The Leave No Trace Program is part of OA's Leadership Starts Here Initiative that provides Princeton students with opportunities to develop their leadership skills through service to the campus and the broader community.

Teaching environmental sustainability has always been a core principle of Outdoor Action. Thanks to the generous support of the Feather Foundation OA has been able to significantly enhance our sustainability education program.

Our goals for the program are to:

• Teach Leave No Trace camping and hiking practices to reduce personal and group impact on the outdoor environment.
• Educate students about how personal lifestyle choices have a significant impact on each person’s environmental and carbon footprint.
• Challenge students to find ways to reduce their environmental impact once they return to campus and provide information about common practices the can engage in on campus.
• Provide information to students about University efforts in sustainability.

With the support of the Feather Foundation, OA has been able to send groups of 6-8 OA Leaders to a 4-day Leave No Trace Master Educator Course. At the end of the course these students are certified by Leave No Trace to teach LNT principles and practices. Currently OA has over twenty certified Leave No Trace Master Educators, one of the largest contingents of certified trainers at any college in the U.S. This group serves as the core LNT Training Team on campus during the year, teaching LNT to new Outdoor Action Leaders.

Leave No Trace Training for OA Leaders

Each year Outdoor Action trains 100-120 new student trip leaders. The Leave No Trace Master Educators  and Leave No Trace Trainers provide instruction to all new OA Leaders to prepare them for teaching LNT skills to their participants in the OA Frosh Trip Program.

Leave No Trace Educational Outreach Program

Since establishing this program in 2012 OA has developed outreach programs to local schools and community groups including Scout Troops, the Waldorf School, Princeton Day School as well as groups on campus such as Geosciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.