A New Approach to Offsetting:The College of William and Mary Offset

Program

Max Cunningham (2013)Dr. John Swaddle

The College of William and Mary

• Suburban Williamsburg, VA

• About 5,800 undergraduate students

• Public University

Sustainability Initiative

• Sustainability has grown within the last four years– Committee on Sustainability

• Improving transportation sustainability– Carpooling– Public transit usage– Offsetting?

Carbon Offset Defined• Compensating for personal emissions

• Example: Flight from Richmond, VA to Singapore– Direct Flight: 7,600 lbs of CO2

• To offset: contribute to a carbon reducing project– A town in Kansas replaces its coal

plant with wind energy

Carbon Offset Companies• Offset companies identify carbon reducing projects

• For profit– Prefer big donors as official partners

• Less than transparent– Unclear how donated money is spent

The W&M Solution

• Launch our own W&M Offset Program– 100% of money goes toward energy reduction

projects on campus– Give full transparency to donors

The W&M Solution Cont.

• Program design:– Identify carbon-reducing projects on campus• Example: HVAC renovations

• Members of W&M community offset their activities by contributing to W&M improvements

ExamplesActivity Offset

ContributionCarbon Offset

(Metric Tons of CO2)

Airplane Flight to Asia $114 1.44

Airplane Flight to New York

$9 0.12

Driving an SUV for 1,000 miles

$47 0.59

Current Status

• Experimental stage– Results pending

• Advertisement and promotion

• Eventual broader participation

Web of Interaction

Study Abroad

Admissions

Athletics

Commuters

Alumni

Board of VisitorsConferences

Implications

• Ease of implementation– Economic setting

• Put carbon offsetting on a local level– Sustainability reaching a new audience

• Drive towards carbon neutrality– Education

Acknowledgements

• Funding– William and

Mary Committee on Sustainability

• Collaborators– Dan Patterson, Energy

Manager– Sarah Hanke,

Sustainability Fellow– Development– IT– Creative Services– Study Abroad– Admissions– Alumni Association– Facilities Management

• If you want to offset: http://offset.wm.edu/