Camp Friedenswald

the peaceful woods

Resilience and Sustainability at Camp

Our 2022 Plan

2022 Plan Overview
2022 Plan Overview Booklet

2018-22 By the Numbers
2021 By the Numbers
2020 By the Numbers
2019 By the Numbers
2018 Year End Report
2018 By the Numbers

Camp Friedenswald is committed to working towards resilience and sustainability. From 2017-2022 our strategic plan was framed by the triple-bottom line of environmental, social, and financial sustainability. As we live into our 2023-25 strategic plan, resilience and sustainability continue to be core to the way Camp Friedenswald operates.

Stay posted for news about Camp’s journey in this area.  Let us know if you have ideas or thoughts about steps forward!  Email amy@friedenswald.org for more information or to give your feedback.

 1. Environmental Resilience and Sustainability

Produce and Lease Solar Energy

Camp is now producing solar energy! Thanks to generous constituents, Camp installed 180 solar panels on the Dining Hall roof in September of 2019. Camp also leases 80 community solar panels from our local utility, Midwest Energy, which provide clean energy to our staff housing. 

View our real-time solar production here.

Solar panels at Camp Friedenswald.

Compost Food Waste and Napkins

Our compost container – raccoon proof!
A view of the inside of the composting container. All you see is wood chips!
Here you can see the layers of the compost lasagna after weeks of sitting in the compost cube. This is then dumped into an open air pile to finish the composting process!
We added compost buckets to all our lodges in 2018.
Jonathan Fiedley putting compost in the staff-made compost box at Camp Friedenswald
Facilities Director, Jonathan Fridley, putting compost in one of our staff-made compost cubes.

Enhance Biodiversity

Work to enhance biodiversity, increase habitat, control invasive plant species, and help protect specific endangered species like the Mitchell’s satyr butterfly and the eastern massasauga rattlesnake through ecological restoration projects

Read blog posts about our 16 acre tree planting, prairie fen, and our habitat restoration efforts.

We planted a native oak savanna seed mix in April 2019. Here is the state of our oak savanna in the summer of 2022.
In the spring of 2023, we planted 9000 trees over 16 acres of what had been conventional soybean fields.
A photo of the endangered Mitchell’s satyr butterfly in the prairie fen taken at Camp in 2017.
This prairie was restored at Camp in 2013.

Use 100% LED Lighting

Changing light bulbs in the Dining Hall was an adventure!
Light bulbs, light bulbs, everywhere! Thanks for amazing volunteers for making this happen!

Recycle

The following materials are now being recycled at camp: plastic, cardboard, paper, glass, metal, e-waste, batteries, Styrofoam, plastic films, and toothbrushes/toothpaste tubes/floss containers.

Waste from meals is divided into compost (including napkins), trash (really only jam and butter containers at this point), and recyclables.
Single stream recycling is collected in our “zero waste shed” (an aspirational name at this point)
Thanks to Terracycle, we can even recycle all waste related to brushing our teeth! This box is in the office – feel free to bring your old toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes, and even empty floss containers to Camp to recycle! 🙂
A “behind the scenes” look –  this is our largest dumpster at Camp, and it is dedicated to recycling cardboard.

Support Electric Vehicles

Guests can charge their EVs for free at our two level 2 chargers – find them behind Hickory cabin.

More Actions

  • Partner with Corey Lake Orchards and others to serve local produce.
  • Reduce trash and unhealthy food consumption by NOT selling candy or drinks at Camp Store during summer camps
  • Installed occupancy sensors for lighting in many areas
  • Set thermostats to have maximum and minimum temperature settings in all buildings
  • Reduce use of motorized transportation on Camp property by using bicycles.
  • Installed dark sky lighting for outdoor lighting, which avoids light pollution at night.
  • Purchased metal roofs, energy efficient appliances, 100% recycled content indoor and outdoor floor mats, replaceable carpet squares (instead of rolled carpet), and Indiana-made durable furniture for new and newly renovated buildings.
  • Purchase 100% recycled napkins, paper towels, toilet paper, and tissues and office paper.

 2. Social Resilience and Sustainability

A major component of our social goals at Camp is to increase education to both guests and staff on the topic of environmental sustainability.  We get really excited about education here, as it can create a ripple effect for positive change in the homes and communities of all our guests.

Sustainability Education

  • We weigh food waste with our youth campers and outdoor education schools to help promote “take what you can eat and eat what you take”.
  • We have developed additional programming with the theme of sustainability, including sustainability tours of camp, a class on making cricket cookies, a sustainability camp experience, restoration retreat, and sustainability retreats for congregations.
  • Program Statement from program director, Jane Litwiller: “In the fall of 2021, the Program Team made an intentional decision to attempt to strengthen campers’ relationship with God by deepening their understanding of the natural world at Camp.  It is widely documented that being in nature can provoke deeply spiritual moments of connection to God, to each other, and the larger world.  It’s innate.  Humans were made this way on purpose and we too, are part of God’s Creation.  Mary Oliver says it nicely when she writes “For me, the door to the woods is the door to the temple.”  We’re trying to intentionally live into this reality at Camp in careful ways that foster a love of God and a love of God’s Creation recognizing that it’s inseparable.  If we love the Creator, we also need to love, steward, and advocate for Creation.”
Summer staff work with clay from camp as part of the summer 2022 theme – “Shaped like earth”.
Campers heard about the importance of reducing food waste. These signs depict the EPA’s prioritized recommendations for reducing food waste.
Restoration Retreat participants help with land stewardship by removing sassafras saplings in the restored oak savanna.

Social Justice

In our efforts to work towards social justice, from 2020-2022 Camp:

 3. Financial Resilience and Sustainability

Every Camper Comes

We are committed to ensuring that every summer camper who wants to come to Camp Friedenswald can do so, regardless of financial ability.  We offer camperships (scholarships) to anyone who has the need for it.  If you feel you would benefit from this program, please call us at 269-476-9744 for more details.

Living Wages

We are committed to providing a living wage for staff at Camp, which includes consideration for minimum food, childcare, health insurance, housing, transportation, and other basic necessities (e.g. clothing, personal care items, etc.) costs.   We are happy to say everyone employed at Camp is at or above a living wage as designated for a single person in Cass County, Michigan by MIT’s Living Wage Calculator.

Financial Growth

In order to provide camperships, living wages, and excellent experiences for all our guests, financial stability and even growth are necessary for Camp to be resilient and sustainable.  See our “By the numbers” publications for more on the financial outlook at Camp.