Living Sustainably: Germany offers ideas for sustainable redevelopment

By Eric Schumann ’21, Hope College Office of SustainabilityEvery global recession results in an economic restart. Governments flood stimulus packages to citizens to ensure some economic activity, but typically without regard for environmental consequences.Our post-coronavirus economic recovery offers an opportunity to address environmental sustainability, especially with regard to the challenges posed by our changing climate.But …

Living Sustainably: Improving our community one rain garden at a time

By Kelly Goward, Macatawa Area Coordinating Council The Macatawa Area Coordinating Council is working with the City of Holland and homeowners to plan and install rain gardens. Rain gardens are depressed areas that collect rain water and allow it to soak into the ground. Rain gardens not only reduce the volume of water in storm …

Living Sustainably: Time to sign up for free, energy-saving trees in Holland

By Morgan Kelley, Holland Board of Public Works The opportunity to get a free tree to help save energy is back. For the second year in a row, through the Energy-Saving Trees program, Holland Board of Public Works residential electric customers can reserve a free tree to strategically plant in their yards this spring to …

Living Sustainably: Holland wins Green Communities Challenge gold certification

By Michelle Gibbs, Holland-Hope College Sustainability Institute The City of Holland’s sustainability efforts were honored Thursday, Nov. 21 with a Gold Certification in our first submission to the 2019 Michigan Green Communities Challenge. Holland was recognized along with other Michigan Communities during the annual Michigan Sustainability Conference held in Lansing. The three recognition levels – Bronze, …

Living Sustainably: Holland’s Energy-Saving Trees Program Nets 300 Plantings

By Morgan Kelley, Holland Board of Public Works The Holland Board of Public Works partnered with the City of Holland this past April to provide the Energy-Saving Trees Program, a project that netted 300 new trees in the community. Developed by the Arbor Day Foundation, the Energy-Saving Trees Program educates homeowners about the energy-saving benefits …

Living Sustainably: Tree benefits branch far out

By Zoe Gum, Alec Berrodin and Katelyn DeWitt, Hope College Biology Students How much is that tree in your front yard worth? Sure, you might cash in once on its lumber value – or you could treat it as a long-term investment. In the latter case, the value will grow tremendously as the tree ages and provides …

Living Sustainably: How ‘Green’ is Your Coffee?

By Tom Bultman, Hope College Many of us enjoy a “cup of Joe” in the morning. For some of us, it’s a prerequisite for productive work. All total, over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world every day, mostly in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Many of us enjoy this daily ritual without much thought …

Living Sustainably: Native plants are beautiful and beneficial

By Sarah Irvin, DeGraaf Nature Center This growing season, you can help reintroduce native plants to our otherwise cultivated landscapes of non-native or invasive plants and monocultures of green grass. Including native species in your yard will bring beauty to your life; benefit our local ecosystem, and save you time, money, and energy! Here are some of the …

Living Sustainably: Free trees can help cut energy use

A properly planted tree can help a homeowner save up to 20 percent on energy use. And Holland Board of Public Works residential electric customers can reserve a free tree this spring to strategically plant in their yards to save energy and lower utility bills.  From the Arbor Day Foundation, the Energy-Saving Trees program began in 2012, …

CONFRONTING A THREAT IN WEST MICHIGAN FORESTS (Hope College Spera Magazine)

KATHY WINNETT-MURRAY, PH.D. | PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY K. GREG MURRAY, PH.D. | T. ELLIOTT WEIER PROFESSOR OF PLANT SCIENCE VANESSA MUILENBURG, PH.D. | ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY Hemlock woolly adelgid, the invasive and destructive insect, which sucks the sap from North American hemlock trees and dooms many of them, has taken hold in the Hope …