The Largest (!!) Mountain Cleanup
- Khwaish Gupta
- Jul 26
- 4 min read
Waste Warriors set a world record for the Largest Mountain Cleanup on 5th June, 2025, celebrated as the World Environment Day. We mobilised ~8500 volunteers across 101 cleanup locations in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to clean up 18,599kgs of waste in just an hour!!
The run-up to the world record was nothing short of chaos—chaotic af, if I’m honest. The idea had been brewing for a while with Vishal (CEO, Waste Warriors), but it took him lighting a fire under us to move things into motion.
Cue the sticker shock: setting a record with the Guinness Book is absurdly expensive.
Vishal swiftly spoke with Saurabh Bothra who's building Habuild and is the new jagat-putra (a new-age son that Indian mothers love). He introduced us to the World Records Union, a more budget-friendly alternative.
It was mid-May already and headlines grew tense with India-Pakistan border skirmishes, the weight of uncertainty settled on all our foreheads. Beads of worry spiralled down our foreheads as we asked ourselves—what if war breaks out? Do we dare attempt mobilising a mass movement for World Environment Day amid such volatility?
My parents topped this layer of worry so beautifully; they called to mentally prepare me to be okay with a lockdown.
"Stock up ration, check with colleagues if you can stay with them... or rethink if you want to come back home."
At the same time, internal debates within the organisation flared as uncertainty loomed.
"The police won't permit."
"It will look bad on us doing this amidst these tensions."
"It's unsafe."
"Even if things get better, we don't have enough time to pull this off!"
Me being me, my anxiety made me swell up with lousiness. I remember sitting on the black couch in the office lobby and yawning my day away. I had read too much newspaper, overdoing my reading quota for the entire month. I left the office in time, extremely guilty for not moving things enough. Came home and slept for a solid 14 hours to dream of the war tensions being relieved.
And the dream came true, haha! On Saturday night, my frolleague Archana video-called; ceasefire was declared. Sunday was spent soaking in this relief and the sun, and by Monday, it was time to shift gears!
I started budgeting, brainstorming, and hustling. The team spirits were still low, so I kept pestering the committee leads, nudging them toward a more daler (Punjabi for fearless) mindset.
Our North Star started becoming clear: mobilise 10,000 volunteers to collect 10,000kg of waste, in just one hour, on World Environment Day.
Eventually, realism set in, and we settled for 7,000.
I was everywhere, stretching myself for volunteer outreach too, but I had to remember: impact scales with focus. In the dynamic, happening (and fun) range of things in operational to-dos, I had almost forgotten that I'm leading fundraising for this campaign!!
So I prioritised my energy where it would move the needle most—and that’s when we launched Prakriti Ka Shagun, setting the campaign into motion. With Lehar, my right-hand, things happened quickly.
While there's no accurate translation for this, but a close one would mean a Gift for Nature. It simplified our donation ask of Rs 201; this was now something sacred.
As the funds started flowing in and excitement brewed, we continued recalibrating our leadership.
Parallel to this run up, 50 Waste Warriors came together in Dehradun for an overall alignment workshop. Like a leadership cohort, but highly customised. We also came together to make our organisational strategy for the remaining year.
This alignment at the top was crucial; it felt like a chiropractor’s crack, that fixes our world in one breath.
At the beginning of the campaign, Suraj, my seth-ji, kept asking the team—what’s your “why”? Some said “awareness,” others, “making the campaign happen.” For me, it was about learning the art of fundraising without burning out.
And you know what? I did (learn).
This season taught me the value of post-traumatic growth—what some call anti-fragility or resilience 2.0.
The most powerful picks during this campaign weren’t new software or bigger teams, but my own mindset:
Focusing on solutions, not distractions (“ditch people politics, focus on process”)
Coming back to my breath—again and again.
Trusting my instincts, almost like the universe was guiding my every micro-movement. It felt like the universe was operating through me; it was dialling the right donors at the right time.
Not overthinking—just doing.
Meditating to clear the mental clutter.
Cultivating an intentional circle of positive energy.
After AALLLLL of this, overshooting the target by 15% a night before the cleanup, I still felt helpless.
What if it rains tomorrow? It's been raining everyday!
What if people don't turn up?
What will I tell 600 donors to trusted us with this initiative!?
I could barely sleep.
And the next morning, the brighter-than-ever Sun kissed my eyes morning and I was up. This was the real "Prakriti Ka Shagun" that it didn’t rain on June 5.
On the day of the cleanup, I did my sewa for nature alongside Autistic adults and, yes, some rich, angry, entitled aunties—a vibrant cross-section of humanity (ahahaha). Watching them all pitch in (anger and all), I realised that I don’t want to end up bitter as I age. My hope is to grow into a woman who is calm, understanding, and at peace.
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