,” said Santa Bir Sherpa of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

We applaud these people for going above and beyond to clean up Mount Everest! Keep up the good work, guys!