Creating a Climate for Change

E nvironmental S ustainability I nitiatives at NOLS


The Scope of The Report
This report tells the story of the NOLS Sustainabil-
ity Initiative from its foundation, built more than 45
years ago in the NOLS Leave No Trace ethic, to its
present day manifestation in Sustainability Initiative
programs, projects, and goals. This report is timely.
While NOLS has a long history with sustainable
practices, we are really just beginning our work.
NOLS is transitioning from a sustainably
minded organization without a centralized sustain-
ability plan to a sustainably minded organization
with central coordination that drives sustainabil-
ity priorities and projects across all of our global
locations. While we are moving forward with great
momentum and enthusiasm, there are still places
where we’re working to find our stride. This report
tells both parts of that story and, we hope, serves
to inspire organizations in similar positions.
table of Contents
LNT: Bringing our Backcountry Ethic
to the Forefront . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Defining Our Footprint
Sustainability Initiative Comprehensive Plan
Conservation & Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Measuring Our Carbon Footprint
What’s Included in Our Footprint
Reducing Our Footprint
Conservation & Reduction
Project Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Energy
Transportation
Renewable Energy
Water Conservation
Waste
Purchasing
Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Sustainability and the Student Experience
Student Service Projects
Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Community Outreach and Partnerships
Looking to the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2 environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols
Message from the Director
In 2006, on the eve of crafting the next five-year
strategic plan for NOLS, we embarked on an ini-
tiative to formalize the school’s commitment to
environmental sustainability. The timing was for-
tuitous. As we entered a phase of simultaneously
looking back on where we’ve been and drawing
our map for the future, we had a golden opportu-
nity to assess our strengths and highlight areas of
opportunity to serve our mission.
In the realm of environmental sustainability,
NOLS’ track record is strong. We pioneered
the practice of minimum-impact wilderness
travel, our curriculum and our operations are
steeped in the Leave No Trace ethic, and our
students graduate with a deepened sense of commitment to wild places. NOLS
is, fundamentally, an organization with strong conservation and environmental
values, with an employee base that is overwhelmingly tuned into, if not driven by,
the importance of reducing our impact on the globe. In 2006 we realized that,
while all these things are true, we lacked a comprehensive plan for environmental
sustainability at the school, one that spells out how we will not only continue to
value it, but how we will advance it in a way that ensures that our frontcountry
practices are in line with our backcountry excellence.
This report tells the story of our path to formalize environmental sustainability
at NOLS in the context of our educational mission. It highlights the different
shapes that sustainability takes at unique NOLS locations around the world. It also
explains where we’re headed in the future with environmental stewardship as one
of our eleven strategic goals. We have set ambitious but attainable objectives—like
we do in the backcountry—centered on reducing our global carbon footprint
and our overall impact. Our plan for achieving these objectives is constantly
evolving as we learn and study the world around us. What remains constant is our
commitment to striving for greater environmental sustainability and sharing what
we learn with our students, staff, and communities.
John Gans
NOLS Executive Director
The National Outdoor Leadership School
284 Lincoln Street • Lander, WY 82520
www.nols.edu • (800) 710-NOLS • sustainability@nols.edu
(cover) Staff housing at NOLS Patagonia, set among the stunning landscape of the Aysen Region in Chile, uses geothermal
energy to efficiently heat and cool the building throughout the year. Photo by Rich Brame.
 Matthew McPheeters
Treading lightly in the backcountry has always been our approach. Now we’re focusing that ethic on our frontcountry operations.

Leave No Trace: Bringing Our

Backcountry Ethic to the Forefront
Though we didn’t know it at the time, NOLS was defining the concept of minimum- The mission of the National
impact camping and setting the standard for sustainable travel in the backcountry Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)
when we first started sending students into the Wind River Mountains in 1965. For
is to be the leading source and teacher
45 years we have refined and perfected the concept, learning through experience and
hundreds of thousands of nights slept on the ground around the world in a wide range of wilderness skills and leadership that
of ecosystems. In the early ’90s, we worked with federal land management agencies to serve people and the environment.
define and formalize Leave No Trace (LNT), which has become the unparalleled ethic
Our community shares a commitment
and practice for minimum-impact travel in wild places.
But what about NOLS in the frontcountry? Just because we are outdoor edu- to wilderness. The NOLS Sustainability
cators who teach LNT, doesn’t mean that our in-town practices will follow suit by Initiative is a reflection of our
default. How do we operate when we’re designing programs, feeding students, trav- commitment to align our actions in the
eling to meetings, paying bills, convening alumni, writing curriculum, or attending
frontcountry with these values.
board meetings? And what are we doing to ensure that we walk our own backcoun-
try talk when we’re in town: that we take what we teach our students in the wilder-
ness and apply it to all aspects of our work?

environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols 3

 In 2006, we decided that it was no longer enough to practice environmental
sustainability in an ad-hoc fashion. We knew we were making many good opera-
tional decisions: using fuel-efficient vehicles for in-town trips, running solar-electric
systems in Mexico, capturing rainwater in the Pacific Northwest, building strawbale
housing in the Southwest, and more. But we lacked a comprehensive, schoolwide
vision for how we intended to reduce our environmental footprint and track our
progress over time.
The first critical steps in the NOLS Sustainability Initiative involved establishing
a baseline carbon footprint for the school and crafting a strategic plan. We needed a
snapshot of our operations, giving us a basis for measuring improvement and provid-
ing direct feedback, and we needed to set goals toward reducing our impact, thus
creating a road map for sustainability efforts moving forward.

defining Our Footprint

Right away we realized we needed help in calculating our overall environmental
impact. In 2007, NOLS contracted with Pure Strategies, an environmental consulting
firm, to complete a sustainability audit for the school. Pure Strategies spent sev-
eral months visiting key operating locations, including NOLS Headquarters, NOLS
Rocky Mountain, NOLS Southwest, and NOLS Pacific Northwest, and interviewing
staff to gather data at our other operating locations worldwide.
Pascal Beauvais

The amount of stove fuel we use in the field is only a small part
of our overall carbon footprint. A larger part is the frontcountry
operations that support our backcountry living.
The audit covered everything from our use of office electronics to carbon emis-
sions to outdoor gear purchasing. Pure Strategies evaluated NOLS’ current practices
and made recommendations for improvements. They also calculated our carbon
footprint for the 2006 fiscal year (FY06). This measurement is now our baseline
footprint, allowing us to set carbon reduction goals based on our FY06 emissions.

Fiscal Year 2006 Carbon Footprint

“We work with a host of 2006

progressive organizations in our Emission Source Metric Tons CO2e

NOLS Vehicle Travel 947
consulting work. NOLS’ efforts
Electricity 585
put it among the elite educational Natural Gas 222
Propane 79
institutions pursuing sustainability.
White Gas 18
The school has not only reduced its carbon Heating Oil 14
Total 1,865
footprint, it is educating a generation of Natural Gas 12%
new leaders and giving them the tools to
Electricity 31% Propane 4%
preserve our Earth for the future.” 
White Gas 1%
–Tim Greiner, Managing Director, Pure Heating Oil 1%
Strategies, Inc. NOLS Vehicle Travel 51%

4 environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols

 Sustainability Initiative Comprehensive Plan
In the summer of 2008, NOLS responded to the recommendations set forth by the
Pure Strategies audit and created a half-time position for a Sustainability Coordinator.
This position was dedicated to building on the audit process to create a schoolwide
vision and framework for sustainability that will guide the school into the future.
While NOLS’ biggest strength in sustainability was and is staff dedication to the ini-
tiative, this was a huge step in terms of centralizing and coordinating efforts.
After establishing this leadership role, our next step was to add input from our
directors around the globe to the Pure Strategies recommendations and turn them into
a Sustainability Initiative Comprehensive Plan (SICP) . The plan established three phases:

PHASE 1: Laying the Foundation (2009–2010)

This phase established internal systems and tools necessary to quantify our foot-
print, lined out our climate protection goals, and introduced more sustainability
curriculum to our students.

PHASE 2: Hitting our Stride (2011–2013)

This upcoming phase focuses on our efforts to continue to reduce our carbon
footprint and also addresses non-carbon areas of concern—water usage, solid

NOLS Photo Archives

waste, etc.

PHASE 3: NOLS Leading the Way (2014 and beyond)

This phase lines out our best predictions of how we will bring cutting-edge sus-
tainability practices to NOLS, as well as use our influence to inspire change in As part of our conservation and reduction goal, NOLS Rocky
Mountain was outfitted in 2008 with a solar array to fuel our
the practices of our local communities, partners, and suppliers. electricity use.

In addition to our three phases, we identified three main goals for the initiative:
“In typical NOLS fashion, the school
Conservation and Reduction : Dedicated to conserving and reducing our energy is charting the unknown territory of
use, facility-based conservation (centering around water, waste, green building,
sustainability with determination,
and sustainable grounds), and responsible procurement.
skill, and thoughtfulness. In many
Education : As a wilderness school this holds special importance to us because ways, sustainability is really just
at the end of the day, our students and graduates are NOLS’ greatest contribu-
expedition behavior elevated to a
tion to the environment. We strive to accomplish this goal by supporting each
of our operating locations with sustainability curriculum and resources, as well planetary level with a touch of our
as making these resources available to external audiences through our website. signature Leave No Trace philosophy
added in.  As an environmental and
Outreach : To NOLS employees, NOLS communities, our suppliers and provid-
sustainability professional for over 25
ers, and other partners both in and out of the outdoor industry. We endeavor to
accomplish this outreach through marketing, events, sharing information, and years, I use the NOLS sustainability
continuing to integrate sustainability into NOLS culture. program as a benchmark in the field.”

The SICP is a living document. It represents our best and most current knowledge –AJ Grant, President of Environmental
of how to implement and improve NOLS’ sustainability efforts. We expect that Communications Associates, Member of the
NOLS Board of Trustees
knowledge and wisdom will develop and improve over time, and that our plan will
develop and improve with them. The SICP is available on our website by visiting
www.nols.edu/creating_a_climate_for_change.

environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols 5

 Fiscal Year 2009 Carbon Footprint
Emission Source Metric Tons CO2e
NOLS Vehicle Travel 631
Electricity 554
Natural Gas 268
Propane 87
White Gas 29
Heating Oil 8
Total 1,577
Fiscal Year 2010 Carbon Footprint
Emission Source Metric Tons CO2e
NOLS Vehicle Travel 632
Electricity 556
Natural Gas 294
Propane 94
White Gas 25
Heating Oil 13
Total 1,614
“When it comes to learning about climate
change, NOLS students always ask:
‘What can I do to make a difference
and what is the school doing?’ The
Sustainability Initiative is a powerful tool
in answering these questions because
it demonstrates our commitment to
applying the LNT ethic broadly to
everything we do as an organization.”
–Eric Wanless, NOLS Instructor
6 environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: Conservation and reduction
Electricity 35%
Natural Gas 17%
Propane 6%
NOLS Vehicle Travel 40% White Gas 2%
Heating Oil <1%
Electricity 34%
Natural Gas 18%
Propane 6%
White Gas  2%
NOLS Vehicle Travel 39%
Heating Oil  1%
Conservation and Reduction
Measuring Our Carbon Footprint
The first phase of achieving our conservation and reduction goal called for us to
establish systems to measure and track our energy use. Pure Strategies completed a
version of this for our 2006 fiscal year in their sustainability audit, but the data col-
lection was challenging and, in many cases, impossible to complete. After suffering
through the process of retroactive energy data collection, NOLS staff were motivated
to develop a process that systematized the ongoing capture of necessary information.
After much research and deliberation, NOLS again approached Pure Strategies
for a solution in the form of their web-based Carbon Tracker system. At the time,
Pure Strategies was in the process of developing the Carbon Tracker and had only
built customized systems for a handful of other organizations. NOLS saw opportu-
nity in becoming part of this nascent phase of automated carbon tracking.
As with any new software, there were bugs to work out, as well as dozens of staff
members to train in the use of the software. Nevertheless, Carbon Tracker was up
and running for our 2009 fiscal year, and we completed our second carbon footprint
measurement in August of 2009. While we know our numbers include some mea-
surement error (and expect this to diminish as we continue to learn how to consis-
tently and best use the Carbon Tracker), we feel confident that our FY09 and FY10
measurements are sound reflections of our energy use during these periods.
 What’s Included in Our Footprint?
In reporting our carbon footprint, NOLS follows the Kyoto Protocol and the inter-
nationally accepted greenhouse gas accounting standard developed by the World
Resources Institute and World Business Counsel for Sustainable Development.
These organizations categorize greenhouse gas reporting into three scopes. Scope 1
is defined as direct emissions from sources controlled by the organization—on-site
fuel combustion, emissions from NOLS owned and leased vehicles, etc. Scope 2 is
defined as indirect emissions from sources controlled by the organization—in our
case, electricity use. Scope 3 is defined as all other sources of emissions—student,
instructor and staff travel, as well as any “upstream” emissions caused by rented
facilities (buildings not owned by NOLS), or by the production and shipment of
any purchased products.
The Kyoto Protocol calls on organizations to report Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Pascal Beauvais
Many organizations go beyond this standard and also report Scope 3 emissions, or
some portion of them. The extent to which Scope 3 emissions are measured is highly
variable and dependent on the organization to make the final decision.
NOLS has drawn a Scope 3 boundary, balancing the need to paint a compre-
hensive picture of the school’s environmental impact while keeping the task focused
on what we can control and what is manageable with the school’s existing resources.
Measurability is also a consideration, as we cannot manage what we cannot measure.
Our boundary changes occasionally as we learn more about what we can count,

Craig Muderlak
control, and change.
Calculating our carbon footprint with these parameters will stretch our resources
without overtaxing them. These areas of Scope 3 emissions will give NOLS a strong
foundation from which to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the
information needed to tackle more challenging measurements and reductions in the
future.

Components of the NOLS Carbon Footprint

Scope 1 Scope 2 Scope 3

Building Energy Student Travel During

Brad Christensen
Electricity
(leased and owned) NOLS Courses
Vehicles
Staff Travel
(leased and owned)

White Gas Fuel Use Faculty Travel

Outsourced Rerations

Commuting

Student Travel to NOLS

Christina Cuneo

Included in our footprint and targeted for reduction
Not currently included in our footprint but targeted
for future analysis
Courses
rented Facility Emissions
NOLS’ carbon footprint includes emissions from operations
Emissions from in both the backcountry and frontcountry. For example,
Purchased Materials (from top to bottom) getting rerations into the field, cooking
in the field, lighting in-town student facilities, and trans-
porting students and staff to the field.)

environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: Conservation and reduction 7

Reducing Our Footprint
We based our carbon reduction goals on a number of recom-
mendations and standards set by other institutions of higher
education. Most of these were based on the internationally rec-
ognized 2% Solution, which recommends reducing absolute
carbon emissions 2 percent annually until the year 2050, for
an overall carbon reduction of greater than 80 percent. This
recommendation came about as a result of general consensus
in the scientific community that this level of reduction will
keep the parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric carbon below
catastrophic levels.
In addition to the 2% Solution, we also decided some
interim goals were in order. Eighty percent by 2050 sounds
great, but also pretty far off and intangible. Also, reducing our
carbon at more aggressive levels sooner rather than later will pre-
vent more emissions from ever entering the atmosphere to begin
with. So, in keeping with the spirit of our 2013 strategic plan
goals, we set stretch goals for our interim targets—big enough
to energize us, but not so high that they’re out of reach.
We settled on two interim goals—a 10 percent reduction
from our 2006 carbon levels by 2010, and a 30 percent reduc-
tion by 2020. These goals are absolute, meaning they reflect
the total actual carbon emitted by school operations within
our carbon footprint boundary. While we opted to set our
carbon reduction goals in absolute terms, we also decided that
reporting them in both absolute and normalized interpreta-
tions was important. Normalized carbon reporting will show
us how much carbon we use per student day. In other words,
it will illustrate our carbon “efficiency.” This will be especially
helpful if the school grows in leaps and bounds for a period,
making it a challenge to reduce our absolute carbon emissions
during the same period of time. We will be able to look at the
normalized information and see not only if we hit our absolute
goal, but also if we reduced the amount of carbon we emit for
each student day we have in the field.
In 2009, we were happy to note we exceeded our 2010
goal a year early! While we expect numbers to fluctuate some-
what as we grow more consistent in our data collection, we feel
this is an accurate representation of our sustainability efforts
and energy use in fiscal year 2009.

NOLS Absolute Carbon Emissions

2500
Metric Tons of CO2 Equivalent

2000

1500

1000

500

2006 2009 2010 2010 Goal 2020 Goal

(-10%) (-30%)

  Goals 1679 1306

  Heating Oil 14 8 13
  White Gas 18 29 25
  Propane 79 87 94
  Natural gas 222 268 294
  Electricity 585 554 556
  NOLS-owned Vehicle Travel 947 631 632

8 environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: Conservation and reduction

 Brad Christensen
Fluorescent lighting in the Noble Hotel at NOLS Rocky Mountain (above), and sunlit gear bays at NOLS Pacific Northwest (below) help manage electricity use while students are in town.

Conservation and Reduction Project

Highlights
Energy
Reducing energy use is central to NOLS’ carbon reduction goals and to part of

Christina Cuneo
the core vision of our Sustainability Initiative—to reduce consumption. This is no
simple task given the heavy transportation demands of running wilderness courses
in remote locations. Fortunately, wilderness classrooms are about as sustainable as
it gets! We’re also building on 45 years of a Leave No Trace ethic, giving NOLS a
strong foundation for sustainability success. “In the last several years, all the facilities
Our first task is to reduce overall energy use. The cleanest burning fuel is the work in Lander and for NOLS Rocky
one that’s not used. As such, energy efficiency is a priority when it comes to NOLS Mountain has been ‘green.’ Our compost
facilities and NOLS vehicles. We insulate, retrofit, rework, build sustainably, and
system, photovoltaic systems, waterless
whenever possible warm ourselves in the sun.
urinals, and dual-flush toilets are
Lighting Ballasts: Rocky Mountain, Noble Hotel, Headquarters projects that students and staff can see
• Compact fluorescent bulb installation at NOLS Rocky Mountain and the Noble
and experience in town, demonstrating
Hotel is complete. Motion sensors were installed in specific places to reduce unoc-
cupied energy hogging. This reduced our consumption by 15 percent in 2007. the LNT ethic that they then live in the
wilderness. I have even connected
Passive Solar Buildings: Pacific Northwest several students and staff with
• The buildings on site were designed using passive solar principles. The win-
information about these systems so
dows are made with low-emission thermo-pane glass, and the buildings are
insulated above commercial requirements to reduce the need for mechanical they can pursue them in their own
heating and cooling. schools and towns.”
–Latane Frank, NOLS Rocky Mountain
Facilities Manager

environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: Conservation and reduction project highlights 9
 Transportation
Transportation is a huge piece of running wilderness courses. Students and instruc-
tors must travel to often far-flung locations just to begin their adventures. On top of
that, staff commute to and from work and travel to meetings and conferences. A lot of
that travel is air travel, which is responsible for particularly potent carbon emissions.
So how does NOLS go about reducing something that is so integral to its operations?
Efficiency is the watchword for our current transportation carbon management

Jaret Slipp
plan, but it won’t get us to our ultimate carbon reduction goal of 80 percent by 2050.
We continue to watch for new technologies and fuels, and budget for more efficient
vehicles. In the meantime, we’re always looking for innovative solutions.

Efficient Course Transportation: Yukon, Rocky Mountain

• Large diesel buses carry more students, reducing the number of trips made into
the mountains.

Public Transportation: Yukon, India

• Instructors are compensated for using public transportation to get to and from
the NOLS Yukon base in Whitehorse.
• Students at NOLS India use local buses and trains instead of private vehicles
to get to the base and to roadheads, saving up to 50 percent on fuel costs.
• In-town staff in India use a scooter instead of a car to save on fuel.
Rich Brame

• Courses in India are re-rationed by local residents and their mules.

Renewable Energy
Efficiencies are an integral part of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, but they
can only take us so far. Once the light bulbs are changed and the efficient windows
are installed, what’s next? Many NOLS locations are already addressing this ques-
tion by installing alternative and renewable energy systems to power their buildings.
The wind and sun are powering more than just our wilderness classrooms.

Geothermal: Patagonia
Nacho Grez

• A geothermal heat exchange pump heats the administrative offices, reducing

propane consumption by approximately 75 percent.

Solar Arrays: Rocky Mountain, Mexico, Teton Valley, Australia

• NOLS Teton Valley produces approximately 30 percent of the location’s
required energy with its solar array installed in 2010.
• Solar panels produce 40 percent of NOLS Rocky Mountain’s energy needs,
and any unused energy goes back into the grid and into neighbors’ homes.
• NOLS Mexico is off the grid and its electrical needs are met primarily by solar
panels. Any energy collected during the day is stored in batteries that power
Dan Verbeten

the base at night.

• NOLS Australia installed a 5 kilowatt solar array in 2010.
Conservation is a priority at every stage of a NOLS course.
From top to bottom: Carpooling courses to the field
in NOLS Yukon helps reduce fuel emissions. Geothermal
staff housing in NOLS Patagnoia keeps instructors com-
fortable before and after their courses. Seeing glaciers in
the backcountry reminds us of our impact and a reason to
conserve. Moving to solar electricity at NOLS Teton Valley
helps reduce our dependance on oil.

10 environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: Conservation and reduction project highlights
 water Conservation
Water conservation is a matter of perspective at NOLS. Extraordinary measures in
the Southwest have obvious merit, but extreme efforts in Alaska don’t make as much
sense. Below are examples of how different bases manage this precious resource.

Showerhouse: Southwest
• New shower facility saves 3,000 gallons of water annually via low-flow shower-
heads, waterless urinals, and high-efficiency clothes washers.

Dual Flush Toilets: Headquarters

• Specially designed toilets with two choices of flush (liquid waste or solid waste) save

Fredrik Norrsell
more than 2,000 gallons of water annually.

Grey Water System: Mexico

• After being used in NOLS Mexico’s outdoor showers, water is transferred to a
holding tank and eventually used to water the plants around the grounds.

Waste
NOLS courses create very little trash when they’re in the field. The in-town support
for those courses, however, can create quite a lot of waste. Rations bags, paper towels,
office trash, and discarded long underwear are just some of the common waste prod-
ucts of a NOLS course. Minimizing our waste is an important part of the NOLS
experience. Whether we’re on a mountaintop or at a NOLS base, resources are limited
and reducing, reusing, and recycling are practices vital to the success of any expedition.

Recycling: Pacific Northwest

• Plastic bags from courses, glass, tin, aluminum, steel, mixed paper, cardboard,
number 1 & 2 plastics, motor oil, antifreeze, and automotive batteries get recycled.
• Batteries, tires, refrigerators, and computers are properly disposed of.

Fredrik Norrsell
• Used office paper is turned into note tablets.

Composting: Headquarters, Rocky Mountain, Mexico Local and organic foods are served at NOLS bases whenever
possible. At NOLS Alaska (above), salad greens go from the
• NOLS Headquarters has an industrial composter that turns kitchen and yard garden to the table in the same afternoon.
waste into rich soil. It has reduced our contribution to landfill waste by 66 per-
cent and saved us an estimated $2,500 annually in garbage collection.
• NOLS Mexico’s composting toilets collect human waste into composting bins that “At NOLS Alaska, our staff and students
are then periodically raked to create optimum oxygenation. Once broken down, the are excited by our sustainability
harmless and odorless material is used as fertilizer around the grounds.
initiatives, which flow from our mission:
purchasing to serve people and the environment. To
NOLS prioritizes purchasing environmentally preferable products wherever possible. eat a fresh salad and vegetables from
The school also supports companies with strong environmental practices when pur-
our garden when returning from the field
chasing our outdoor gear.
brings a big smile to everyone, and they
Protocols: Schoolwide see and appreciate our step-by-step
• Paper: Wherever possible NOLS purchases paper with a post consumer recycled efforts to reduce our in-town footprint.”
fiber content of 50 percent or greater.
• Food: NOLS prioritizes local and organic foods in order to reduce the environ- –Don Ford, NOLS Alaska Director
mental impact of producing and transporting our course rations.

environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: Conservation and reduction project highlights 11
 Dave Anderson
Above: Fall Semester in the Rockies students clean up their classroom at Red Rock Canyon in Nevada. Below: A curriculum poster at each NOLS base compares a student’s impact in the
backcountry versus the frontcountry.

What’s Your Impa

ct?
compare the resour
ces used and waste
Education
NoLs backpacking produced by an averag
studen e
day in the backcountry. t on a day in the frontcountry versus
a

WAT E R
Frontcountry = 250
Sustainability and the Student Experience
L per day

When all is said and done, our students and graduates are NOLS’ greatest contribu-
residential use only

Backcountry = 5 L per
instructor estimate day
based on cooking,
cleaning, and drinking

TRAsh
tion to the environment. They experience our planet’s power and beauty, and they
Frontcountry = 4.5
lbs per
residential use only

Backcountry = 0.1
day
understand its fragility. NOLS grads are skilled, positive leaders with an environ-
lbs per day
mental awareness and a strong ethical foundation. Providing them with a solid base
instructor estimate
based on < 1 lb per
person per week

CO2 EmissiOns
Frontcountry = 52.66
lbs
from household heating
and electrical use and
CO2 per day
automotive/gasoline
of information, experience, and service to share with their community is our priority.
emissions

Backcountry = 0.63
lbs CO
from headlamp, camera, 2 per day
GPS, and white gas
use

the mission of the

of wilderness skills

live simply and

National outdoor

students into the

Leadership school
has been leading and leadership that serve people is to be the leading source and teacher
and the environme
comfortably with wilderness with only the essentials nt. since 1965, NoLs
graduates are skilled, minimum impact
on their environme and teaching them to
Field and Branch Curriculum: Schoolwide
positive leaders

• In addition to living comfortably with fewer resources, NOLS students learn

foundation. through nt. as a result,
visit www.nols.edu/crea our students, NoLs with a strong environmental awarenes NoLs
is creating a climate
ting_a_climate_for_ for change. For mores and ethical
change. information,
sources:
American Water Works
Association: www.drinktap.o
U.S. Environmental rg/consumerdnn/Default.aspx?
Protection Agency: tabid=85
U.S. Energy Information http://epa.gov/c
Administration: http://tonto.eia.limatechange/emissions/ind_home.html
World Resources Institute: doe.gov/energyexplained/index and http://www.epa.
www.wri.org gov/OMS/climate/420f05004.h
Jamie O’Donnell

World Business Council .cfm?page=biomass_waste_to_e

about environmental science in the field and at our bases. We emphasize trans-
tm
for Sustainable Development: nergy
Pure Strategies NOLS www.wbcsd.org
Sustainability Audit,
power output calculations:
www.nols.edu/environmental_s
tewardship_and_sustainability/r

The Leader I
100%
esources.shtml
Cert no. SW-COC-001784

n WILder
ness edu
caTIon

ferring minimum impact skills learned in the backcountry to the frontcountry

environment.

12 environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: Education

 Fredrik Norrsell
Dave Anderson

Lindsay Nohl
Student Service Projects
A big part of learning environmental ethics at NOLS is practicing what we preach.
Students and instructors routinely pick up backcountry trash and carry it with Students participate in service projects to strengthen their
conservation ethic. Clockwise from left: Scrubbing graffiti
them for weeks in order to pack it out, or reclaim fire rings making an impact on the off walls before climbing in Red Rocks; Raising pigs at NOLS
wilderness environment. In addition to these parts of the NOLS experience, many Alaska; Cleaning up mine debris near NOLS Southwest.
bases offer additional expanded opportunities to give back to the land.
“It gives me great pleasure to highlight for
Gardening and Farming: Alaska, Pacific Northwest, Patagonia students the measures our base has taken
• NOLS Alaska’s organic garden produces 1,000 pounds of produce per year to
to reduce our environmental impact. And
feed students.
• Pigs at NOLS Alaska are fed on kitchen waste and are raised for pork and used the theme continues while they are in
to help prepare the ground for the garden. the field. It is my hope that they will see,
• Chickens at NOLS Alaska are raised for meat and, prior to that, used in a
pre and post field experience, the idea of
chicken tractor that helps to naturally fertilize the fields.
• Greenhouses at NOLS Patagonia provide students and staff with organic transferring an ethic of conservation to
garden goods, and their orchard provides apples, cherries, plums, pears, their lives beyond NOLS.”
and gooseberries.
• NOLS Patagonia raises cage-free chickens as well as beef and lamb. –Dan Verbeten, NOLS Teton Valley
Operations Manager
Land Stewardship: Southwest, Rocky Mountain, Teton Valley
• NOLS Southwest courses contribute to several service projects, including one
ongoing project in the Rob Roy Mine on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge
helping the Fish and Wildlife Service clean out debris. They also work with
the Carlsbad Bureau of Land Management on cave restoration projects.
• NOLS Rocky Mountain Outdoor Educator students team up with the Bureau
of Land Management, working with the Lander Field Office to monitor
Wilderness Study Areas in the Granite Mountains, helping to ensure the area
is not being degraded.
• Adventure students at NOLS Teton Valley participate in a trail maintenance
project, partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and Teton Valley Trails and
Pathways in the Palisades Mountain Range in Idaho.

environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: Education 13

 David Weinstein/Outdoor Industry Association

Fredrik Norrsell
NOLS hosts community events, including forums on land stewardship (above left) and providing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) (above right).

Outreach
Community Outreach and Partnerships
NOLS is lucky to be part of more than a dozen communities across the globe. We
partner with extraordinary organizations and involve our friends in campaigns and
projects. Sharing our sustainability successes and challenges and harnessing the power
of the outdoor community is all part of our sustainability outreach plan at NOLS.

• NOLS Headquarters co-sponsored the nation’s largest homegrown listening

forums for the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative.
• NOLS Alaska provides produce for a Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) group in Palmer.
• NOLS Headquarters and NOLS Rocky Mountain coordinated a community
event to clean up the banks of the Popo Agie River at several local parks in
Lander, Wyoming.

14 environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: Outreach

 Rainbow Weinstock
In looking forward, our Sustainability Initiatives at NOLS will serve our students, our wilderness classrooms, and our wild lands worldwide.

Looking to the Future

Our next climate protection goal is a 30 percent reduction of carbon emissions
below our 2006 levels by 2020. We believe that while we were able to meet our 2010
goal by tackling opportunities in efficiencies and alternative energies as they came
our way, our 2020 goal, as well as our 2050 goal of 80 percent reduction, is signifi-
cant enough that it will require specific strategy. In 2011 a committee composed
of school directors and sustainability champions will convene to begin mapping out
this strategy. We expect facility energy use and transportation to be primary areas of
focus as they comprise the bulk of our carbon footprint.
An environmentally sustainable NOLS, however, goes far beyond carbon reduc-
tion goals and lists of exciting projects. Success in sustainability will mean a cultural
shift to a place where reducing, reusing, conserving, and restoring are the norm in
the backcountry and frontcountry. Environmental ethics are a part of the mission
and values at NOLS. As we move forward with our environmental sustainability
initiative, we aim to foster and expand this ethic beyond our organization to our
students, partners, and communities.

environmental stewardship and sustainability at nols: looking to the future 15