CONSERVATION
PRACTICES
Nature
Camp has always defined itself as a camp that emphasizes conservation.
Although we seek to fulfill our mission to inspire environmental
awareness and responsible citizenship by cultivating an interest
in nature rather than preaching rhetoric of environmental
destruction, we also recognize the importance of engaging
in practices which are consistent with this mission and which
limit our consumption of natural resources and minimize our
impact on the earth.
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Recycling
- We recycle glass and plastic bottles, aluminum and steel
cans, cardboard, and mixed paper. Recycling bins are conveniently
located around camp, and campers gather recyclable materials
every evening and consolidate them in large containers
behind the kitchen. Several times a session these materials
are transported to a local recycling center.
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Recycled
paper products - Nature Camp also uses napkins,
paper towels, bathroom tissue and office paper made from
recycled paper with as high a post-consumer waste content
as possible (80-100%). This means that the paper is made
from material that has already been used at least once,
rather than made simply from scrap wood and pulp discarded
from the process of making virgin paper. Recycled paper
uses less water to produce, reduces water and air pollution,
and conserves forests. In addition we use paper napkins
and towels made from paper that is unbleached or bleached
with hydrogen peroxide rather than chlorine, which allows
this paper to be composted. Chlorine bleaching produces
dioxin, a dangerous carcinogen.
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Composting
- Since the late 1990's Nature Camp has composted food
scraps (excluding meat and dairy products) from the kitchen.
In 2005 we expanded our composting efforts to include
appropriate foods left over after meals. This food waste
is combined daily with wood chips or leaves to create
the proper balance of materials high in carbon and nitrogen,
to promote decomposition, and to minimize odors. The compost
that is generated is periodically spread on the camp grounds,
and plans eventually call for its use to enrich garden
beds in which produce for the Nature Camp kitchen is grown,
thus completing the cycle of production, waste, composting,
and fertilization.
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Energy-efficient
light bulbs - Most buildings at Nature Camp are
equipped with light fixtures that use compact fluorescent
bulbs. These bulbs produce similarly bright light but
consume two-thirds less energy than and last up to ten
times as long as equivalent incandescent bulbs. If every
American home replaced one incandescent bulb with a compact
fluorescent bulb, the reduction in pollution would be
equivalent to removing one million cars from the road.
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Water
conservation - Although a deep well provides an
adequate supply of water, campers are encouraged to conserve
water by limiting the duration of showers and turning
off the water while lathering and while brushing teeth.
Showers are equipped with low-flow heads, and toilet tanks
contain bottles or other water displacement devices to
reduce water consumption.
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Support
of local and organic food producers and suppliers
- In coming years we hope to purchase some portion of
the food for the kitchen (chiefly meat and fresh produce)
from local and organic farmers. Organic farming employs
land use practices that work in harmony with nature; conserve
topsoil, water, and heirloom varieties of plants; rely
on natural rather than synthetic fertilizers and pesticides;
and eschew genetically modified organisms. |
At
the beginning and end of each session, campers recite the
Conservation Pledge which hangs above the mantel in the Lillian
Schilling Building. This pledge was written by writer Ben
East after a meeting of conservationists in 1937 that led
to the formation of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs.
Widely adopted by scores of other organizations, the Conservation
Pledge reads
I
give my pledge as an American to save and faithfully to
defend from waste the natural resources of my country: its
air, soil and minerals, its forests, waters and wildlife.
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