sustainability Archives - Page 2 of 3

Thanksgiving Journey Home

Posted on December 7, 2016March 22, 2022

Jamie Schaub and Brenin Wert-Roth — Jamie Schaub and Brenin Wertz-Roth

Jamie Schaub ’12, a Montessori teacher who lives and works in Traverse City, Michigan, traveled to Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota during Thanksgiving. She shared her story of leaving home to go home.

A few days before Thanksgiving I decided to travel to Standing Rock, an impulse initiated by donations collected in Traverse City by Jenn Demoss, who knew Lee Sprague, an elected tribal leader in Michigan currently living at Oceti Sakowin camp, one of several that compose the Standing Rock community of Water Protectors. Jenn had more than she could fit in her car, a testament to the power of human connection, a power my partner, Brenin Wertz-Roth, and I experienced often during the journey. We felt love and support from our families and friends, as if all of the people we know were traveling with us, and in addition to warm clothes, gear, tools, and supplies, we also were carrying prayers, hope and love.

We wanted to support the protesters who have left their homes and created a new community at Standing Rock camp. I believe in protecting the water and the earth, and I wanted to support those who have been standing strong for such protection against the Dakota Access Pipeline, in spite of violence, harsh weather, and sleep deprivation.

Throughout our drive our friends from near and far sent donations which felt like little hugs along the way. Friends with whom we hadn’t been in touch reached out, and it initiated beautiful conversations as we caught up about our lives. We were welcomed to stay in many homes in Minneapolis (the journey’s halfway point). How lucky to have such kind friends in our lives.

We received around $3,000 in donations within hours of deciding to go, which meant we could purchase more supplies for the Standing Rock community along the way.

The most expensive of items needed were dry suits, (a new one starts around $1,000). We searched Craigslist and made a couple of detours in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

In Minnesota we decided to purchase more neoprene gear, binoculars, walkie talkies and space blankets. We needed to find an outdoor store; Cabela’s opened the earliest. I decided to ask for a discount at the checkout stating that we were buying supplies for Standing Rock protesters. The manager gave us employee pricing without hesitation. Beautiful human. With the $200 saved we purchased more building supplies.

Outside Minnesota we let Lee know we were on our way. He recounted the violence of the previous Sunday, the deployment against the protesters of concussion grenades, rubber bullets, water hoses, pepper spray and mace. He had a large deep purple bruise on his side despite having many layers of protection. Most people at the camp, including Lee, had suffered injuries. We made plans to arrive at Standing Rock following morning.

Next day, car stuffed, we drove north, anxious to arrive at camp. It was a cool, muted morning. The grassy landscape greeted us, and then the river–it was beautiful, worth protecting. This landscape was like the view of Lake Michigan, vast and seemingly unending, just more yellowy-beige than blue.

As we neared the camp its immensity (physical and symbolic) nearly overwhelmed us. It was so much larger than I thought—cars, teepees, yurts, tents, and buildings everywhere; all sorts of flags flying in the winds. The person at the gate embraced us saying, “Welcome home.” We found the flags Lee told us to seek atop a plywood building next to several tarpees (teepees constructed from donated heavy-duty,cold-resistant poly tarp material).

We unloaded the provisions we had brought, and I felt such a lightness. All of the hours in the car disappeared as everyone’s faces lit up with happiness and gratitude. The words “thank you” radiated around us with such deep feeling. Their hugs lasted and warmed us. We found ourselves at home at Pueblo Camp in Standing Rock.

Offerings to us were made throughout the day and evening as we prepared the plywood house for winter. I helped Brenin build storage shelves for food. We shingled, sealed holes, insulated walls. I kept thinking: “This is where I am supposed to be right now.” Actually, I NEEDED to be here. I needed something bigger, something important, something meaningful. At school my students are representing Venezuela for Montessori Model UN. Our months of discussion had opened my heart to the thoughtfulness of children. I had been feeling like I wanted to take action, my mind afire with ideas, some of them from my students.

My work at Standing Rock was concrete, worked in wood. While most folks went to protest at the front line on Thanksgiving day, Brenin and I stayed back to continue building and insulation projects, helping prepare the camp for a long winter.

When we left camp for the journey home the moment, and its magnitude, hit us. Gratitude for the ability to go and do something we believe in. Gratitude for those who love us. Gratitude for the strong people at Standing Rock. Gratitude for each other.

I remember the Pueblo people talking about how they are a family (and yet most of them didn’t know each other before they arrived in North Dakota from New Mexico and Arizona). I remember the idea of “family reunion” and a gathering of humans happening at camp. This way of interacting with each other I had felt once before, on study abroad in Thailand–the feeling that you are accepted, loved, and family.

I remember a tepee conversation around a fire late one night about the need to realize our shared humanity, that we are brothers and sisters. We talked about people losing their drums, and if we went back to our drum we would go back to acting with intention and care. We discussed prayer, meditation and mindfulness. What a gift to have been with such present and focused human beings.

I am feeling anxious for the friends I met at Standing Rock. I fear that more violence may be coming. The Water Protectors need our support and the action is about much more than an oil pipeline. Where do we stand on an action that gives hope to all?

The people we met at the Standing Rock community are peaceful, loving, kind and welcoming. I am in awe of their strength to maintain a peaceful protest in the face of incredible provocations. I stand with them.

by Jamie Schaub

Dining Green

Posted on August 11, 2016March 23, 2022

Food Recovery Network members prepare unused food for donation.

Fulfilling the food needs of an entire campus can be a pretty resource-heavy task. This is why dining services has been especially active in their efforts to create an environmentally-friendly operation. Those efforts include using locally sourced food, donating what food isn’t used, and composting what can’t be given away.

There are numerous benefits to eating locally. On top of tastier and more nutritious food, less travel time means significantly fewer carbon emissions by trucks and fewer preservatives used to keep the food fresh. Moreover, eating local foods supports local jobs and businesses. Food is considered local if it is grown or manufactured within a 150-mile radius of a given location. For K, this means much of southwestern Michigan, as well as parts of northern Indiana and Illinois. Some of these local products include apples from Crisp Country Acres, dairy products from Prairie Farms, bread from Aunt Millie’s, sushi from Hunan Gardens, and coffee from Simpatico and Kalamazoo Coffee Company. Most recently, free range eggs from Old Town Farm were added to this list, and it will continue to grow as the weather warms different fruits, and vegetables become in season in Michigan. Not limited to the dining hall, these foods can be found at the Richardson Room, the Book Cub and catered events. Look for the Michigan sticker that says “Local Flavor!”

A major part of creating a more sustainable dining operation is the reduction of food waste. Kitchen staff keep track of how much food they make in order to avoid excess waste. Still, many pounds of food go unused at every meal and ordinarily would simply be thrown away. This is where the Food Recovery Network comes in. This student group, founded last winter by Calli Brannan ’19, comes to the dining hall kitchen every Tuesday and Thursday to “recover” unused food and provide it to food insecure families in the area. In the weeks it has been active at K, the group of 16 volunteers has recovered more than 1,500 pounds of food. That translates to more than 1,000 meals to people in need. This food goes to Eleanor House, a shelter for families in Kalamazoo where more than 60 percent of the residents are children. The FRN seeks more volunteers so that it can expand its efforts and save even more food.

Composted food supports landscaping at new buildings like the social justice center.

Not all food that’s uneaten is fit for donation. That food is composted. Every week a group of student compost interns collects between 600 and 1,100 pounds of pre- and post-consumer waste from the cafeteria and bring it to Facilities Management for composting. There, large earth tubs use augers and the natural heat from the composting process to accelerate the process. About six weeks later, the final product is used all around campus on landscape beds, notably at the Arcus Center and the new Fitness and Wellness Center. The use of compost on these areas will count toward LEED Gold certification – a trademark of sustainable buildings across the country. This symbiotic relationship enables both Dining Services and Facilities Management to run more sustainable operations, and students to live on a more beautiful campus. Moreover, compost is open to all members of the College community for use both on and off campus.

These are just a few of the growing list of efforts made by Dining Services to run more sustainably. The move toward a totally green operation is an ongoing process that continues to produce extraordinarily valuable benefits.
Text and photos by Jeff Palmer ’76

If We Build It, They Will Come

Posted on February 17, 2016March 23, 2022

K alumna and bee expert Rebecca Tonietto ’05 is interviewed in the Huffington Post on the ways humans can help address colony collapse among bee populations. Tonietto is a postdoctoral David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow exploring urban bee communities, pollination and conservation through the Society for Conservation Biology at Saint Louis University.

The interview is fascinating. Did you know there are over 20,000 species of bees, more than all species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined. That may be a very good thing given the pressure on honeybee populations from herbicides and the loss of plant diversity to agricultural expansion. Enter wild pollinators and, yes, urban environments. Turns out the patchy habitat of urban settings–with a little help from human friends–can, from a bee’s perspective, look at lot like the norm in meadows and prairies. As cities shrink, more green space is added. Humans help with flower boxes, landscaping, by leaving a limb or log about and holding back on some of the mulch, and allowing those dandelions and clover to keep on dotting the lawns.

Cities are a respite from agricultural pesticides and plant monoculture, and natural pollinators need and love that. And bees benefit city dwellers in many ways beyond pollination of food and flowers. Bee habitat is beautiful, says Tonietto, making urban areas more aesthetically pleasing. “And there is a measurable psychological benefit from urban biodiversity,” she adds. “Just the bees being there is a benefit in and of itself.” Yes! Tonietto earned her B.A. at K in biology.

One Down, 29 to Go

Posted on November 20, 2015March 23, 2022

The oxen were onsite, which means work began on a new pavilion that will be part of Kalamazoo College’s Lillian Anderson Arboretum. Oxen? Yes, the animals were used to haul 30 logs of red pine harvested from the “Arb,” the lumber from which will be used as material for the pavilion. Both material and mode of transport are consistent with the sustainable character of the pavilion, which will use solar energy, self-composting toilets and a human-powered water pump. The facility will provide learning space for both science and humanities classes. An article on the Arb and its improvements this winter will appear in the Spring 2016 issue of LuxEsto. (Photos by Randy Schau). Watch a brief video (by Susan Andress).

The R in K’s DNA

Posted on April 13, 2015March 23, 2022

Rob Townsend standing at recycling receptacles — The work of Rob Townsend has been key to the recycling culture on K’s campus.

RecycleMania 2015 is over, and if you didn’t know that (or if you weren’t aware the contest had even begun) that’s because for the second consecutive year the College has competed without promoting the contest–sort of a test to see the degree to which R (for recycling or Rob, as in Rob Townsend) has become part of K’s DNA. The results are good.

Kalamazoo College recycles far more than half of the solid waste it produces, according to Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Paul Manstrom. “We placed very high in many of the categories despite the fact we did not promote the contest at all on campus–unlike most other schools that competed,” said Manstrom. “Our performance is a testimony to the recycling culture that Rob Townsend has built at K over the years. While some schools need the publicity of a contest to up their recycling statistics, it just comes naturally at K.” This year the College had three top-ten finishes out of eight categories. K’s ranking (and number of participating institutions) by category follow: Grand Champion–32nd (233); Per Capita Classic–10th (334); Gorilla–201st (334); Waste Minimization–116th (148); Paper–20th (141); Corrugated Cardboard–4th (163); Bottles & Cans–3rd (142); and Food Service Organics–129th (175).

RecycleMania is a friendly competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities to their campus communities. During an eight-week period, colleges across the United States and Canada report the amount of recycling and trash collected each week and are in turn ranked in various categories based on who recycles the most on a per capita basis, as well as which schools have the best recycling rate as a percentage of total waste and which schools generate the least amount of combined trash and recycling.

Kalamazoo College earned silver-level recognition for its 11 years of RecycleMania participation, and it’s unlikely to rest on the excellence of its tradition. Said Townsend: “The data shows our numbers slipped a bit from the previous year. We won’t get complacent.”

Second “Tourist” Voyage, Absent the Cannibalism

Posted on July 9, 2014March 24, 2022

Kalamazoo College alumnus Rob Dunn — Scientist, science writer, professor of science, and K alum Rob Dunn

Scientist and science writer Rob Dunn ’97 (also an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at North Carolina State University) traveled to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2012, on assignment for National Geographic Magazine to write about the area’s ecosystem. He fulfilled his obligation and wrote a very fine article (great verbs!) titled “The Generous Gulf.”

Only months later did Rob learn some back story to his National Geographic story–specifically, that he wasn’t the first in his family to make a “tourist” voyage to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. His forebear, one Thomas But (or Butt or Butts), son of the doctor to King Henry VIII, set sail for the Gulf in April of 1536. The voyages of the two relatives, separated by nearly five centuries, nevertheless shared a few similarities. And, THANKFULLY, the voyages differed in other (significant) ways. For example, Rob didn’t kill and eat any of his fellow travelers.

What Rob did do is write the fascinating back story for the Blog, Your Wild Life. It’s a great read, and we recommend it to our readers.

Long Table; Close Community

Posted on July 8, 2014March 24, 2022

Chef James Chantanasombut (far right) assembles soybean and cabbage cakes topped by a canopy of salad

A five-course dinner helped strengthen the connective fiber of a community when Fair Food Matters hosted a fundraiser at the Kalamazoo Farmers Market one Thursday evening in late June. General manager of Kalamazoo College Dining Services James Chantanasombut and Chelsea Wallace ’14 were some of the featured chefs, and other K folk attended the event.

Fair Food Matters is a nonprofit organization as interested in healthy communities as it is in healthy food. FFM empowers and connects people in Kalamazoo through projects and programs, and a few of these include: the Woodward School Garden, the Douglass Farmers’ Market that serves residents of the city’s Northside neighborhood, and the region’s only licensed “incubator kitchen” called Can-Do Kitchen—a shared space where local entrepreneurs can use FFM resources to start a business.

At the recent fundraiser people young and old filled each seat of a 150-foot table while local chefs prepared dishes ranging from bean salads to roasted chicken from a local farm. The meal was fit for kings and queens—or for a very extended family.

And the evening felt like a family gathering, even when people didn’t know each other. Sharing food brought people together. They mingled as they sampled appetizers like the chicken liver pâté, or grabbed beers, courtesy of Arcadia Brewing Co. As local band Graham Parsons and the Go Rounds played twangy rock songs, the patrons sat at the long table, made new friends, and shared artisan bread or kale salad.

Graham Parsonsof the local rock band The Go Rounds — Graham Parsons, lead singer and songwriter of the local rock band The Go Rounds

The Kalamazoo Farmers Market can function as a gateway into the local community for students and staff. K art professor and media producer Dhera Strauss said, “The Farmers Market is my life off of campus.” Student Michelle Bustamente ’15 is interning with the Farmers Market this summer, and she said the Market gives her a greater sense of community.

Wallace and Chantanasombut prepared an appetizer and one course of the dinner: curry dusted rice chips with black walnut and sesame leaf pesto, and an Asian-inspired soy bean and cabbage cake, respectively.

They made the cake from produce at Bonomego Farms, and the ingredients included onions, green onions, Korean Bok Choy flakes and paste. Because they were given the challenge to make a gluten-free dish, they used flax seed mill, a healthier and tasty substitute for egg. Topping the cake were ingredients from Understory Farm (Bangor, Michigan), burdock root, fiddlehead fern relish, pickled ginger, baby kale, pickled bok choy, and garlic scapes. The entire gastric ensemble was dressed with citrus miso vinaigrette.

The chefs only used local ingredients. Wallace said, “Where you get your food from, how it is grown, and the science behind it determines taste.” The Jamaican born biology major would know. She was a member of the student organization Farms to K, and she started baking scones for the College’s dining services operation during winter term of her senior year. That experience has influenced her career aspirations.

“I want to cook professionally,” she said, “and I want to learn the ropes.” This summer she has shadowed or will shadow the kitchen staff at two popular local restaurants: Bravo! and Food Dance.

Strauss and Bustamente, Chantanasombut and Wallace experience food as a way to connect K with the local community. Chantanasombut said, “It’s great to be part of the community and to know local farmers, chefs, and organizations like Fair Food Matters.”

Everyone at the Fair Food Matters fundraiser seemed to feel the same way: strangers no longer. Eating local food together makes strong communities.

Dylan Polycn '15 helped serve the kale salad at the Fair Food Matters fundraiser — Dylan Polycn ’15 attended the Fair Food Matters fundraiser and helped serve the kale salad.

K Quad Goes “Green” for Commencement

Posted on June 13, 2014March 24, 2022

As the Kalamazoo College 2014 commencement day gets closer, Facilities Management, or “FacMan,” has been working hard to get the campus Quad ready for the celebrations in a most sustainable way.

FacMan Grounds Coordinator Victor Garcia ’97 revealed that all the fertilizer used to maintain the Quad for this commencement is 100-percent certified organic matter. The new change comes through a continued effort by the College to be more environmentally sustainable.

“In order to make the Quad more sustainable, we are using all organic fertilizer instead of chemically derived fertilizers,” said Garcia

Garcia asserts that using all organic fertilizer is also self-sustaining in the long run because it modifies the soil to the extent that less fertilizer will be needed to maintain the Quad.

“When you go 100-percent organic, within two to three years the soil will begin to sustain itself. You are creating a biological system, so over time you have to do less and less.”

The new change in approach is not only beneficial for keeping the quad lush and green but also has a greater implication for the entire environment.

“It’s not only about the plant having sustainable nutrition but the surface water that reaches our water supply also becomes less toxic.”

Garcia maintains that even though sustainable approaches such as this might be initially costly, there are savings made in the long run. By using organic fertilizer, for instance, the Quad requires less irrigation, which helps save water and cuts cost. Besides, Garcia believes that sustainable practices “are always worth the economic cost.”

More information on the College’s sustainability efforts can be found here.

Story and photo by Olivia Nalugya ’16

A Strong Sustainability Finish

Posted on April 14, 2014March 24, 2022

The Recyclemania 2014 tournament is “in the books;” and Kalamazoo College finished first in two categories–the Per Capita Classic, and Bottles and Cans. Recyclemania is the annual friendly competition among 461 universities and colleges in the U.S. and Canada dedicated to promoting waste reduction and recycling on campus.

Colleges and universities competing in the eight-week competition are ranked according to how much recycling, trash, and food waste they collect. Between the early-February kickoff and the tournament’s final day on March 29, participating schools collectively recycled or composted 89.1 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials, preventing the release of 126,597 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, which is the same as preventing annual emissions from 24,823 cars. K’s share of that success in greenhouse gas reduction is 139 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which converts to 27 cars off the road or the energy consumption of 12 households.

Rob Townsend, facilities management, and the coordinator of K’s Recyclemania tournament presence, administered K’s participation this year a little differently than in previous years: “No advertising, promotion, or public relations of any sort,” he said. “I was curious to see how well the College would do in the tournament just going about its daily business.” In other words, to what degree is recycling and waste minimization in our DNA, so to speak. Despite the strong finish, K won’t rest on its laurels. “We have some weaknesses,” says Townsend. “I would love to see us improve our waste minimization struggle,” the number of pounds of waste generated per person. Winner in that category was Valencia Community College (Kissimmee, Fla.), generating a meager 2.87 pounds of waste per person. K finished 134th at 81.8 pounds per person.

At least we are recycling much of that waste. At 48.62 pounds, K took first in the total pounds of recyclables per person (a.k.a. the “Per Capita Classic”). In the bottles and cans category, K led the way with nearly 15 pounds of recycled materials per person.

K did well in other tournament categories. In addition to its first place finishes, it placed in the top 20 in the Grand Champion category, the Paper category, and the Corrugated Cardboard category.

Kalamazoo College Recognized as Green Generation Customer of the Year by Consumers Energy

Posted on September 27, 2013November 9, 2023

Seven K representatives accept Green Generation Customer of the Year award — Consumers Energy (CE) named Kalamazoo College as its 2013 Green Generation Customer of the Year. From left are Binney Girdler, K associate professor of biology; Emma Dolce ′14, sustainability intern; Katie Ray ′14, sustainability intern; Paul Manstrom, K associate vice president for facilities management; Lisa Gustafson, CE business customer care director; Thomas Shirilla, CE business account manager; and Kevin Linders, CE senior corporate account manager.

[Sept. 27, 2013] Consumers Energy has named Kalamazoo College its “Green Generation Customer of the Year” in recognition of the College’s overall sustainability effort and its voluntary participation in this renewable energy program.

The 1,450-student liberal arts and sciences college located midway between Detroit and Chicago purchases 720,000 kilowatt-hours (KWh) of renewable energy annually from Consumers Energy, enough to supply 8 percent of the College’s total electrical usage.

“Sustainability is a strong focus at Kalamazoo College. Receiving this award lets us know that others recognize our commitment to the environment and that gives us reason to be proud,” said Paul Manstrom, K’s associate vice president for facilities management. “We began purchasing electricity through the Green Generation program as part of a project to renovate the Hicks Student Center on campus to standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, earning the first LEED Silver certification in southwest Michigan in the process. We’ve found that participating in Green Generation has been a great fit for us.”

Kalamazoo College has been a Green Generation participant since January 2009. It’s one of the Top 10 participants in the Green Generation program, having purchased more than 2.5 million KWh of renewable energy since enrolling. The recently-completed Athletics Field House and the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (currently under construction) will be the two “greenest” buildings on campus, furthering the college’s sustainability credentials.

“It’s with great enthusiasm we single out the achievements of Kalamazoo College in supporting renewable energy efforts in Michigan,” said Thomas Shirilla, Consumers Energy’s program manager for Green Generation. “K’s leadership in this voluntary program is commendable. It demonstrates commitment to and optimism for Michigan’s future.”

Past Green Generation customer of the year recipients are Irwin Seating, Grand Rapids Community College, University of Michigan – Flint, Dow Corning, City of Grand Rapids, and Wolverine Worldwide.

Consumers Energy’s Green Generation program has nearly 17,000 customer-participants and was the first voluntary renewable energy program in Michigan. It was launched in 2005 following authorization by the Michigan Public Service Commission. More than 100 organizations are enrolled in the Green Generation program.

Green Generation has led to the development of several renewable energy projects in the state, including the Michigan Wind 1 park in the Thumb region. Other Green Generation projects include biomass facilities located near Birch Run, Lennon, and Marshall. Consumers Energy also purchases electricity for the program generated by wind turbines near Mackinaw City. All of the projects are located in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and all sources are Green-e certified as renewable.

The Green Generation program offers Consumers Energy’s electric customers an opportunity to support renewable energy by enrolling in the voluntary program and paying a small premium. Program information is available at .

Kalamazoo College (www.kzoo.edu) was founded in 1833 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is the oldest college in Michigan and among the 100 oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States. K is a nationally recognized liberal arts and sciences college with nearly 1,450 students and the creator of the K-Plan that emphasizes rigorous scholarship, experiential learning, leadership development, and international and intercultural engagement. Kalamazoo College does more in four years so students can do more in a lifetime.

Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest utility, is the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), providing natural gas and electricity to 6.6 million of the state’s 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

View and download the above photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/consumersenergy/9953170725/

For more information regarding Consumers Energy, visit us at: www.consumersenergy.com or join us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/consumersenergymichigan

Consumers Energy Media Contacts: Roger Morgenstern, 517/530-4364 or Terry DeDoes, 517/374-2159