Sustainability

Living lightly on the land with a focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling is a way of life for us.  Some of our efforts can be traced to day one, as we have always recognized the need for careful stewardship.  In recent years, technological advancements have helped our efforts toward sustainability, particularly when it comes to renewable energy. We continually work to minimize our impact on the land at our feet, and on the earth as a whole.  Here are a few examples:

• We compost food and yard scraps; waste heat from the generator also helps this process.
• Non-compostable food scraps go to an Alaskan industrial composter, a total of 500 pounds per week.
• Use of cloth napkins, cloth lunch bags, and reusable water bottles reduces our reliance on disposable products.
• Wherever possible, we mix a little extra elbow grease with cleaning products that are gentle on the earth, non-toxic, concentrated, and purchased in bulk.
• We provide safe, wholesome guest amenities, such as pure castile soap, and minimize the use of individually wrapped items.
• Staff line-dry most of their laundry on outdoor clotheslines to reduce energy consumption.
• Those items we cannot reuse or consume on site, such as paper, cardboard, aluminum, tin, plastics #1 and #2, and waste oil are taken to a recycling station at the park entrance, and eventually to Anchorage.
• We practice Leave No Trace principles when hiking in Denali's backcountry.
• To minimize our impact on the land and wildlife, we rotate our numerous hiking destinations throughout the summer.
• We participate in dialogue related to local issues and support various conservation groups in Alaska and elsewhere.