Sustainability
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Reducing our Use of Fossil Fuels
Living in a rural region often means an increased reliance on vehicles, but we are working on cutting-edge strategies to reduce our use of fossil fuels. The Northland College Student Association (NCSA) partners with Bay Area Rural Transit to provide expanded services and free bus passes for students, faculty, and staff. Northland is measuring greenhouse gas emissions from field trips, sporting events, and college-related air travel to develop the best methods to offset this impact. NCSA provided a new hybrid car for the Admissions Office out of its renewable energy fund. Students run a program that offers free access to bicycles, and many faculty and staff who live near the College bike or walk to work.
Sunshine Bike Program
For many years, Northland's campus was populated by bikes affectionately known as "Sunshine Bikes." These machines were built in the Sunshine Community Bike Shop, often during annual all night bike-building extravaganzas. In the morning, the bikes were spray-painted yellow and set loose on campus like young yellow Finches. While many students appreciated that when you needed a bike you could often find one leaning against a nearby building or tree, by spring nearly all the yellow bikes had disappeared. And unlike the Finches, they usually didn't come back.
Students now have a simple bike check out system. At the Craig A. Ponzio Campus Center, students can use their ID cards to check out a bike and a lock. This simple, free process assures that while the bikes may travel as far as students care to pedal them, they will return home to nest where they can be maintained by student workers.
For those eager to build or repair a bike, the shop has tools, parts, and plenty of advice to offer. The shop welcomes the wider community as well, asking only for a small donation for parts and supplies. Beyond bike maintenance, the shop serves as a hub for bike enthusiasts, a template for other campus community bike shops, and a reminder of the potential of bicycles to bring us closer to sustainability.
Northland Rideshare Program
Students, staff and faculty are able to find rides and passengers on an internal, digital web portal for impromptu trips to the Twin Cities, rides home during break or transportation to work. Learn more about this opportunity at www.ncsanorthland.org.
