With a carbon offset scheme that keeps the money local, UNC-G fights climate change.
Author: Will Atwater
The University of North Carolina Greensboro welcomes 20,000 students and staff daily, a large number of people that can generate a sizable carbon footprint if measures aren’t taken to offset greenhouse gasses emitted through their activities.
Some students who live on the UNCG campus get around by walking, biking or using public transit. A portion of the university employees work from home too. Although they leave carbon footprints,they are not as significant as those of daily campus commuters who come and go in vehicles with combustion engines.
Sean MacInnes, the UNCG campus sustainability specialist, estimates that there are nearly 13,000 daily commuters. Each commuter, UNCG estimates, is responsible for almost a ton of greenhouse gas emissions each year just by going to and from campus.
All told, UNCG estimates that in fiscal 2022, commuters were responsible for 11,840 tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the earth’s atmosphere. The greenhouse effect makes it difficult for the earth to cool itself — leading to global warming and its resultant effects on weather events, sea levels, crop lands, forests and more.