As fall term comes to a close, it is time to reflect on where we’ve been and what we’ve accomplished with the Climate Action Plan! We record our progress in fiscal years (FY): the 12 month period between every June and the next July, which the College uses to track accounting, budgeting, and planning. Sustainability can sometimes be a tricky subject to mark one’s progress on – whether it’s small projects that no one sees, or action steps that take years to come to fruition, climate action can be hard to track! At K, however, climate action is happening all the time, all across campus. Here are some of the progressive steps we made in FY24 (July 2023-June 2024) to fulfill the goals of the College’s Climate Action Plan!

GREENHOUSE GAS GOAL

During FY24, much of our progress on the Greenhouse Gas Goal comes from the ongoing sustainability projects around campus. One of the most impactful projects currently in the works affects the Light Fine Arts Building, DeWaters Residence Hall, and Olds Upton Lecture Hall. These three buildings are all in transition from central steam to regional heating, which will allow the heating for buildings to occur within or much closer to the individual buildings themselves!

Continuing on the trend of localizing our energy infrastructure, we are working towards accomplishing our building level energy metering goal. kWh (kilowatt hour) meters for all buildings serviced by campus electricity are in place to be set up by 2025; the Markin Racquet Center has been switched to all-new LED lights; and the College has officially joined the Kalamazoo Energy Collaborative.

Learn more about the Greenhouse Gas Goal here.

RESOURCE CONSERVATION GOAL

One of the biggest action items the CAP Committee accomplished during FY23 was to eliminate the non-scientific use of helium. Helium is a very limited natural resource, and by strictly limiting our campus consumption, we are making strides towards resource conservation. In FY24, that policy has been in place and enforced for the first time!

Another piece of ongoing progress is campus waste stream management – in other words, having a sustainable and efficient system to process trash, recycling, and compost all across campus. An on-campus summer fellowship was created to help reconfigure campus waste stream management.

We have also continued to work with Parkhurst Dining Services to ensure the presence of compostable disposables for all dining-related disposables. This happens in partnership with My Green Michigan, and is a great example of collaborative work between the campus and Michigan community.

Learn more about the Resource Conservation Goal here.

LEARNING GOAL

With the goal of exposing every K student to climate literacy, there’s a lot of important work involved with the Learning Goal! For one, the Biology Department has launched a re-design of it’s course trajectory, including new courses with an emphasis on climate biology.

The Environmental Stewardship Center has also utilized a comprehensive internship training session prior to the start of fall term. This training includes students working with the ESC in the following positions: Composting Crew, Hoop House Interns, Arb Trail Crew, ESC Interns.

The Faculty Representatives of the Climate Action Plan Committee have also begun the creation of a faculty climate toolkit, designed to inform and encourage K College faculty to teach climate-related material within their existing courses.

Learn more about the Learning Goal here.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY GOAL

One of the most exciting pieces of progress made in the Environmental Responsibility Goal was the approval of a Fossil Fuels Divestment Dashboard. Requested by the ECO student organization and put together by the Business & Finance unit, this dashboard represents increased transparency and solidarity in the reduction of fossil fuel use on campus.

The Environmental Stewardship Center hired an ESC Coordinator – Greta Farley, K’22. The ESC also had Hoop House interns attend and participate in the 2024 Foodways Symposium at the Kalamazoo Valley Food Innovation Center.

Learn more about the Environmental Responsibility Goal here.

An integral part of our Climate Action Plan is our awareness of, and our commitment to, responsible and sustainable use of fossil fuels. Although it is a long, complicated process, Kalamazoo College aims to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels, and to power our college through local and renewable sources.

One major step forward we’ve recently taken towards sustainability is the creation of our Fossil Fuels Endowment Dashboard! Found on the Sustainability at K website, the Dashboard is a tool to help those in the K Community make sense and keep track of where the College’s investment money is going. The Dashboard is a step forward in our Climate Action Plan’s (CAP) Environmental Responsibility Goal: to develop campus-wide efforts to educate the K College community about climate change, stretching beyond courses and academic programs. One part of that Goal is to increase sustainable investing practices – together with the Socially Responsible Investment Advisory Committee (SRIAC), the ESC and CAP committee are thrilled to have the Dashboard available to the public.

When you visit the Dashboard, you can learn about the College’s exposure to fossil fuel producers. You can also get a better understanding of how K measures up to certain climate risk indicators, and see how the K endowment is put to use with sustainable investing practices. Check it out!

Did you know that Kalamazoo College has a Climate Action Plan (CAP)? The CAP plays an integral role in K’s journey towards sustainability. With our current CAP stretching for the next five years, let’s explore what the CAP brings to our community.

What is a Climate Action Plan?

As climate change becomes an increasingly prevalent force in our lives, a successful climate action plan can guide how communities respond. They provide a framework for recording and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as for leading an environmentally responsible life.

The Kalamazoo College Climate Action Plan (CAP) has an overarching goal of carbon neutrality. More than that, the plan ensures that our core value of sustainability is interwoven with all aspects of campus life.

Our CAP Goals

K’s Climate Action Plan is broken down into four smaller goals, all of which combine to help achieve carbon neutrality by 2050:

• Greenhouse Gas Goal: Reduce GHG emissions by 35% of 2008 levels by fiscal year end 2028.
• Resource Conservation Goal: Provide leadership in Resources Conservation measures for campus operations. 
• Learning Goal: Work toward exposing every Kalamazoo College student to the study of issues related to climate/climate change, ensuring that Kalamazoo College graduates will possess climate literacy.
• Environmental Responsibility Goal: Develop campus-wide efforts to educate the K College community about climate change —stretching beyond courses and academic programs. 

Stay Up to Date

Want to know more about the Climate Action Plan? Check out these resources below.

Steps Towards a Sustainable K

As the academic year comes to a close, it’s time again to reflect on where we’ve been and what we’ve accomplished. Sustainability can sometimes be a tricky subject to mark one’s progress on – whether it’s small projects that no one sees, or action steps that take years to come to fruition, climate action can be hard to track! At K, however, climate action is happening all the time, all across campus. Here are some of the progressive steps we’ve made this year in working to fulfill the goals of the College’s Climate Action Plan!

GREENHOUSE GAS GOAL

One of the first goals of the current Climate Action Plan is to transition campus from central steam to regional/local water heat. This would allow the heating for buildings to occur within or much closer to the individual buildings themselves. We already have three projects in progress, with the Light Fine Arts building, Olds Upton, and DeWaters dormitory all scheduled to be finished by the end of 2024.

We’ve also made progress on retro-commissioning campus buildings, with Dewing Hall being completed in summer 2023, as well as a controls upgrade for Mandelle.

In addition, we’re paying close attention to the energy that each of our buildings uses, in line with the building level energy metering goal. kWh (kilowatt hour) meters for all buildings serviced by campus electricity are in place to be set up by 2025; the Markin Racquet Center has been switched to all-new LED lights; and the College has officially joined the Kalamazoo Energy Collaborative.

RESOURCE CONSERVATION GOAL

One of the biggest action items the CAP Committee accomplished this year was to eliminate the non-scientific use of helium. Helium is a very limited natural resource, and by strictly limiting our campus consumption, we are making strides towards resource conservation.

Another piece of ongoing progress is in regards to campus waste stream management – in other words, having a sustainable and efficient system to process trash, recycling, and compost all across campus. Senior Camran Stack K’24 completed a summer project researching the litter on campus, and has helped shape a plan to provide new sorting receptacles in the coming years.

You also might have noticed a lot of construction going on around Olds Upton – this was to reduce stormwater runoff! Helping in the face of coming years with heavier and more frequent precipitation, OU now has a new system for stormwater detention and routing.

LEARNING GOAL

In order to work toward exposing every Kalamazoo College student to the study of issues related to climate/climate change, we’ve updated the course catalog to include a list of courses that raise climate literacy. We’ve also begun creating a preliminary faculty toolkit, which professors can use to enhance their courses with climate change-related material.

We’re also enhancing student opportunities for experiential education focused on climate change. This year, we re-designed the position of Hoop House intern, and welcomed 4 student interns who help cultivate one of the most important green spaces on campus. Their orientation took place right alongside other environmentally-related interns from the Environmental Stewardship Center and Composting Crew.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY GOAL

This year, we launched an orientation module for first year and transfer students to initiate campus engagement with sustainability and climate resiliency. It was a major success, with dozens of students showing up to learn about campus climate action! We plan to continue incorporating this module in the years to come. 

We’ve also tried to increase our intersectional climate action, by creating ways for our community members and partners to engage with us. We’ve created a form with which students, faculty, and staff can share their climate-related work with the CAP Committee; we’ve also increased our partnership with the City of Kalamazoo, attending Fridays for Future meetings and holding joint events like the Kalamazoo Climate Rally.

In Conclusion…

A lot of progress has been made this year – and we still have a long way to go. We’re proud of all the student, faculty, and staff voices that have contributed to all this meaningful climate action work on campus, and to all the voices we have yet to hear. Working towards sustainability is a long, uphill road, it’s true. It’s also an incredible, connective, and uplifting space – one that will continue to have a presence at Kalamazoo College for years to come.