What We're Doing

Find out what NOLS is doing for the environment locally and internationally in various NOLS locations around the world.

NOLS Headquarters
The home of NOLS' centralized administrative offices, NOLS Headquarters is not your average office building. Reusing and recycling are standard practice for all our office supplies, and the building itself employs sustainable practices like passive solar design and recycled materials. Many employees bike or walk to work.

NOLS Rocky Mountain
New solar panels are producing electricity for NOLS Rocky Mountain, and efficiency in planning has allowed us to use less fossil fuels. Our Utah River Base and Three Peaks Ranch have their own gardens and composting systems, and we're planning on adding a garden in Lander as well.

NOLS Alaska
From the organic garden that produces more than 1,000 pounds of fresh produce a year to the newly remodeled staff house, sustainability impacts all aspects of operations at NOLS Alaska.

NOLS Pacific Northwest
We minimize our impact on our property at NOLS Pacific Northwest by preserving wetlands on-site, collecting roof run-off and redistributing it, planting trees and shrubs, and composting all organic waste.

NOLS Yukon
Education and outreach are key at NOLS Yukon: we provide Leave No Trace resources and curriculum to many different audiences within our Whitehorse community.

NOLS Teton Valley
Spending time in the community doing volunteer trail work and selling used outdoor gear locally are just two of the many ways that NOLS Teton Valley practices sustainability in our region.

NOLS Southwest
The desert ecosystem at NOLS Southwest provides some unique challenges and opportunities: while conserving water with our new shower house and improving rain catchment systems for watering plants, we take advantage of the warm climate with sustainable strawbale housing.

NOLS Mexico
The center of NOLS Mexico is the unique off-the-grid headquarters in Coyote Bay near Mulegé. This high-tech, low-impact facility was specifically designed to meet the needs of students, and is recognized for excellence in sustainable building.

NOLS Patagonia
We practice low impact ranching at our facilities at the NOLS Campo near Coyhaique in Chile, raising cage free chickens and growing much of our produce in a greenhouse on site. We are also expanding our use of geothermal energy for heating buildings at the Campo.

NOLS Australia & New Zealand
We make it a priority to use natural products and paper at NOLS Australia, will be creating an educational display to show students our environmental practices. A composting toilet and a grey water recycling system at NOLS New Zealand will help keep efficiency high and costs low.