Can an American campus become carbon neutral by the year 2015?  That is the goal of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF), reports Syracuse.com. 

According to the college's president, Cornelius Murphy, "If you're going to teach green, you've got to be green."  The campus already boasts students who commute to class by bicycle and compost waste from campus snack bars. 

But attaining a carbon neutral target presents a considerable challenge, given that SUNY ESF emits 12,145 tons of carbon per year.

In order to reach this goal, the campus will need to generate more energy from renewable sources, reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, and use carbon sequestration methods.  It will accomplish this by relying on a variety of renewable energy systems, as there is no single, simple solution.  Proposed systems include vertical windmill turbines, solar photovoltaic rooftop systems, and possibly burning woody biomass.  The college boilers already run on biodiesel from recycled vegetable oil and butter.

But we can all emulate the college by taking small steps.  Murphy encourages consumers to reduce their carbon footprint via projects they can relate to, such as saving dollars by switching light bulbs to more energy efficient ones.

"There is no single silver bullet," Murphy said. "We need a lot of silver pellets. That's what's going to get us where we want to go."