Bonjour Colorado

Brand New Me

Plastic Mania at MountainFilm

My life is forever changed. From now on I will live every day in a more conscious manner in an effort to break myself of the plastic addiction that I have clearly been suffering from for the better part of my life. I will approach every aspect of my life—from a beauty product purchase to how I deal with recyclables—with a new awareness about how my actions effect the world, my health and the health and well being of those around me. I embrace this brand new me and hope you’ll come along with me on this journey.

I’ve considered myself a green person for quite some time. I think I first began to recycle when I moved to Paris in 1984. There was a glass recycling receptacle on every street corner which made it easy to adopt good practices of sorting garbage. When I moved back to the States over ten years later, recycling was in full swing yet I still had to make the effort to load up my car to drop off my recyclables at a recycling center a few miles away. In the beginning I thought my other environmentally aware efforts bordered on compulsive or at the very least quirky: rinsing Saran wrap, Ziploc bags and foil and then hanging them out to dry a gazillion times over, cutting open tubes of cream and the like to scrape out the last remaining bit of product, you get the idea. Other habits such as covering a dish with a plate in the fridge (instead of plastic wrap) just seemed to implement a dose of common sense. And in the past couple of years in addition to living a very simple life that involves limited travel (yes, it’s true, especially in cars) and minimal waste of any kind, I’ve been careful to cart my own water bottle along with my personal supply of shopping bags whenever I leave my home. At least most of the time.

After having seen the movie “Bag It” this past weekend at MountainFilm here in Telluride, I realized that none of the above has been nearly good enough. It answered the question that most of us dare not think about: Where does all this plastic go anyway? It does not just go away. It is polluting ourselves and our world in more ways than you could imagine. Filmmaker and Telluride local Suzan Beraza takes us on a marvelous journey from our pristine mountain town to the floating “island” of plastic and other debris swirling around in the north Pacific gyre, estimated to be more than twice the size of Texas. The story is told through another Tellurider, Jeb Berrier, our resident thespian and funnyman, who relates this grim tale with well-proportioned doses of humor, wit and intelligence. The human factor rises exponentially when a major event in Jeb’s personal life forces him to look even more closely at the effects of plastic in our world. “Bag It” is indisputably the most entertaining and moving documentary I’ve ever seen. It has informed and motivated me enough to want to really make a difference in my life and hopefully to spread that message to others through this blog, my own example and my Travel Fun radio show. (I’ll be having Suzan on as a guest sometime soon—she has some great green travel tips as well!)

This is the kind of information, inspiration and yes, hope you get at MountainFilm. It’s more than a film festival. It’s an extraordinary four-day happening also filled with art exhibits, book signings, student workshops, social gatherings and presentations by outstanding adventurers, leaders and keen observers from a variety of realms. It’s about celebrating the indomitable spirit of all while calling attention to what is possible in the world. I was blown away by the opening day symposium that tackled extinction, a problem we now face at an alarming rate. The biosphere is hanging in a delicate balance and only we can bring about that change.  (Consuming less energy would certainly help to create that shift for example. Did you know that plastic bags and bottles are made of fossil fuels such as petroleum and natural gas?)

Stimulating Conversations Galore at MountainFilm

Since it’s MountainFilm, I was also awed by movies of great mountain adventure such as “The Wildest Dream,” the tale of George Mallory’s obsession with Mt. Everest and Conrad Anker’s obsession with Mallory. Another outdoor exploit took me to the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East in the film “Eastern Rises,” an entertaining documentary about the fly fishing trip-of-a-lifetime for a group of funny dudes.

Conrad Anker (rt) and His Climbing Partner, Leo, on the Summit of Everest

“I am,” the film by Hollywood heavyweight Tom Shadyac, also greatly moved me. As with many of the other films in the festival it provided insight into how one can truly achieve happiness in our culture of consumption and how we can be more connected to the world we live in. Both “I am” and “Bag It” received the Audience Choice Award for Favorite Film at MountainFilm 2010. Click on the above links to see trailers of these memorable films, many of which may be purchased on DVD and/or viewed in a theater near you in the upcoming months.  Note that “I am” is so hot-off-the-press that there’s not yet a Web site for it.

There's Something for Everyone at MountainFilm

I must wrap this up now since I have much work to do. In addition to the usual, I now have to do things such as figure out how I can dispose of my garbage without using plastic bags and yes, even whip up a batch of yogurt since none of the ones available to me are sold in recyclable containers. (Apparently making yogurt at home is super easy.) Plus it appears that not everything is being recycled the way it should be, so it’s just better to try to wean myself off of plastic as much as possible. I have renewed hope though. I perused the What You Can Do list at the “Bag It” Web site which provides many answers and resources for creating a life less plastic. Most of all I’m buoyed up by the great wave of energy that rolled through this past weekend’s MountainFilm. Suddenly I don’t feel quite so ill about the oil spill in the Gulf. Maybe it’s a huge wake up call for us all. No one need feel totally disempowered, we can each begin to turn things around in our own way.

Check out more of what I’ve written on MountainFilm here and in my Ken Burns posting.

Know that MountainFilm goes on tour, so keep your eye out for it in case it comes to a city or town near you.

Thank you to MountainFilm and Melissa Plantz, Merrick Chase and Jennifer Koskinen for the above images.

Ken Burns on America’s National Parks and Telluride

Ken Burns and "National Parks" Producer Dayton Duncan

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been moved to tears every night this week watching Ken Burns’s six-part series, “The National Parks:  America’s Best Idea,” on PBS.  This work was a labor of love for this master documentarian for some ten years and I think most of America is grateful for it finally being available for all to see.  ”It is the history of the ideas and the individuals that made this uniquely American thing happen,” Ken told me in a Travel Fun interview I conducted with him early September.  ”For the first time in history, land was set aside for the people,” he continued.

You may listen to the entire forty-minute interview I conducted with Ken by clicking on the play button here:

Ken also chats about his twenty-year relationship with Telluride.  “It’s my lover,” he says. Listen to the podcast to find out why.   You’ll also learn more about Ken’s two-decade long relationship with the Telluride Film Festival and why he calls it “the best festival on the planet.”

I was lucky enough to see one of Ken’s films on our National Parks on the big screen at Telluride’s Mountain Film Festival last May.  Read about that experience here.

Book Picks

“Ken Burns:  The National Parks:  America’s Best Idea” at www.shoppbs.org/home.  You can buy this must-have tome and the DVD and receive the CD soundtrack for free.

America the Beautiful

Upper Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California

I had been in Aspen most of off-season and didn’t return to Telluride until the tail end of Memorial Day Weekend which also marked the closing of Mountain Film.  Fortunately I arrived in time to catch the last film in the six-part series of “The National Parks:  America’s Best Idea,” by renowned documentarian Ken Burns.  I was truly captivated.

I knew I’d see magnificent landscapes (which was part of the reason I wanted to see at least one segment on the big screen even though all will be aired on PBS this fall).  I didn’t imagine, however, that I’d feel so emotionally connected to this work.  Sure spectacular scenery and great vistas can be stirring, but it is largely the people that recount the many stories behind our national parks that moved me to tears.   Most of our more than fifty national parks were born out of the efforts of extremely perseverant individuals and small groups of people, hearty, committed souls determined to preserve some of the most extraordinary corners of our country.  Few of the parcels came easily and opposition arose from many factions including big business and government.

But as Ken Burns illustrates, our national parks (and national monuments and national forests) embody the spirit of our country.  These sites are also where some of our most significant family memories have been forged.  There’s a sense of nostalgia and familiarity evoked in both the old and new footage that makes up “The National Parks” and one can’t help considering many of the places featured like old friends even without having actually visited the location.

National parks are an American invention—it’s no wonder this concept of preserving a place has been exported to almost every country on earth.  After eight years of considerable neglect and with interest that will surely be spurred by this fascinating documentary, we can only hope that our national parks will experience a surge of renewed interest.  “We’re fast approaching the centennial in 2016, “ Ken Burns said at the Tellluride premiere of this great work.  “This is a grand opportunity to reach people that haven’t been reached before.”

Biscayne National Park, Florida

The above photos were taken by Quang-Tuan Luong, a passionate photographer that has photographed all fifty-eight of America’s national parks.  Quang was also present at Mountain Film with Ken.  Be sure to visit his site to appreciate the full breadth of his work—it’s like taking a quick tour through our national parks!  You can also purchase his prints online.  And guess what?  Quang grew up in France.  I’ve found that it sometimes takes foreigners—often the French, in fact—to fully appreciate what we have in our own backyard.

Mountain Film Mania

Festival season has arrived here in Telluride and it kicks off today with Mountain Film. “It’s a weird mix of film fest, think tank and jamboree,” says Mountain Film Director, David Holbrooke.  “It’s both low key and intense, loose, yet focused,” he continues.  Indeed Mountain Film is where some of the best minds in the country come to share their ideas through art, film, presentations and books.  David discussed the essence of this Memorial Day weekend tradition in Telluride and its 2009 lineup during a recent Travel Fun interview.  This year’s theme is food, so, of course, there will be a lot to whet your appetite—for your body, mind and soul.  

For me, one of the main attractions this year includes the premiere of “The National Parks:  America’s Best Idea,” by master documentarian Ken Burns.  “I think he’s taught more people about the history of America than anyone else,” David says about Ken Burns referring to his documentaries on the Civil War, World War II, jazz, baseball and more.  You can tune in to PBS this fall  to view this six-part series about the history of our national parks.

“The people that come to Mountain Film are leaders of a paradigm we need to head to whether culturally or environmentally,” David emphasizes.  Such people include renowned chef Ming Tsai, mountain adventurer Conrad Anker, animal activist Paul Watson and reporter Nicholas Kristof, to name a few.  David’s dad, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, will participate via a tele conference since world affairs prevent him from being at the festival in person.

Be sure to visit the MF Store to purchase DVDs highlights from the festival and definitely take in some of the events if you’re in Telluride this weekend.

Book Picks

“Deep Economy,” by Bill McKibben

“Edge of Never,” by Bill Kerig

Both authors and many others will be present at this year’s Mountain Film.