Hampshire College announces carbon neutrality as of 2022

To calculate this goal of full carbon neutrality on and off campus, the College had set up an annual Greenhouse Gas Analysis. Draper reported that in the past few years, due to COVID-19 and previous financial instability, the College was unable to calculate their carbon emissions. “It was really like a check-in to see, we set the groundwork a long time ago, how are we now doing?” Draper said.

She also explained that since carbon neutrality as well as some of Hampshire’s other climate and sustainability goals were originally set to be achieved by 2032, the result of this year’s Greenhouse Gas Analysis was surprising. According to the Hampshire College Carbon Neutrality Brief provided by the College in their announcement, in 2022, the College emitted 4,712.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.

Draper explained that these remaining emissions that the College could not limit in 2022 are entirely balanced by various carbon offset programs that the College participates in.

To balance the metric tons omitted by the College in various aspects, this year Hampshire purchased offsets from a refrigerant reclamation program, Draper explained. “You recycle a refrigerator, and at the end of its life it has this amount of refrigerant in it, that something needs to be done with,” Draper explained, “Otherwise it will escape into the atmosphere and contribute to the climate change issue.” where the market forces for certain kinds of refrigerants weren’t really there to make this cost-effective,” Draper said, “If we can incentivize it as this carbon offset project, it starts to make more financial sense.”

Draper believes that GHG analysis and carbon offset initiatives will continue to be an annual part of Hampshire’s priorities. “What are our values, what are the kinds of projects we want to support?” Draper asked, referring to keeping an annual offset budget and investment.

“I would also really look forward to having conversations with our other Five College folks about potentially creating our own, local offset projects,” she said.

As of 2023, Hampshire College is the only college of the Five College Consortium that has achieved carbon neutrality, according to the other colleges’ and university websites.

It was one of the first colleges in the country to divest from fossil fuels in 2011, according to Hampshire’s carbon neutrality announcement.

BY LILY BENN ’24 STAFF WRITER

Hampshire College officially announced on Feb. 15 that the institution had reached full carbon neutrality. According to the College’s website, this goal was set for 2032, but was able to be achieved by 2022, as has been calculated for a full year.

According to an article from the European Union News, carbon neutrality is defined as achieving net, or a total of, zero carbon emissions, usually by balancing the emissions of an individual, institution or com- munity with the amount of carbon being recycled or removed from the atmosphere through Earth’s carbon sinks. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change promotes this idea, and suggests that achieving carbon neutrality by the mid-21st century is essential.

Hampshire College, located in Amherst, Massachusetts, and one of the five colleges included in the Five College Consortium, created its plan to achieve carbon neutrality as an institution in 2012, according to Sara Draper, the College’s sustainability manager.

Part of Draper’s work with Hampshire College includes connecting students to the various sustainability programs that are on campus so that the projects can be a part of their educational experience. These include Hampshire’s many Living Buildings, their community farm and their campus and community solar fields. She works with an environmental committee that involves students and other staff, with the goal of working towards and maintaining this carbon neutrality achievement and other sustainability goals.