Sustainability News

Members of the Kalamazoo College community take seriously our responsibility to lighten our environmental footprint. We express this responsibility in many ways.

In June 2007 Kalamazoo College became the second Michigan college to sign the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge to sharply reduce and eventually eliminate the College’s emissions that contribute to climate change. Our recycling department, founded in 1992, strives for institutional production of zero waste. Since 2005 it has received national attention for its stunning results in Recyclemania, the national recycling competition between colleges and universities.

Kalamazoo College achieved Silver Certification in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) with the recent renovation of its student center. And sustainability is part of the College’s curriculum. It is the subject of interdisciplinary classes that focus exclusively on the topic, and it is thematically woven into the subject matter of countless classes in every department. Many students focus their Senior Individualized Projects, a graduation requirement at “K”, on matters of sustainability.

A legion of campus and student organizations is dedicated to aspects of sustainability, ranging from energy conservation to increasing the use of local food. These groups include the Sustainability Guild, Farms to “K”, Biodiesel Co-op, Helping to Understand Bikes, EnvOrg, the Sustainability Living-Learning House, ThECOaolition, Campus Energy Group, and Digging in Renewable Turf.