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.