National Outdoor Leadership School - Index

National Outdoor Leadership School - Summer2008 - Index

ALUMNI PROFILE
One Year in One Trashcan
A NOLSie’s Commitment to the Environment
BY MEREDITH HAAS, NOLS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
The phrase “leave only
footprints,” has taken
on quite a new meaning these
days as the topics of climate
change, pollution, and energy
and resource management have
become the main course of
conversation in the 21st century.
And it’s no wonder with soaring gas
and food prices and diminishing resource
supplies that people worldwide are becoming
more aware of the impacts their footprints
are actually having. So what can one man do
about it? Use only one trashcan for the entire
year. At least that’s what Jeff Louden, a NOLS
instructor and former Lutheran pastor in Park
City, Utah, did.
Jeff set a goal last year to use only one 55-gallon
trashcan for the year. “I want a world that’s livable
and beautiful, and if I don’t reduce my footprint,
not strictly carbon, then how can it be?” said Jeff.
“We’re at a tipping point with the fuel and food
crisis. We have to change.”
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, the average American produces 4.4 pounds
of household garbage a day—that’s a 1,600 pound
footprint at the end of the year! Jeff and his 10-year-old
daughter, Emma, successfully made it through the
year with their allotted 55-gallon trashcan, which
holds approximately 459 pounds of trash. To reach
their goal, Jeff and Emma sorted through the trash
daily, which he says only takes a couple of minutes,
in hopes of improving and producing less waste in
the future.
Part of their daily ritual included sorting plastic
bottles by number and recycling or composting
nearly everything. There are some mixed
products such as toothpaste tubes,
Styrofoam, and some construction
materials he says simply just can’t
be recycled. Everything they sort is
taken to Recycle Utah, a nonprofit
recycling organization in Park City.
Having been the former president of
the organization, he swears they can
recycle just about anything from all
glass types (brown, green, clear, etc.)
and some construction materials to
electronic wastes.
Jeff says it’s not hard and that he takes
extra care about what he purchases at the
store so that not only is he using less, but he’s
also recycling less and saving energy. In order
to further reduce paper and plastic waste, he
carries canvas bags to tote his groceries home
from the market.
“I want my daughter to inherit a world that is
beautiful and enjoy the same experiences I have,”
he said. “If I don’t walk the talk then how can I
expect her to? It wasn’t that hard, you just have to
make a commitment. I look at how much I use and
pay attention to plastics. I look for food that’s in
season with minimal packaging and won’t buy
anything packaged in Styrofoam. I’ll also read
online instead of buying a newspaper,” he said.
Every year Americans throw away
25 billion Styrofoam cups—enough to
circle the earth 436 times! And every
year we make enough plastic film to
shrink-wrap Texas. In a lifetime, the
average American will throw away 600
times his or her adult weight in garbage!
With so much extra weight to lose, it’s a
wonder we bother carrying it at all.
To shed those extra pounds, Jeff has not
only limited his waste production, but has
committed himself to giving one thing away
every day, “even if it’s a bad attitude,” he said
jokingly. “People can do this, they just have
to minimize the amount they consume. And
I have plenty of things to improve
on because I love outdoor gear.”
His philosophy for using less and
traveling lighter, he says, resonates with
the NOLS lifestyle. Jeff has been a NOLS
instructor for the last 10 years and
loves the simplicity of living in the
backcountry. “It’s a privilege to sleep
on the ground for 30 days during
a course, and some people think
I’m crazy for that,” he said.
“NOLS is great because you
can live simply, a practice that
I think can carry over
from the backcountry.
We had an old mantra
In a lifetime, the average American
will throw away 600 times his
SUMMER 2008
of ‘let the mountains do their magic.’”
As the energy and food crisis rises,
Jeff hopes that more people will do their
own part in preserving the world for the
next generation. “We have to start looking
at long-term impacts and goals. It’s
one small step at a time to become more
hopeful,” he said. “We have to be more
open…You can’t demonize the other
side; you have to be in a conversation.”
For more information and to find a
recycling center nearest you, please visit
the following links:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:
www.epa.gov/msw/reduce.htm
Recycle Utah: www.recycleutah.org
Diana Faraone
NOLS Instructor Jeff Louden
9
or her adult weight in garbage!