Environmental Initiatives

OUTING CENTER VANS ARE GOING CARBON NEUTRAL

What is Carbon Neutral?

Being carbon neutral involves calculating your total climate-damaging carbon emissions, reducing them where possible, and then balancing your remaining emissions, often by purchasing a carbon offset, planting new trees or investing in "green" technologies such as solar and wind power. (New Oxford American Dictionary)

Why are we going Carbon Neutral?

Scientific evidence indicates that global warming is a serious problem. This climate change is the outcome of carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels. Global warming will create: shorter, warmer, or even non-existent, winters; rising sea levels; human health risks; decreased forest health; damaged wildlife habitats; reduced capacity to produce food. We hope that efforts will help in minimizing environmental impact so we will continue to have snow to ski on and summer temperatures that allow us to spend time outside.

How are we going to do it?

A small portion of the fee for each Outing Center trip will contribute to purchase carbon offsets. The purchase of carbon offsets (renewable energy credits, RECs) contribute directly to the development of sustainable energy, such as wind farms and solar power. At the end of each semester, we will add up trip mileage, calculate the tons of carbon released by our vehicles, and purchase carbon offsets to cover the carbon we are responsible for. For more information on how carbon offsets work go to http://www.nativeenergy.com/how_works.html

Who else is on board?

The Olympics, World Cup Soccer, The Super Bowl, MTV, Coldplay, The Dave Matthews Band, Guster, and Wells Fargo are all going carbon neutral.

GREEN NDSU - Outing Center Tree Planting

In addition to going carbon neutral, we are planting trees. For every Outing Center trip that leaves the Fargo-Moorhead area we will plant a tree. Every trip in which this program applies will be marked with the GREEN NDSU logo.

PAPER USAGE

In an effort to minimize our paper usage, we will be printing fewer Outing Center Catalogs each semester. Those catalogs that are printed will be printed on 100% post-consumer, non-bleached paper.

Why 100% post-consumer, chlorine-free recycled paper?

Post-consumer recycled paper is paper made out of paper rather than out of perfectly healthy trees. It has been used by the end consumer and then is collected for recycling from various recycling programs. This is the best paper to buy, as it uses and creates demand for post-consumer paper which would otherwise end up in the landfill and no additional trees will be cut down to produce paper pulp. Conventional paper is also bleached using chlorine or chlorine derivatives, which create dioxins, toxins and pollutants.

What are the benefits?

Producing recycled paper causes 74 percent less air pollution, 35 percent less water pollution, and creates 5 times the number of jobs than producing paper from trees. It saves old-growth trees, forest eco-systems, native habitat and biodiversity

Thank you for participating in Outing Center trips and helping to create a greener planet.