Living Sustainably: Holland Stands Out in Governor’s Energy Excellence Awards

By Anne Saliers, Holland Board of Public Works More finalists have been selected from Holland for the 2018 Governor’s Energy Excellence Awards than from any other city in the state. Of the 21 businesses, organizations, and individuals across the state that have been honored this year, three are from Holland, a fourth is honored because of its work …

Living Sustainably: Elephants in the room – Plastic waste is a big issue

By Madison Ostrander ’18 and Eighth Day Farm Intern Try to picture just over 1 billion elephants roaming around. Maybe at first the elephants would be a fun novelty, but I’d be willing to bet after a short while we’d have had enough, with things getting dangerous and crowded. This bizarre scenario relates to the dilemma our …

Living Sustainably: Booming bike use benefits Holland

By Meika Weiss, Pedal Holland The number of people bicycling in Holland has increased an incredible 281 percent since the year 2000, far outpacing the national increase of 51 percent, according to U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. This is great news because of the positive effects bikes have in cities like ours, even for people who don’t ride: …

Living Sustainably: People can expand or limit invasive bugs’ impact

By Analise Sala ’19 and Micaela Wells ’19, Hope College Travel has consequences. Thanks to an increasingly connected world, American forests house more than 360 non-native insect species, 30 percent of which have become serious pests. By relocating and displacing organisms, we are effectively homogenizing our planet’s landscape in a period of great human influence on the environment …

Living Sustainably: Think local for vacations with sustainable impact

By Hannah Schulze, Local First of West Michigan One sure-fire way to guarantee yourself an A+ when it comes to planning your family vacation is to emphasize unique, exciting experiences that will result in priceless memories for years to come. And a way to add to those experiences is the human connection that can be gained by …

Living Sustainably: Trees add value in Holland (Hope College Biology Student Research Project)

By Katelyn DeWitt, Hope College Biology Student Have you hugged a tree lately? This summer I have been walking around Holland doing just that. In a joint project between the City of Holland and Hope College, I have been working to census all of the trees on public property in Holland by recording every tree’s trunk diameter and …

WMEAC Blog: To Improve Energy Efficiency, Holland Turns To Equitable Financing

“Ken Freestone is the City of Holland’s Residential Energy Advisor. He helps Holland homeowners make retrofits to their homes that maximize energy efficiency, from sealing air leaks to replacing windows to installing solar panels. First, Freestone will help an interested homeowner identify their wants, like lower utility costs or better heating. Then, he works with …

Creative Dining Services to use cage-free eggs

“Creative Dining Services has announced it will soon only use eggs from cage-free farms. The Zeeland company, which operates food service programs at Hope College, Grand Rapids Community College and other local colleges, switched to cage-free eggs for its shelled egg products July 1 and plans to convert entirely to cage-free (liquid egg products included) …

Living Sustainably: Holland group boosts plant-based food options

By Rebecca Bochenek, Veg Lakeshore Are you looking to improve your health or help save the planet? The plant-based movement is thriving and building steam in Holland and West Michigan. A few years ago, when you went out to eat, your plant-based food options may have been limited to a baked potato, salad, or soup. Now, more restaurants …

Living Sustainably: Celebrate Your Watershed at this year’s Water Festival

By Ashley Van Zee, Outdoor Discovery Center It’s time to celebrate your watershed! Yes, we all live in a watershed. If you live in the Holland and Zeeland area, you live in the Macatawa watershed. A watershed is an area of land that drains into a certain stream, river, or lake. It’s like a bathtub – all the …