Interlochen Center for the Arts Climate Action Plan

Climate Action Plan 2028

Letter from the President

Interlochen has always been known for our stately pines, the beautiful Green and Duck Lakes, and the pristine natural environment that surrounds our institution. We consider ourselves responsible to steward these resources to the best of our ability.

Our commitment to sustainability is not only a reflection of our values as a community, but also our obligation to care for the planet for generations to come. Our institution’s Green Team has developed this comprehensive Climate Action Plan 2028 which outlines our objectives, as well as the action steps we will employ to achieve them.

Our plan is built upon the three core pillars of sustainability: environmental stewardship, community engagement, and resource efficiency. We focus on reducing our carbon footprint in our energy use and building practices, conserving our natural resources, and promoting sustainable practices throughout our campus.

We hope that this plan will serve as a guide to our institution’s collaborative efforts. It is meant to be a practical tool for engaging with our community and creating opportunities for education, advocacy, and action.

Creating and abiding by a Climate Action Plan is no simple task, but we are deeply committed to making lasting and meaningful change. We will keep ourselves accountable by carefully monitoring our progress, ensuring that we continue to make a measurable impact.

Interlochen celebrates its centennial in 2028. It brings me pride to know that our Climate Action Plan 2028 will work in conjunction with our institution’s goals as we enter into our next 100 years with a sustainable future in mind. I look forward to working together to make this vision a reality.

Sincerely,

Trey Devey

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Educational Components

community sustainability and nature-related courses and workshops

Hands-on learning in R. B. Annis Botanical Laboratory

Vision statement

Interlochen Center for the Arts has a sustainability vision focused on leaving the world a better place for tomorrow. As an institution that sees itself as a change maker and leader in sustainability, we constantly strive to educate ourselves and our community. We do our utmost to promote the unique synergy that exists between artistic creation and stewardship of our natural world.

“Interlochen sustainability is important to our community because it connects us with the natural world around us. By practicing sustainability habits it makes us aware of how everything is sustained by the natural world.”

BROOKE DEVAULT, SUSTAINABILITY ECOLOGIST AT INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS

Sustainability at Interlochen

2017

R. B. Annis Botanical Laboratory (greenhouse) installed with funding from R.B. Annis Foundation

Community garden, raised beds, pollinator beds, garden hoop house, herb spiral, rain garden, native wetland, and industrial compost facility receive funding from Allen Foundation

2018

Chickens, rabbits, and beehive apiary introduced into the garden space

Industrial compost facility installed

First year of Summer Garden Lecture Series, hosted on Wednesday evenings, on sustainability and nature-related topics

Industrial compost facility and Educational learning pavilion installed

2019

Interlochen awarded the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon School Award

First Agricultural Science class started at Interlochen Arts Academy, teaching basic concepts of agriculture in the garden and botanical lab space

Volunteers and community service students begin to help support the program and gardening needs

2020

Two hoop houses, and fence, and roll-down siding for the educational learning pavilion to the garden site with from the Allen Foundation

Named the American Association’s Teaching Garden of the Year

2021

Received funding support from the National Fish and Wildlife Services to do lakeshore conservation native perennial plantings

houses, an orchard roll-down educational pavilion are added with funding Foundation

American Heart Teaching Year

2022

Received funding support from the National Fish and Wildlife Services to install the Blue Karner butterfly conservation garden

2023

First ever dedicated Climate Action Plan created with 5-year goals, aligning with Interlochen’s centennial celebration

Interlochen pledges to purchase at least 30% green/ solar energy for the next 10 years with Consumers Energy

Certifications

Ongoing Initiatives

COMPOST PROGRAM

In 2019, we opened an onsite industrial compost facility which composts all pre- and post-consumer foods from Stone Cafeteria. The facility is managed in-house and utilizes food waste, woodchips, and leaf litter to create over 350 metric tons of compost annually. The greenhouse also features small scale composting including bins, a tumbler, and worm composting (vermicomposting).

RAISED BEDS

Our custom-designed raised beds ease the strain on gardeners’ backs while allowing us to cultivate excellent soil conditions, free of pest pressure from rabbits and other animals. Constantly in seasonal rotation, the raised beds embody a companion garden philosophy: each bed contains a variety of beneficial plants that work together to provide optimal growing conditions.

BEEKEEPING

We host several beekeeping classes each summer at our onsite apiary, managed by Interlochen’s beekeepers. The honeybees provide an important pollination service to our community gardens while also serving as a vital teaching tool on the importance of pollinators in agriculture.

CHICKENS

We have chickens onsite that provide our community with fresh eggs and also an important nitrogen-rich source of compost manure. Interlochen Arts Academy students learn about chicken reproduction and anatomy in class and have the opportunity to raise chickens first hand.

“I have a special place in my heart for the chickens. I’m one of their primary caretakers in the summer and I love watching the kids interact with them. It’s a joy to see our campers cross the street and get to experience this part of Interlochen.”

IVY

AQUAPONICS

We operate a 500-gallon aquaponics system inside the greenhouse, growing both food and fish in a symbiotic relationship. The fish produce nitrogen and minerals that plants need to grow. Minimal water is used in this closed-loop system. Aquaponics is a sustainable food system for growing plants year round, even in winter temperatures.

MUSHROOMS

In collaboration with a local mushroom grower, we utilize spent mushroom blocks to compost organic material while also growing the remaining spores onsite at the mushroom garden.

HOOP HOUSES

Hoop houses are covered spaces that are heated through passive solar energy using the greenhouse effect. Interlochen’s hoop houses allow us to grow and harvest twelve months of the year—making them a special tool in northern Michigan, where our growing climate is normally only a few months long. We have three hoop houses on site and use each of them in regular crop rotations, paying careful attention to soil health, cover crops, crop varieties, and pest pressures.

“Sustainability at Interlochen showcases the ability we have to be innovators and lead the way into change. We unveil where food comes from for our students. We hope to inspire others to nurture nature, too.”

JIMI ALPERS, SUSTAINABILITY GROUNDS

FOREMAN AT INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS

NATIVE POLLINATOR GARDENS

We have gardens full of native perennial plants to attract pollinators, which are beneficial to the local ecology and the crops we grow at Interlochen. We host a variety of native plants that provide nectar and pollen sources all spring, summer, and fall. These pollinator gardens are one way we support native habitats while growing food in our agricultural system.

MONARCH & BLUE KARNER BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION PROJECTS

Monarch butterfly populations are plummeting at a startling rate, and Blue Kamer butterflies are endangered. Both species suffer from the human impacts of habitat loss, host plant removal, and dangerous pesticides. We have designed habitats with host plants to attract mating butterflies to lay their eggs, food sources for their caterpillars, and ample nectar sources for the adults.

LAKESHORE RESTORATION PROJECT

The delicate area between the water and the land, known as the riparian zone, serves a vital role: it helps prevent erosion; filters stormwater runoff; and provides shelter, food, and mating habitat for native species. In concert with Fish and Wildlife Services, we have worked on restoring the lakeshore habitat along Green Lake. Students and volunteers joined our staff to plant dozens of native plants along this area.

ORCHARD

Our orchard space is home to dozens of fruiting trees, grape vines, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and much more. We are also in the early stages of designing an agricultural and educational space for our community to learn more about orchard species.

“Interlochen sustainability influence is huge, teaching kids about healthy, clean ways of life all around the world!”

MARK SIMONS, SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITY MANAGER, (IAC 20, IAA 21-23)

Local Foods

1700

+ POUNDS OF FRESH PRODUCE

Locally sourced fresh foods help reduce carbon footprint, support area farmers, and provide healthy options grown in school gardens and served in the cafeteria annually

Plan Summary

THE TIME FOR ACTION

Throughout Interlochen’s history, sustainability has been a major priority at Interlochen Center for the Arts. For decades, students have learned about healthy environmental practices in ecology classes at Arts Academy.

Our efforts have accelerated in recent years. Since receiving the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School Award in 2019, we have continued to make consistent strides to becoming a leader in sustainability. We believe that since we have been blessed with so many incredible natural resources, we have a responsibility to steward them well.

As Interlochen reaches its centennial in 2028, we will accomplish a host of vital climate action strategies, making a firm statement about who we are as an organization and setting the stage for lasting growth. Our efforts ensure that we support young artists in a sustainable way for years to come.

NATURE MEETS THE ARTS

At Interlochen, we recognize that there is a unique synergy between sustainability and the arts. On the back of Interlochen’s Kresge auditorium is inscribed this phrase, dating back to 1948: Dedicated to the Promotion of World Friendship through the Universal Language of the Arts. This statement reminds us that the power of the arts is our common humanity. When we listen to music that moves us, or watch a play that makes us rethink our lives, we remember what it is to be human—what we have in common with every other person in the world.

In a similar way, our commitment to sustainability serves to remind us that we all share the Earth as our home. We all depend on our ecosystem to provide habitat for us. Equipped with this deeper understanding, Interlochen’s students emerge with the passion to become changemakers. They use their artistic gifts to inspire positive action and create a better future for us all.

AMBITIOUS GOALS

With this vision in mind, we have developed a set of ambitious goals for Learning & Engagement, Sustainable Operations, and Buildings & Energy. We will accomplish these goals through strategies which range from revising Academy curriculum to conducting annual energy audits. This Climate Action Plan is meant to be a visual and factual aid to everyone in our community as we unite around our shared purpose.

Achieving these goals will require the dedicated effort of students, staff, faculty, and friends who share our commitment to sustainability. We invite our entire community to join us in our efforts, keep us accountable, and celebrate each success. Together, we will make our space between the lakes an enduring haven for the arts, marked by deep care for our community and a sense of gratitude and responsibility for our uniquely beautiful environment.

Goal 1: Student Engagement

Expand sustainability-related activities and learning opportunities for Interlochen students by 2028.

Climate Action Plan

LEARNING/ENGAGEMENT

Interlochen Center for the Arts is committed to stewarding the environment to the best of our ability. As we continue to act on that responsibility, we also commit ourselves to sharing this passion with others. In doing so, we ensure that our care for the environment doesn’t stop with us. As leaders and change makers in the sustainability field, we inspire our community—and the next generation—to see just how much we all depend on the natural world. Every positive action we take will create a better future for us all.

Strategy 1.1: Curriculum

Work with school leadership to create a top down approach to evaluating and revising curriculum to be more sustainability-inclusive.

Strategy 1.2: Student orientation

Add a sustainability component to student orientations that involves and features students.

Strategy 1.3: Peer education

Support student groups and programming initiatives that promote climate action and awareness.

Strategy 2.1: Professional Development

Goal 2: Campus Engagement

Increase awareness and education among adults in the Interlochen community about sustainability initiatives and achievements by 2028.

Goal 3: Public Engagement

Strategically expand and promote community relationships to advance sustainability work by 2028.

Interlochen will financially support and encourage internal and external sustainability-focused professional development opportunities.

Strategy 2.2: Communication

Increase the quantity and efficacy of sustainability-focused communications with the campus community.

Strategy 2.3: Employee Orientation

Expand the inclusion of sustainability content in employee orientations.

Strategy 3.1: Intra-campus coordination

Break down campus silos by using audits and outreach to create an open and comprehensive database of public engagement efforts and contacts in the Interlochen campus community.

Strategy 3.2: Located on campus

Facilitate and encourage relationships that bring external parties to the Interlochen campus to learn about successful initiatives and lessons learned.

Strategy 3.3: Located off campus

Conduct outreach and encourage relationships that allow members of the Interlochen campus community to visit organizations off campus that have knowledge or practices that would advance sustainability at Interlochen.

Community Impact

Community education classes

50% of hoop house produce donated to the local food pantry and Interlochen’s cafeteria

School outreach program

540+

Volunteer hours recorded in 2022

Goal 1: Land Management

Steward our land and our watershed with sustainable and ecologically conscious practices by 2028.

SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS

With an organization of Interlochen’s size, it’s important that we see all of our operations—the things we do on a daily basis to stay running— as opportunities to steward what’s been given to us. By 2028, we will ensure that our land use, transportation options, dining services, waste management, and purchasing all occur in a way that protects and preserves our environment. We support our artistic and cultural mission by making it sustainable for years to come.

Strategy 1.1: Management plan

Create a five-year watershed and land management plan that utilizes sustainability-first practices.

Strategy 1.2: Pollinator-friendly practices

Create a pollinator friendly plan as part of the five year watershed and land management plan.

Strategy 1.3: Native species

Institute a policy that requires the use of native species in new planting projects on campus to promote habitat and species conservation.

Strategy 2.1: No idling policy

Create a policy that restricts idling vehicles on campus for part of the year.

Strategy 2.2: Employee commute

Goal 2: Transportation

Support alternative transportation options through programming, purchasing, and infrastructure by 2028.

Create incentive programs for methods of low carbon commuting and example community partnerships with local transportation groups.

Strategy 2.3: Cycling culture

Promote a cycling culture and encourage fossil-free transportation options on campus through programming and infrastructure changes

Strategy 2.4: Electric Vehicles

Continue to research and consider phasing electric vehicles into the campus fleet when sensible.

Goal 3: Waste Management

Reduce discarded materials by 20% from a 2021 baseline and divert a minimum of 20% of materials from the landfill by 2028.

Strategy 3.1: Zero-waste plan

Create a long-range zero waste plan through an engaged stakeholder process.

Strategy 3.2: Data tracking

Work with Interlochen’s waste hauler to establish an effective and accurate method of tracking waste reduction and diversion rates.

Strategy 3.3: Recycling

Continue to make recycling more accessible on campus.

Strategy 3.4: Compost

Mandate pre- and post-consumer composting in all cafeterias and department spaces.

Strategy 4.1: Research

Research best practices in sustainable purchasing policies to aid in the drafting and enacting of the sustainable purchasing policy.

Strategy 4.2: Data tracking

Goal 4: Sustainable Purchasing

Track and report on sustainable practices in procurement processes and create a sustainable purchasing policy by 2028.

Goal 5: Food Sustainability

Purchase 50% of fresh produce and 20% of meat-based products from regional, organic, and/or ethically or sustainably certified sources by 2028.

Ask each department to track and report on purchases and uses of printed materials and single-use plastics.

Strategy 4.3: Paper purchasing

Reduce paper purchasing by 20% and create a sustainable paper purchasing policy.

Strategy 4.4: Paper printing

Reduce printing by 20% and create a sustainable printing policy

Strategy 5.1: Food waste

Create a dining services plan that supports sustainable food and beverage procurement.

Strategy 5.2: Sustainable food education

Empowering the community to understand the rationale behind the systemic change in the offered school diet.

Strategy 5.3: Zero waste dining

All catered dining events will promote and utilize zero waste dining via recycling, composting, and reusable dishware.

“One person or even a whole institution acting sustainably isn’t going to solve the problem. It’s going to take a lot of people who are on board with this idea. I think we can achieve that through educating people.”

BEN G., INTERLOCHEN ARTS ACADEMY STUDENT

Goal 1: Emissions Reductions

Reduce direct and indirect (Scope 1 and 2) greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2028 from a 2021 baseline.

BUILDINGS/ENERGY

Interlochen’s buildings are a visual and functional reminder of everything we stand for. As we continue to make room for our growing creative community, it’s important to consider the impact each of our buildings has on the environment. Creating guidelines for construction, electrical use, and emissions help ensure that Interlochen enters its centennial with the tools to last for another century.

Strategy 1.1: Efficiency

As inefficient, high use utilities are identified and tagged for replacement, replace them with more efficient new equipment.

Strategy 1.2: Consumer culture

Work with the ICA community to follow best practices when utilizing and conserving energy.

Strategy 1.3: Energy audit

Conduct annual energy audits to review energy use and goal monitoring for reductions.

Strategy 1.4: Data tracking

Implement and maintain GHG emissions data tracking and disclosure in the form of an annual report

Strategy 1.5: Electrification

Continue to pursue campus electrification and the purchase of regional produced green electricity.

Strategy 1.6: Funding support

Identify alternative local & state government grants and utility company incentives for GHG reductions and energy credits.

Strategy 1.7: Funding commitment

Define, propose, and commit to an Interlochen budget prioritization of the goal of reducing GHGs.

Strategy 1.8: Green revolving fund

Create a Green Revolving Fund for sustainable capital projects.

Strategy 2.1: Building design

Goal 2: Building Standards

Develop a building design philosophy by 2024 that centers around healthy and sustainable buildings and meets Interlochen’s goal to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

All new builds will follow suggested best practices in the industry to meet sustainable building operations and all renovations of old builds will upgrade with sustainable building practices.

Strategy 2.2: Electrification

New builds will utilize electrification and meet electric efficiency standards.

Strategy 2.3: Building guidelines

Draft internal guidelines/standards that will be reviewed at the outset of every new build or renovation project to guide the project and ensure GHG reduction goals are met.

“Interlochen sustainability serves as an example of a large voice in the local community doing what it believes is best. Interlochen sustainability engages aspects of the local community that were not accessible before. It also exposes students to vital concepts that will shape their perspectives for lifestimes to come.”

DYLAN

KULIK, ASSISTANT SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTOR AND FARM MANAGER AT INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS

“I want my children to grow up in a world where they care about the environment and what’s going on around them. I want them to be connected to the earth, and I want the unity of the earth to be preserved for them and for the future generations.”

EMILY UMBARGER, DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABILITY AT INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS