We are now one year into our 2022 Resilience and Sustainability Plan. Exciting things have been happening! Here are some of the ways we’ve worked towards implementing the plan over the past months:

In our efforts to increase education for sustainability:

• In our summer program we included eco-skits during two meals –one focused on reducing food waste and one about our all-camp veggie meal (no meat!)
• We used “Wangari’s Trees of Peace” book all summer. The book tells the true story of Wangari Maathai, a woman who started the Green Belt Movement in Kenya in 1977. Cabins took turns acting out different parts of the story each night at campfire.
• Campers helped with compost and weighed food waste each day – some took the effort to reduce food waste challenge very seriously – even forgoing napkins (which go into the compost at Camp) and licking their plates clean. One parent shared that their camper returned enthused about compost and ready to begin the practice in their home.

In our efforts to save energy:

• Summer staff hung up extra clothesline to dry their clothes this summer, and they really made use of them! They even had a “jar of shame” in which anyone who used the dryer had to put a large rock. Peer pressure can be a good thing!
• We are using 2015 as our baseline year for tracking energy, as that was the year before work started on the Renew Friedenswald renovations. We are happy to report that for May 15- through July 15 of 2018 we used 3,747 fewer kWh as compared to the same time period for 2015, even with about 2,400 more square feet of building space.
• In our efforts to increase the sustainable food supply: We’ve partnered with Corey Lake Orchards and Bubba’s Produce to reduce food waste and increase our use of local food. They have donated over 450 pounds of local produce this summer. We’ve also purchased 345 pounds of local produce this summer.

In our efforts to reduce waste:

• We added recycling containers to each cabin. We have also added an aspirationally named “Zero-waste shed” to the Maintenance area where we are able to recycle plastic film and bags, e-waste, and batteries – along with any waste associated with teeth brushing (thanks to the organization Terracycle).
• Knowing what is in your waste is a basic step to knowing how to reduce it. In August we completed a waste audit. The good news is we are diverting 58% of our waste from the landfill through recycling and composting (based on weight and a three day sample period). We also have room for improvement; after sorting the waste we discovered we could have diverted 76%.

 

We will continue to keep you up to date on our progress towards our R&S goals. Check our Facebook page and blog for new information!