What We're Doing at
NOLS Alaska

Recycling

• We recycle all accepted items at the local center, where NOLS is a member and some staff regularly volunteer.

Being Organic

• All our kitchen vegetable leftovers are composted. The compost is used in the garden and on lawns.
• We use organic fertilizers on the lawn and have an organic garden that produces over 1,000 pounds of produce per year for use in our kitchen.
• We are buying much of our food locally, including potatoes, carrots and organically raised beef.
• Over the past summer we raised 4 pigs that were fed partly from kitchen waste. These pigs were used not only for pork in the summer but to help prepare the ground to enlarge the garden project.
• In 2008 we raised about 100 meat chickens that were used for feeding our courses this past summer.
• The chickens are used in our chicken tractor that helps to naturally fertilize the fields.

Efficiency

• All of our exit sign lights now use low-voltage, long lasting bulbs.
• We have been using compact florescent light bulbs (low wattage) for many years.
• Our bathrooms are all equipped with low-flow showerheads and pressure-assisted toilets.
• Summer community housing (non-electrified cabins and wall tents) and shared cooking is located on-site to create lower than average per capita energy consumption.
• Wastewater from our newly installed cleaning area goes into the septic system.

• Photo: Don Ford

  Our staff house was remodeled. Some of the environmental features include soy-based foam insulation, a high efficiency gas furnace, insulated windows which will match the historical look of the original house, and a waterless urinal. All the old siding is being reused in other building projects, we recycled the old copper wiring, and we're saving the original windows for a future greenhouse.
• This winter we moved our offices out of their traditional home, the office trailers, to the staff house to minimize our heat use.

Projects

• Currently we are writing a grant to obtain funds for a root cellar and green house cellar, which would be used to store some of the vegetables that we grow in the summer as well as space for community garden growers.

Goals

• Install AC wind generator.
• Investigate using bio diesel in buses.
• Investigate solar power for water heating in the summer.