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Outdoor Action

Leadership Starts Here

OA Sustainability Initiatives

Type: Article

Developing a Wilderness Ethic

Outdoor Action is firmly committed to the principles of Leave No Trace set forth by the Center for Outdoor Ethics. With nearly 1,000 Princeton students visiting the backcountry each fall as part of Frosh Trip and dozens of other trips throughout the year, OA has an obligation to carefully scrutinize the potential impact we have on the environment. At the same time, we also have the opportunity to positively influence how hundreds of students think about their interactions with the natural world, and to shape their future experiences outdoors and in...

Type: Article

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...
Type: Videos

Thanks to a grant from the Feather Foundation, Outdoor Action has been able to send a group of OA Leaders each year to a Leave No Trace Master Educator Course. Find out how this course has impacted their views on Leave No Trace and sustainability

Type: Article
Princeton Farmers Market Wednesdays, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM, April 15 - May 13
Firestone Library/Chapel Plaza

Fresh, sustainable spring produce is coming to campus! The Greening Princeton Farmers' Market will be open on 11 am through 3 pm at the Firestone/Chapel Plaza.

The Market will feature numerous local producers: Come grab lunch or stock up on fresh, delicious groceries for the week! Products featured include artisanal cheeses, pastured meats, organic produce, honey, fresh bread, locally-roasted coffee, and more! The Department of Dining Services will have...

Type: Photos

Three LNT Master Educators, Christine Smith, Katie Glockner, and Mike Danielczuk, worked with a group of local cub scouts to help them earn the Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award.  The group braved the muddy, melted snow to explore the Institute Woods. 

Type: Article

Outdoor Action's Commitment to Sustainability

The Outdoor Action Frosh Trip program is a Princeton University orientation program that gives incoming freshmen the opportunity to start college on a multi-day backpacking trip with their future friends and peers. Outdoor Action has always been aware of its unique opportunity to influence Princeton’s students, since it is responsible for giving more than half of each incoming class one of its first Princeton experiences. For this reason, Outdoor Action provides an ideal situation not only for students to make friends and start...

Type: Videos
video by Evelyn Tu - Office of Communications

Participants on the Outdoor Action Frosh Trip Program not only make new friends and learn about Princeton but also learn about how Princeton is making sustainability a critical part of campus life. Students return to campus with new information about how they can act more sustainably on campus and at home.

Type: Article
by Ruth Stevens · Princeton Weekly Bulletin

George Che still had a week to go before his classes began at Princeton, but the freshman was already learning some lessons.

Hanging from a rope on an 80-foot rock face near New Jersey's Delaware Water Gap one morning earlier this month, he quickly was overcoming his fear of heights. Far from his home in suburban Boston, he was experiencing for the first time in his life what it was like to sleep outdoors overnight. Hiking along the trail, he was gathering a multitude of facts about humans' impact on the environment.

And he found...

Type: Article

In order to continue OA's Leave No Trace Initiative, we offer one LNT Master Educator trip and 2-3 LNT Trainer trips each year. LNT Trainers focus on developing a personal wilderness ethic and how to teach the principles of LNT to others.  In addition to these responsibilities, LNT Master Educators, which receive the highest level of training offered by the Center for Outdoor Ethics, are also charged with training LNT Trainers and facilitating the development of this ethic in others.

LNT Master Educator Course

The Master Educator Course provides participants with a...

Type: Document

Isobutane canisters are made of painted steel and plastic valves. Technically they can be recycled as mixed metal. Unfortunately, the process is more complicated than just throwing your spent canister in a bin. Fuel canisters can only be recycled in areas where mixed metal is accepted, and they can only be processed when properly prepared beforehand. Here’s how to make your fuel canister recyclable:

Make sure the canister is totally empty. You should use all the gas for cooking – it’s better to burn the hydrocarbons than release them. Of all the stoves on the market, the Reactor is...