In some ways. The more I hear about it, the more I try to live it. Education is important. People need specific guidelines for how they can make a difference. Even if it is two things each of us can do each day that will help to be greener. – NOLS Staff

Yes. As an outdoor educator at UU in addition to working occasionally for NOLS, I have learned to incorporate green education at all levels of my teaching. – NOLS Instructor 

Yes, simply by spending extensive time in the field, I have become more ecologically literate. Learning about the LNT principles helped me to learn how to live responsibly and deliberately in the front country. Teaching an ecosystem management class at the college level has also increased my awareness and green living practices. – NOLS Instructor

Not so much; but I am proud to be working for a school that aspires to green ethics. – NOLS Instructor 

My experiences with NOLS have contributed significantly to my “greenness”. This came largely from learning to value Leave No Trace as not only a wilderness ethic, but also a life ethic. – NOLS Staff

I live off-grid in a solar home I built myself. I lived with a composting toilet for 10 years (luckily that phase of my life is over! Phew!) and still continue to compost most kitchen waste. I run my diesel car on bio-diesel. And I drive as little as possible. Working with NOLS came after that. I really appreciate the NOLS bus traveling on WVO. So, hasn't changed much, but as I learn more about Leave No Trace, I realize that there's an environmental ethic to the company that isn't necessarily followed as closely once we're out of the backcountry. I wish that effort were made in town as clearly and directly as it must be in the backcountry. – WMI Instructor

Only indirectly. My Experiences in beautiful places (like on my NOLS courses) re-affirm my environmental commitment. – NOLS Instructor

I think spending 30 days without taking a shower and living in wilderness is the best way to change values, which will more effectively change individual behavior over the long term. – NOLS Staff and Instructor 

I think NOLS has shaped my green perspective through the act of living and teaching in the wild outdoors. – NOLS Instructor and Board Member

Not yet. – NOLS Staff

Absolutely, working at NOLS as well as taking a LNT Masters course has illustrated the importance of green in my personal and professional life. – NOLS Staff

Not really. I feel that I came to NOLS pretty green minded. – NOLS Instructor

Working for NOLS has changed me, yet it is challenging to pick out which elements of my green perspective are based wholly in my experiences with the school. Certainly, the curriculum and community have informed me, but so have our classrooms, and the passing of six years. – NOLS Instructor

NOLS and Prescott College, where I received my master's degree has a lot of ties and are working together on many exciting ideas. NOLS philosophy on environmental education influenced my thesis work greatly in measuring environmental perspective change in students. But most importantly, influence has come from individual conversations with like minded folks at NOLS and WMI that influence the way I see the natural world, and our job as educators. – WMI Instructor

General discussions with talented and intelligent instructors and students have matured my perspective, and always the more time you spend in natural spaces, the more reality of our ability as an industrialized species to quickly destroy these places becomes clear. – NOLS Staff and Instructor

Using reused paper, teaching environmental ethics and studies in the field, and sending out green related articles, etc. – NOLS Instructor 

No, not really. – NOLS Instructor 

Yes, it has. Gave me very, very different ways of looking at, and relating to, the natural environment; showed me the intensity with which one can implement environmentally friendly practices, and gave me the word “immersion” in this context! – NOLS Instructor 

I was pretty much on the bandwagon before I started to work for the school. However, working at the PNW has demonstrated to me that, even for organizations (not just individuals), making changes and making conscious choices are not only possible, but they're really not that difficult. And, when schools make the effort, we pass on so much information to students. – NOLS Instructor 

Sure. I was a student at the age of sixteen in the North Cascades and saw the juxtaposition of clear cuts next to serene untouched mountains. It sickened me. I moved here to help stop clear-cut logging practices and try to spread a more potent message of protection. – NOLS Instructor 

No. I think my perspective was well established before coming to NOLS as a result of where I had previously worked and how I was raised. – NOLS Staff

No. I came to NOLS because I had that already. – NOLS Staff and Instructor

It's a great model for greening a business. – NOLS Instructor 

Yes. When you spend time in wilderness you can't help but learn how little you really need to be comfortable. – NOLS Staff and Instructor 

Not really. I had a pretty strong green ethic coming into NOLS. Being able to work as an instructor and influence so many students has only reinforced this ethic. – NOLS Instructor 

By reinforcing the importance of large-scale education in social change to a greener society. – NOLS Staff and Instructor 

Being in wild places reinforces my commitment to "green" values. – NOLS Instructor

Yes. By teaching students to be more environmentally responsible, I've not only had the opportunity to reflect upon my own lifestyle, but to keep abreast of the latest information from both my students and outside sources. – NOLS Staff and Instructor 

Definitely. When I was a student at age 18 on a sea kayaking course in Alaska, we had a ton of portaging in huge logging activity in the temperate rainforests there. Massive trees getting cut down, apparently to see to the Japanese market for making paper, at basically no profit. I've never looked at toilet paper again. Working for NOLS and supervising courses/field staff has made me recognize the importance of focusing on larger scale decisions instead of constantly being stressed out about the tiny things (like choosing to live in town instead of neurotically questioning every auto trip to the grocery store.) Sanity is very importance, and a positive attitude I think does just as much to help environmental issues as do other actions. – NOLS Staff and Instructor 

No, prior to working to NOLS I trained as a biogeochemist doing global climate change research so I had some pretty clear ideas about what "green" was before I came to the school. These have not changed significantly. NOLS as a whole has had a neutral effect. Some inspiration, some disillusionment. – NOLS Instructor

No as an institution NOLS has not changed my perspective. Certain people within NOLS have outside knowledge of better ways of doing things that I have found very interesting. – NOLS Staff and Instructor 

Yes. When I came to NOLS, I was a pretty black and white environmentalist. My experience at NOLS has educated me on the complexities of resource management issues. It has also encouraged me to be more objective with respect to my stand on environmental issues and messaging. My relationship with NOLS has, I believe, broadened and deepened my understanding of the so-called "green" issues. – NOLS Instructor 

Not particularly. You need to dig through a bunch of layers before you would come to the realization that NOLS has an underlying Green Message. – NOLS Instructor

Yes, by spending multiple weeks on trail each year I have been blessed with a strong sense of place and application for natural locations. This field time has also made me realize how little individuals are aware of the environmental degradation going on in the world around them, and their apparent apathy toward it. – WMI Instructor 

I think NOLS has shaped my green perspective through the act of living and teaching in the wild outdoors. – NOLS Staff and Instructor