Press Release

For immediate release
Date: August 5, 2004
Contact: Bruce Palmer
307.335.2230
bruce_palmer@nols.edu

NOLS Bus Tour Declares Energy Independence

LANDER, Wyo.—Fueled by French fries, the NOLS on the Road: Finding Tomorrow’s Leaders bus tour travels the country bringing the non-profit school’s educational program of outdoor skills, leadership and environmental awareness to communities across the nation.

Sponsored by Silk™, the makers of organic soymilk, the NOLS bus runs on RVO, a cleaner, renewable alternative to petroleum. The specially adapted vehicle is refueled with RVO at restaurants.  In addition, solar panels power audio-visual equipment, lights and computers.

“For several years NOLS has pursued the idea of introducing our educational program to people where they live, but driving a gas guzzler around the country ran counter to our educational mission and values,” says Bruce Palmer, NOLS marketing director. “Then some of our college-age graduates introduced us to RVO as a fuel. Now we can put our show on the road and live our values.”

The bus brings NOLS' high-quality outdoor education right into communities. Activities include a climbing wall on the side of the bus, a caving simulation under the bus, fly-fishing clinics, and Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS (WMI) clinics.

Evenings will feature the bus’ solar-powered outdoor theatre showing the NOLS movie “The Expedition," NOLS alumni expedition slide shows and sneak previews of the NOLS TV series.  High-quality outdoor gear will also be raffled on college campuses.

The project’s environmental components were what attracted the attention of Silk™. As a socially responsible company, having Silk™ delivered on college campuses by a bus running on used vegetable oil and solar power seems perfect.

Founded in 1965 by legendary mountaineer Paul Petzoldt, the National Outdoor Leadership School is the leader in wilderness education and sets the industry standard for responsible, high quality educational expeditions. A private non-profit school, NOLS operates wilderness field expeditions on four continents and boasts over 75,000 alumni worldwide. The school runs 10-day to semester-length courses for people aged 14 to over 70 in the Rocky Mountains, the Tetons, Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Alaska, Western Canada, Mexico, Patagonia (Chile), India, Australia, and New Zealand. College credit and scholarships are available. For more information, call NOLS at (800) 710-NOLS (6657) or visit the web site at www.nols.edu.

White Wave, Inc. (www.SILKisSOY.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Dean Foods (NYSE: DF), was established in Boulder, Colo., in 1977. In 1996, White Wave introduced Silk, America's first refrigerated soymilk. Today, Silk is available in 11 flavors and is the No. 1 selling organic consumer packaged goods brand in the nation. White Wave's product offerings include Silk® Soymilk, SunSoy® Soymilk and the new TofuTown™ Tofu Tenders™ line of ready-to-eat tofu.