"Green" Hiking in Washington
Washington Trails Association Offsets Climate Change Impacts with Green Tags
On Earth Day, our individual and collective environmental impacts get the spotlight, and this year they are not looking good. The World Meteorological Organization recently announced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which are blamed for global warming and climate change, have reached their highest-ever levels in the earth’s atmosphere, and show no signs of leveling off.
Washington Trails Association (WTA) supports environmentally preferred renewable energy sources, and has partnered with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) to purchase Green Tags that will offset WTA’s own climate emissions, based upon its office energy consumption, as well as the gas burned by WTA crew leaders driving to trailheads for volunteer trail work parties.
“The simple act of driving to a trailhead could impact Washington’s high country and wilderness areas,� said Elizabeth Lunney, WTA’s Executive Director. “When we buy Green Tags, we support the generation of clean wind and solar power and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the pollutant that contributes most to global climate change.�
What can environmentally minded hikers do? You can purchase your own Green Tags to offset your emissions when driving your car to the trailhead.
“We know our mountain glaciers are shrinking, and record levels of ozone pollution have recently been discovered high on the slopes of Mount Rainier,� said Lunney. “Washington hikers are growing increasingly concerned about the impact of global warming and urban-area pollution on the remote corners of the Olympics and Cascades where they spend much of their time. Purchasing Green Tags is a great way for hikers to do their part to offset their own impact from driving to trailheads on their way to a hike.�
Green Tags are a simple and inexpensive way to support developing new supplies of non-polluting renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. Each Green Tag that WTA buys prevents the emissions of approximately 1,400 pounds of carbon dioxide – that’s the equivalent of emissions from about six round trips from Seattle to Paradise on Mount Rainier.
Determining how many Green Tags WTA needs to buy each year to offset its climate impacts was easy with BEF’s carbon calculator. “We factored in the mileage for our travel to trailheads for work parties, plus all energy used in the WTA office for lights, computers and heat,� said Lunney.
For more information, please visit www.greentagsusa.org or www.wta.org/greentags.
