Nope. – NOLS Staff 

In some ways, more in the field then in-town but it all boils down to money. It costs to be green. If we hired someone full time to orchestrate this initiative, it might be more adhered to by in town staff. – NOLS Staff

Yes, more than most organizations; it makes the effort. Taking people into remote environments creates impacts. Helping them value these environments more than makes up for this in changing attitudes and increasing efforts to preserve nature. – NOLS Instructor

I believe that NOLS has a lot of green ideas i.e.: buying in bulk, wind turbine in AK, vegetable oil bus, just to name a few. With that said I believe that we need to take a more proactive approach to our green-advocacy in the field by teaching/discussing more social-environmental issues that apply to the areas that we live and travel in. – NOLS Instructor 

I wouldn't say NOLS is green. Some of the ways in which the people & organization function are green and some are not. It is impossible to make an umbrella statement about it being green, because some of its activities are decidedly not green, in my opinion. – NOLS Staff

No. I think our students and we use vast amounts of fossil fuels. But we treat greenness as an economic issue and we seem to be waiting for green to become cheaper than non-green. – NOLS Staff and Instructor

I think NOLS tries to be green, but there are financial motivating forces that prevent it from being as green as it could. – NOLS Instructor 

In some ways yes....others, disappointingly no. Branches such as the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and Mexico have led the school for years in this arena. Other areas of the school such as Headquarters and the RM have been more disappointing. – NOLS Staff and Instructor

Yes. – NOLS Instructor and Board Member

Yes. – NOLS Staff

I think NOLS is making positive strides to move towards promoting and implementing green practices. – NOLS Staff

I think that some of the branches at NOLS are greener than others. The PNW and TVB seem to be the most concerned with being green. – NOLS Instructor

Like any good educational institution NOLS’ values come across in both didactic, and interpersonal ways. We’re green because: our mission is one of socio-ecological change, one third of our curriculum focuses on ecology, history and ethics, and a good proportion of the NOLS community could be said to be "green" individuals as per above. – NOLS Instructor 

It really depends on which definition you are using. I personally think it is impossible for such a big company that is all over the world, uses such a vast amount of resources to be really and truly "green". Is NOLS as negatively impactful as a coal company, no! But does it have negative environmental impacts, yes. I do think the vast educational influence both, socially and ecologically, are tremendous and will hopefully, reverse the negative social and ecological impacts that comes with running such a big company. – WMI Instructor 

Not really. Most individuals at NOLS are green in their lives, but when working for the school, there are too many stresses about money. The ethics behind our current financial are not compatible to taking the time or investments for green choices. For an organization to be green, it needs to be written into its operational model and budget – this is not the case at NOLS as a whole. – NOLS Staff and Instructor

Absolutely! (but, do all NOLSies take photostat copies on both sides of the paper?! Is it a “rule” enforced buy the powers-that-be?!). – NOLS Instructor 

Yes. NOLS students and instructors' lifestyles as well as the community as a whole breeds a more conscious lifestyle. – NOLS Instructor 

NOLS is certainly green in many ways, most importantly in its ability to influence/educate so many others. But we can and should do more. – NOLS Staff

Yes and no - As an overall institution we depend heavily on the individual players. If those individuals think green, then yes many of our actions are; but as a whole we do not have green guidelines/protocols etc that we hold ourselves to, nor do we have baseline standards. I feel that when we TRY to be green in many ways but some times we run up against financial roadblocks. – NOLS Staff and Instructor 

No. We could do better. We drive too much, consume too much equipment. – NOLS Staff and Instructor

No on an operational level–our dependence on the petrochemical industry for our equipment and transportation is quite large. Yes on an educational level–most of our students carry strong and long-lasting environmental ethics away from their courses. – NOLS Staff and Instructor 

Compared to many other organizations yes, but we have a long way to go. – NOLS Instructor