Chasing Clean Air

United by Blue and Wild Planet Foods Making A Positive Difference

Ohhh, how many press releases clog my daily in-box but two jumped out of  cyberspace, prompting a "Wow! How can I learn to be more high level like these companies making a positive difference in the world?"

How often do you say that about a company?

It's clean up season, making an impact

United by Blue is a clothing company whose mission is to clean up the world's waterways. They remove one pound of trash from an ocean or waterway for every product sold. So far the company claims to have pulled almost a quarter million pounds of trash out of the water in the past five years. They do the hard work themselves! United by Blue is sold in over 400 outlets nationally and they have 3 brick and mortar stores. 

Toward a balanced wild planet

Wild Planet catches and cans tuna fish in a sustainable way, using pole and troll fishing methods, which minimize bycatches, catching non-target species. As a result, Greenpeace recently endorsed Wild Planet as the #1 tuna brand for sustainability. Wild Planet is challenging the big three tuna brands to switch to sustainable fishing methods.

For more information on Seafood - what is best to use or avoid and why, check out Seafood Watch Program.

If all companies operated like United by Blue and Wild Planet Foods seeking ways to do better and make a hands-on difference in the world, wow, I believe the world can be a better place.

Photo of California coast as seen from my recent journey on Amtrak's Coast Starlight train.

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Until next time, breathe easy and make life an adventure!

 

 

A Journey to the Puffins of Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

I wanted to see an exotic puffin up close and personal. I had read articles about the photogenic orange-billed, web-footed Atlantic puffin that lured me to European shores. But what about an area closer to home? I asked my personal assistant: "Siri, are puffins in the Pacific Ocean?" She responded that puffins are in the North Pacific Ocean.

Indigenous to the Pacific Ocean, tufted and horned puffins mate for life, breed in large colonies, and, in my mind, chirp, "Welcome to Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park."

My journey to the puffins started at the historic Downtown Anchorage Depot, where I boarded Alaska Railroad's Glacier Discovery Train. Considered one of the most scenic train routes in the world, its large windows offered nature and wildlife viewing.

Our train snaked south toward Seward, the gateway community to Kenai Fjords National Park. We passed Cook Inlet, where white beluga whales shimmered in the sunlight. Eagle nests topped trees. Bald eagles flew. The Alaska Range towered in the distance. Conductor Davy Registe ensured passengers' comfort as we traversed a lush green landscape where water cascaded down jagged mountains and an occasional moose turned to say hello.

Romancing Alaska's Wild: Denali National Park and Preserve

I'm no Tarzana, roughing it in the wild. Therefore, when I chose to romance the wild of Alaska, trepidation accompanied my journey to Denali National Park and Preserve — the largest swath of wilderness in North America. Grizzlies. Wolves. Caribou. The promise of observing wildlife in their natural habitat, surrounded by beauty as it was centuries ago, was thrilling. Predators versus prey. Red fox versus please-don't-eat-me-now Arctic ground squirrels. The Alaska Range bathed in northern lights.

Bye-bye city congestion and cell towers. I'd explore the Interior of Alaska and a new kind of freedom surrounded by Denali's 6 million acres — the size of Massachusetts — which, incidentally, boasts North America's tallest mountain at 20,322 feet. Mount Denali, "The Great One" (also known as Mount McKinley), towers over forests, glacial lakes, frozen tundra and mountains. It is popular with photographers, climbers and tourists eager to glimpse its often-cloud-shrouded peak. I'd have three days to embrace Alaska's wilderness and squash any trepidations about roughing it in the wild.

I boarded Alaska Railroad's Denali Star train in Anchorage. We snaked north through pristine wilderness, passing lakes, braided streams and groves of trees. Our guide told stories of pioneers and gold-diggers — long-bearded mountain men who endured harsh conditions mining for gold. Stories of rugged men, far removed from my "GoldStar" train experience with plush interior, comfy seats and large curved glass windows, underscored that "roughing it" was not happening here.

The train slowed for dramatic postcard scenes, including one atop a trestle bridge 296 feet above Hurricane Gulch, which is known for its sweeping high winds and beauty.

After seven hours of scenic train travel that I didn't want to end, a colorful low-elevation taiga forest greeted my arrival to the Denali Park Station. The Alaska Range and an alpine forest, like an impressionist painting, were in the distance. Sun rays pierced clouds, illuminating wild Denali: Evergreens, paper birch and aspen trees were alive with color. Wildflowers swayed in the light breeze — pink fireweed, purple lupine and yellow cinquefoil. I inhaled clean air, soaking in the serenity of my surroundings.