An inherent challenge in offering study abroad
programs is the environmental impact of international travel.
For example, a round-trip flight from Boston to London produces
over a ton of carbon dioxide - per person! Carbon dioxide is a
major contributor to the Greenhouse Effect, which is warming the
Earth's climate and is quite possibly the greatest environmental
threat of the 21st century.
Beginning in the Fall of 2005, Living Routes has instituted a
Carbon Offset Program in order to address this challenge. We calculate
international and ground travel on each of our semester, summer,
and January-term programs (as well as for U.S.-based staff) and
commit to planting trees to offset the carbon emitted by all this
travel. Wherever possible, students plant the trees themselves
within the host ecovillages and/or affiliated regional sites.
We are very excited about this program as we believe it...
- Supports our host ecovillages and their regional ecosystems,
- Further educates students around the ecological impact of
travel,
- Offers students an opportunity to mitigate this impact, and
- Allows Living Routes to further be in integrity with our mission
and "Walk Our Talk".
Read more about Living Routes' Carbon Offsets.
For more information on carbon offsetting in general, please contact the Living Routes office
and/or visit the following sites:
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