California State University, San Marcos
IN-24: Innovation A

In 2014, the CSUSM Campus REC Outdoor Adventure department decided to take more accountability of the program's environmental footprint. After research and discussion, it was determined to offset the carbon emissions produced when traveling to and from adventures. However, after looking at a variety of options seeing how carbon offsets are often implemented in non-local regions and with minimal oversight and understanding, the department felt they could improve on this model. Hence, the local Carbon Footprint Onset System was developed. The program is designed to deliver the monetary offsets to the CSUSM Student Sustainability Club which, in turn, implements projects to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and educate the campus community. CSUSM Outdoor Adventures hopes to be a leader and set an example for other departments around campus and the nation. The onset program developed here could easily be replicated at a schools with larger Outdoor Adventure/Recreation departments or any department that travels. To make the program more replicable, a system would need to be developed that records all transportation aspects of trips including: total miles driven, number of vehicles, and miles per gallon/vehicle. From these numbers, total tons of CO2 emitted are calculated and then converted to a monetary value (1 ton CO2 = $12.72) which is then delivered to the CSUSM Student Sustainability Club (All sources and conversion rates from ClimateCare.org). So far, the money provided to the Sustainability Club has been minimal (under $300),. Therefore, no substantial projects have been conducted, however, the actual program is operational once the students are able to gather enough money they have some tree planting projects in the works.