Linfield College submitted its third greenhouse gas emissions report to the American College and University President’s Climate Committee.
Back on April 22, 2008, president Thomas L. Hellie signed the ACUPCC commitment, setting a goal for Linfield College to reach climate neutrality by the year 2060.
To increase the accuracy of Linfield’s last greenhouse gas emissions report, the Office of Sustainability is partnering with Nancy Broshot’s Environmental Problem Solving class.
In order for Linfield College to reach zero net carbon emissions by the year 2060, all facets of the report will most likely need to be improved upon.
Most recently, Broshot’s class constructed a transportation commuter survey, which was sent out to the students, staff, faculty, and administrators at the college.
With no commuter transportation data included in the 2013-2014 fiscal year report, Broshot’s class aims to establish a definitive method for gathering said information to simplify the data collection process for future reports.
The main focus of the commuter transportation survey was to assess an individual’s method of transportation to and from Linfield College.
Additionally, survey takers were asked to provide information on the type of vehicle they drive, level of interest they had in a rideshare program on campus, method of transportation around the Linfield campus, etc.
Getting an idea of what students at Linfield would like to see for transportation presents useful information for administrators.
Students in Broshot’s class are working with Linfield’s International Programs Office to potentially add in-country transportation data from abroad January Term trips into next year’s report., as well as communicating with the Facilities Office.
By analyzing various areas of the college, which are responsible for a significantly large portion of Linfield’s overall carbon emissions, the Environmental Problem Solving class hopes to create a more precise report that can be improved upon by future Linfield students.
The Office of Sustainability is actively working with Broshot’s class to create a more sustainably-minded campus, and with additional research put forth towards Linfield’s greenhouse gas emissions reports, we are heading in the right direction.
If you are interested in the results of Broshot’s survey and additional studies, the findings will be uploaded to Linfield’s Digital Commons.
Please feel free to contact Duncan Reid from the Office of Sustainability to get involved with current on-campus projects.
The Office of Sustainability is always looking for students interested in participating in various projects.
Having students who want to promote sustainability is a vital part of what makes Linfield a successful school.
If you have any ideas or projects that you or your friends would like to see happen on campus please contact us.
Joey Gale
Office of Sustainability
