Tiny College of the Atlantic, with 300 students and only one major, human ecology, has become the nation's first "carbon-neutral" campus, school officials said Wednesday.
The private college said it has offset emissions of 2,488 tons over the past 15 months by investing in a greenhouse gas reduction project in Oregon. The cost: about $25,000.
The term "carbon neutral" refers to the practice of balancing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air with the amount being removed from the atmosphere, either by using renewable energy or through carbon offsets elsewhere.
The announcement culminates an inaugural promise the school's president, David Hales, made in October 2006 to make the campus carbon-neutral by this month.
"We have much more to do to directly reduce our emissions, but it is satisfying to know that the last 15 months of College of the Atlantic's contribution to the increase of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere adds up to zero," Hales said.
The school is among more than 450 universities and colleges to take "net-zero" pledges through the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment program.
To become carbon neutral, the college is buying carbon offsets through The Climate Trust of Oregon. The trust is reducing carbon dioxide emissions by optimizing traffic signals and managing traffic flow in Portland, Oregon, which shortens the amount of time cars spend idling at traffic lights.
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