Quark Expeditions Bundles Up for Polar Bear Day Feb 27, 2015
Polar Experts Partner with Polar Bears International in Thermostat Challenge
February 27, 2015 – Brrr! It will be c-o-l-d in the offices of Quark Expeditions in honor of International Polar Bear Day, February 27th, a day of action organized by conservation group Polar Bears International (PBI) and supported by Quark staff and passengers. As one of PBI’s corporate sponsors, Quark is taking the Thermostat Challenge to help raise awareness of how our daily actions impact the sea ice habitat of polar bears and to show its commitment to greenhouse gas reductions.
With the Thermostat Challenge, Quark invites families, schools, and businesses to join them in lowering their thermostats a few degrees on February 27th to reduce carbon emissions and help save polar bears. It’s also encouraging participants to adjust their thermostats by two degrees year-round (up or down, depending on the season) and to take other steps to save energy.
“Saving energy produced by carbon-based fuels reduces our carbon emissions and can slow and even reverse global warming, which causes sea ice to melt,” says Krista Wright, PBI’s executive director. “Polar bears rely on sea ice for reaching their prey. Without sea ice, there will be no polar bears. By providing our communities with opportunities to save energy and reduce CO2, we can work together to build public support for even more impactful policy changes, like a fair price on carbon.”
Quark invites its passengers and passengers-to-be to share photos of their participation via Instagram with the hashtag #saveourseaice. You might share a photo of how you turned down the thermostat two degrees and “bundled up” in your favorite warm clothing or in “ugly sweaters” to help raise awareness of this worldwide conservation issue. Or you could show yourselves using a programmable thermostat or committing to additional actions like weather-stripping your doors or caulking. PBI will also feature a selection of these photos on its website.
“We are delighted to participate in Polar Bear Day and other PBI campaigns, as Quark staff and passengers alike are ardent supporters of PBI’s tireless efforts to help save polar sea ice. As a company that interacts with these majestic animals first-hand, we encourage these types of conservation efforts every day,” says Andrew White, Quark President.
Several Quark expeditions delight passengers with the opportunity to view polar bears in their natural habitats, a once-in-a-lifetime trip highlight for many. While polar bears roam throughout the Arctic, polar bear viewing opportunities for passengers can be more frequent in and around Spitsbergen, the North Pole, Greenland and the Canadian High Arctic. A Quark Polar Travel Adviser can suggest the most suitable expedition for the true polar bear enthusiast.
In addition to the Thermostat Challenge, Quark encourages participants to take the next step by signing PBI’s Petition for Polar Bears, which urges world leaders to take meaningful action at climate change meetings this December in Paris.
About Quark Expeditions
For 25 years, Quark Expeditions has been the leading provider of polar adventure travel. With its diverse fleet of specially equipped vessels, unique land-based adventures and seasoned expedition leaders, it offers travelers unparalleled access to the most remote regions on earth: the Arctic and Antarctica. In 2013, Quark Expeditions was voted “World’s Leading Polar Expedition Operator” by the World Travel Awards™, received the “Blow the Budget” award from the Amadeus & World Travel Awards™ Travel Experience Awards and was named one of National Geographic Traveler’s 50 Tours of a Lifetime for its “Three Arctic Islands” voyage. In 2014 it earned “World’s Leading Specialist Cruise Line” designation by the prestigious World Travel Awards™.
About Polar Bears International
Polar Bears International is a nonprofit dedicated to the worldwide conservation of polar bears and their habitat through research, education, and action. Learn more at polarbearsinternational.org.