Curtis Shuck, Well Done Foundation: Student Sustainability Habits That Cut Emissions
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/26
Curtis Shuck is Founder and Chairman of the Board at the Well Done Foundation, a nonprofit that plugs and remediates orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells to reduce methane emissions and protect water and public health. He brings more than 30 years of experience across public service and the private sector in energy-related transportation project development, capital project delivery, and business development in the Pacific Northwest and the Mid-Continent. In 2015, he joined Red River Oilfield Services, Inc. in Williston, North Dakota, as Vice President of Business Development, focused on strategically diversifying transportation and logistics assets supporting the Bakken Oilfield responsibly.
In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Curtis Schuck about making sustainability practical for students. Schuck argues sustainability is best understood as daily responsibility: reuse before buying, reduce single-use plastics, conserve energy, and track lifecycle impacts. He explains how small repeated actions across campuses produce measurable results—less waste, lower energy demand, fewer emissions—and why measurement motivates participation. Schuck challenges misconceptions that oil-and-gas pollution is distant or obvious, emphasizing “invisible” harms and the need for monitoring and accountability. He highlights community-level wins like orphaned-well closure efforts and commuter offsets, and urges students to scrutinize sustainability claims with clear questions and data.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you strip sustainability down to “daily behavior,” what are high-impact habits for students?
Curtis Schuck: I think sustainability gets overcomplicated sometimes. At its core, it’s about paying attention to the choices you make every day and being willing to take responsibility for them. For students, that starts with simple habits: using what you already have instead of buying something new, cutting down on single-use plastics, being mindful about energy use, and thinking about where things come from and where they end up. Those habits may feel small, but they shape how you see the world. Once you start making intentional choices in daily life, sustainability stops being an abstract concept and becomes a personal practice.
Jacobsen: How do you explain the link between small choices and measurable outcomes?
Schuck: I like to tell people that small choices are how big outcomes actually happen. No single action changes the world on its own, but repeated choices across a campus or a community add up fast. When a group of students reduces waste, shifts how events are catered, or cuts down on unnecessary energy use, those changes show up in real numbers such as less trash hauled away, lower energy demand, fewer emissions. Measurement matters because it closes the loop. It shows people that what they’re doing actually counts, and that’s incredibly motivating.
Jacobsen: What are common misconceptions students have about oil and gas pollution?
Schuck: One of the biggest misconceptions is that oil and gas pollution is distant — something that happens far away, handled by someone else, and disconnected from everyday life. In reality, it’s tied into the systems we all rely on, from energy and transportation to the products we use every day. Another misconception is that pollution is always obvious. A lot of the damage happens quietly, over time, out of sight. Once students understand that connection, they start to see why accountability and responsible cleanup matter, not just in theory but in their own communities.
Jacobsen: What does effective community-level action look like, e.g., campus policy?
Schuck: At the community level, effective action happens when values are backed up by structure and follow-through. On a campus, that can mean policies that prioritize responsible purchasing, transparency around energy and waste, and giving students a real role in shaping sustainability decisions. But it’s just as important that students feel empowered to act beyond policy.
One of my favorite examples is the Allderice Well Done Club, where a group of high school students didn’t just talk about environmental responsibility, they identified an orphaned oil well in their own community, raised funding locally, and helped support its permanent closure. That’s what effective action looks like to me. It’s practical, local, and rooted in the belief that regular people, working together, can solve real problems.
Another example is the University of Montana carbon neutral commuter program, where staff and students added an optional $18 along to their parking permit and offset 40 metric tons equivalent of CO2 last year.
Jacobsen: What are “low-friction” steps students can take to reduce their personal emissions immediately?
Schuck: Low-friction steps are the ones that don’t require you to overhaul your life. Walking or biking when you can, sharing rides, eating more plant-forward meals, and using campus recycling and compost systems the right way all make a difference. These kinds of steps matter because they’re sustainable in the human sense and people actually stick with them. Once students see that they don’t have to be perfect to be effective, participation goes way up.
Jacobsen: What does invisible pollution teach students about why monitoring, maintenance, and accountability matter?
Schuck: Invisible pollution is one of the hardest lessons, but also one of the most important. Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t affecting people and ecosystems. Last year we responded to a serious methane release problem near Raytown High School in Missouri that affected the start of the school year. Through advanced monitoring, we were able to identify and fix the specific leaks in geothermal wells in the area, allowing students to get back to school.
That’s why monitoring and maintenance matter so much. If you don’t measure problems, you can’t manage them, and if no one is accountable, they tend to get ignored. This applies whether you’re talking about air quality, water contamination, or infrastructure that’s been neglected for decades. Accountability isn’t about blame, it’s about responsibility.
Jacobsen: How can students evaluate sustainability claims?
Schuck: The best thing students can do is ask simple, honest questions. What exactly is being claimed? Is there real data behind it? Are the outcomes measurable and transparent? Sustainability shouldn’t rely on vague promises or feel-good language. If a claim is real, it should be explainable in plain terms. Teaching students to think critically about these claims builds trust and helps them become informed consumers and leaders.
Jacobsen: What roles beyond scientist or activist directly move the needle?
Schuck: A lot of real progress comes from people who don’t carry titles like scientist or activist at all. Students can move the needle as communicators, organizers, planners, and connectors. They can also take on very practical roles, like helping to adopt an orphaned oil well or becoming a Well Done Foundation QMS (Qualified Measurement Specialist) through programs like Paycheck With a Purpose. Those roles may not sound flashy, but they directly lead to real-world outcomes. Sustainability needs builders and doers as much as it needs thinkers, and when students step into those roles, change stops being theoretical and starts becoming tangible.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Curtis.
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