Editor's Note: This is our final story as part of our series, Sacred Earth which examines the intersection between climate change — and faith, worldview, philosophy, psychology, and the creative arts. This series is sponsored by the Fetzer Institute. Accompanying artwork for this article and many of the stories in the Sacred Earth series was created by Taylor Scamehorn.
KALAMAZOO, MI — Whose responsibility is it for reducing carbon emissions in Kalamazoo? Is it up to individual people to make changes? Or does the burden rest on the broader community?
The answer isn’t either/or — it’s both. Reducing carbon emissions requires action at all levels.
Ultimately, meaningful progress relies on a synergy between individual efforts and community-wide actions strengthened by state and federal policies to address systemic issues.
Individuals play a crucial role in making sustainable lifestyle choices. Simple changes, such as reducing energy consumption, using public transportation, or adopting renewable energy sources, have a significant impact. These personal actions often extend beyond the individual, creating a ripple effect that inspires others and fosters a culture of sustainability.
At the same time, communities bear a collective responsibility to establish the infrastructure and policies needed to support and encourage these sustainable practices. This includes investing in renewable energy projects, improving public transportation systems, supporting local sustainability initiatives, and implementing regulations that effectively reduce emissions at the municipal level.
Both individual and collective change necessary
Jonathan Milgrim is a Faculty Specialist in the Department of Philosophy at Western Michigan University who teaches a course on the ethics of sustainability, among other subjects. Milgrim says that we each have a responsibility to reduce our carbon use and that individual actions are important because they contribute to a collective push for change. Milgrim believes that it is inconsistent and “somewhat hypocritical” to demand change from larger entities, such as governments and corporations, without also making changes in your own life.
Jonathan Milgrim, Faculty Specialist in the Department of Philosophy, Western Michigan UniversityMilgram sees the need for a combined effort from both individuals and communities to effectively tackle environmental issues.
“A shift in attitude I believe is incredibly important because if our attitudes start shifting and we start just acknowledging the problem more often, then I think the changes are going to kind of follow that,” he says.
“There's some very concrete things that we could be doing that are kind of staring us in the face if we just look around for them,” he says. Like finding new uses for already existing infrastructure, rather than tearing down and constructing new buildings from scratch.
“The greenest building is the one that’s already built,” says Milgrim, explaining that there needs to be a shift in attitudes from not only the public but also decision-makers on WMU's campus and around the community at large who have the ability to make impactful climate decisions, like when, where, and if to build new buildings.
What is a carbon footprint anyway?
A carbon footprint refers to the total greenhouse gas emissions we generate, either directly or indirectly, in our daily lives. It’s usually measured in carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e), and it measures the carbon produced when we do things like driving a car, flying in a plane, eating red meat, using electricity, or even buying products that take energy to produce or transport.
The term "carbon footprint" has become widely known in recent decades thanks in large part to a BP marketing campaign that introduced a "
carbon footprint calculator." While this tool aimed to help people measure and reduce their emissions, it was also designed to shift the blame away from the handful of major corporations, like BP, who are responsible for the vast majority of global carbon emissions, and onto individual consumers. By focusing on the actions of individual people,
the targeted campaign tried to distract from the need for systemic changes.
The idea has proliferated through society with many corporations and even governmental organizations like the EPA offering their own versions of the carbon footprint calculator. And while individual efforts to reduce carbon use are important, they are simply not enough. We need collective action as well to make a real difference in saving our environment.
What is Kalamazoo doing to reduce carbon emissions?
A promising step — In September Kalamazoo city commissioners unanimously approved a 20-year renewable electricity contract with
Consumers Energy which will ensure that all city-owned buildings in Kalamazoo will be powered by solar and wind energy by 2028. The city will start receiving renewable energy and making payments under this contract in 2028.
Justin Gish, City of Kalamazoo's Sustainability PlannerIn an effort to reach the City of Kalamazoo's climate goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, the city has also been working to implement a new sustainability plan under the leadership of the City’s Sustainability Planner Justin Gish.
Gish says that one of his goals is to “figure out a way to get the city to net zero or carbon neutral without cutting or diminishing any of the core services that we provide as a city. I think that's the way to go,” he said. He says that one of the key initiatives in pursuit of that goal is “our partnership with Consumers Energy to purchase solar electricity from them” which should “probably reduce our carbon footprint by about half.”
The City of Kalamazoo's Sustainability Plan
outlines specific efforts to promote clean energy, reduce waste, and foster sustainable transportation options. According to the plan, the city has committed to increasing tree canopy coverage, retrofitting buildings with energy-efficient technologies, and encouraging the use of electric vehicles through infrastructure development.
Gish says that there are several significant challenges in implementing renewable energy solutions across Kalamazoo. One issue is that there are not a lot of suitable spaces for solar panels. While some larger structures, like the Crosstown Parkway building, offer potential, with a large roof and parking lot that could nearly cover the building’s energy needs, many other city facilities aren’t as suitable for a solar installation.
One example is the water station near the Al Sabo Preserve which is surrounded by trees and has a roof size of only 255 square feet, making it too small to support a solar installation large enough to power it. This issue is common across the city’s pump houses and water stations, which are small, dispersed, and energy-intensive.
The city’s overall energy consumption further complicates the situation. In 2022, Kalamazoo used more than 50 million kWh of electricity across 55 buildings and various infrastructure spread across three counties. Even where solar installations are possible, the output would only cover 14% of the building’s energy use using roof panels alone.
According to the report, almost half of all of Kalamazoo's carbon dioxide emissions from city activities (48%) are actually released when supplying and treating water. Electric energy is used to pump water to and from homes, as well as operate the city’s water reclamation plan which treats wastewater from over nineteen local jurisdictions.
The
Greenhouse Gas Report notes that while the City of Kalamazoo’s population is only a little over 70,000, the wastewater plant serves over 200,000 residents throughout Kalamazoo County, and stretches into portions of Van Buren and Barry Counties as well. The City of Kalamazoo assumes a carbon burden for the surrounding communities as their wastewater is processed within Kalamazoo’s boundaries.
Cleaning all that wastewater also results in a large amount of biosolids (organic matter that’s recycled through sewage) which must be sent to landfills. These biosolids release even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as they decompose.
So what can individuals do?
While we work within our larger communities to make changes on a systemic level, individuals must learn to adapt their behaviors to reduce carbon use as well.
What can we as individuals do?
R
educe water usage, first and foremost. Water usage is one of Kalamazoo’s largest contributors to its carbon emissions.
Consider cohabitating with family members or roommates, keeping a lawn of native plants rather than grass, or if you do have a grass lawn participate in Kalamazoo’s
no-mow May, a month each spring in which people let their lawns grow long to support wild plant growth and pollinators like bees and butterflies. Local group
Kalamazoo Area Wild Ones is a great resource for advice on native gardening and more information about native plants.
Eat no or less meat. Raising livestock, particularly cattle, is energy-intensive. The energy used for breeding, transportation, slaughter, refrigeration, and processing of meat for people to eat all contribute to carbon emissions. Raising cows also requires large amounts of land, often leading to deforestation, which releases stored carbon and further exacerbates global warming.
Grow your own food. Growing crops directly for human consumption is far more energy-efficient and less resource-intensive than growing crops to feed animals, which are then raised for meat. Eating fruits, vegetables, grains, and other plant-based foods reduces the need for large-scale animal agriculture and can lower overall emissions associated with food production, creating large-scale systemic change inspired by the changing demands of consumers.
Buy local when possible. Local businesses including Midtown Fresh Market, PFC Natural Grocery & Deli, and Sawall's Health Foods, all carry some products that are plant-based, or locally produced.
Avoid single-use plastics and consider using refilleries. With every purchase, consider where the packaging will go. Kalamazoo’s Bee Joyful shop offers a range of plasticless, reusable, and refillable products that use less carbon to produce, and create less waste than single-use plastic products.
Turn off the lights and unplug your electronics when you’re not using them. Vampire electronics, devices that continue to draw power even when turned off or in standby mode, can account for 5-10% of a household's energy use. The average U.S. household spends about $100 a year on electricity wasted by devices that are plugged in but not being used according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Common culprits include televisions, gaming consoles, chargers, and appliances like microwaves and coffee makers that use standby power to power digital clocks or sensors.
How else can the community participate?
Jonathan Milgram also recommends the book "Dialogs on Climate Justice" by Steve Gardiner and Arthur Obst for those interested in delving deeper into the ethics of carbon use. “It is an excellent book that covers the moral (and practical) issues related to climate change. It is an academic text, but the dialogue form makes it quite readable and lays everything out in a clear manner,” he says.
The
WMU Climate Change Working Group also organizes events throughout the year and has coordinated with the WMU Ethics Center to organize its annual Climate Emergency Month which takes place each spring semester. Its most recent iteration,
Climate Emergency: Spring into Action 2024 hosted campus and community events including talks, workshops, film viewings, and direct-action campaigns, all open to the public. The event was focused on “the science of climate change, climate justice, sustainability, or identifying solutions at multiple scales,” according to the event's website. You can join the working group's mailing list for more information about their work and upcoming events.