Sustainability in Living Routes

We are proud of our commitment and accomplishments around environmental and social responsibility on all levels of our organization. Find out more about Living Routes Vision, Mission and Values here. The following are examples of ways we strive to model sustainable practices:

Program Design and Management

We are committed to reciprocal and mutually beneficial relationships with our local communities.

Local Staff

Living Routes hires and supports faculty, staff, and experts from within our host sites whenever possible. They know their communities best and this allows resources (e.g. salaries) to stay local and minimizes the environmental impacts of air travel. We offer fair wages for work that is being done rather than try to undercut prices.

Ecological Initiatives

By basing our programs in sustainable communities, we naturally support local, organic food production, renewable energy systems, appropriate technologies, green buildings and residences, and other human-scale experiments in sustainable development.

Carbon Consciousness

A core dilemma for Living Routes is the fact that, while we are all about sustainability, we run programs that require flying students all around the globe. We are committed to addressing this issue by measuring and reducing our carbon footprint and supporting site-based projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Core Program Features

Find out more about our core program features and Living Routes history here.

Office Management

  • Recycled Paper (100% post-consumer) is used when possible.
  • Recycling of as much material as possible.
  • Local Purchasing when possible.
  • Duplex Printing, that is, printing on both sides of paper.
  • CFL Lightbulbs and turning off lights when they’re not needed.
  • Non-Toxic Cleaners and few perfumes.
  • LCD monitors which are much more energy efficient than CRT monitors.
  • Electronic Communications for students, faculty, staff and stakeholders.
  • Carpooling is encouraged.

Promotion and Outreach

Living Routes has been quite creative in communicating with students and colleagues in our field in ways that have maximum impact, with minimal resource waste.

Raising Standards

Living Routes has been working with The Forum on Education Abroad and colleagues in the field to develop new Sustainability Standards of Best Practice that all education programs should strive to meet.

Professional Forums

In order to help professionals in the field communicate around these issues, Living Routes started a Sustainability Abroad Listserv in 2007 and helped set up a Sustainability Specific Interest Group within NAFSA, the leading study abroad organization.

Social Networking

Living Routes was the first study abroad organization to incorporate student blogging on its programs (starting in fall ’03) and we are expanding our social media presence.

Resource-light Materials

In addition to directing people to our website whenever possible, all our materials are also all available as PDF downloads from our website.

Videoconferencing

We use Skype extensively to stay in communication with faculty and staff in the field.

Giving to Living Routes

Please give to our Student Scholarship Fund or Tax Deductible Gift here! 

Lao Tzu once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” While these commitments represent quite a few steps along the path towards sustainability, we recognize we still have a long way to go. We are excited to implement new and creative ways we can further walk our talk as we continue to challenge students on the highest quality programs we can develop. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or suggestions. Thanks!