WEST MICHIGAN — During our National Recycling Week Series, FOX 17 took a look at local organizations that are making strides towards reducing, reusing, and recycling. Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, a West Michigan staple, has been aiming towards reducing waste since the very beginning.
One thing that Fred Meijer always said was that he hoped to leave the world in a little better shape than when he entered it. That legacy rings true with every choice made at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.
Peter Crawford, the Vice President of Architecture, Environment, and Technology, has a large role in reducing waste at their facility. "We believe we have a critical role in leading by example," said Crawford. Their organization makes a conscious effort to divert waste from landfills by providing appropriate sorting receptacles across their 158 acre campus.
"The staff makes choices with the environment in mind, starting with their horticulture team. "When turning over beds, pruning, and changing out material, they gather all the green waste and stockpile it back at house," said Crawford. "Then is goes off site for compost processing."
That intentional mindset of reusing and reducing trickles down to their other teams. In addition to reusing materials and reducing waste in their gardens, their sculpture team also salvages and reuses sculpture bases for new installs.
Crawford shared one of their recent examples with current office staff. "We removed trash cans from individual workstations," said Crawford. "What this does is promote folks to be more intentional with their sorting.”
This simple change alleviates a lot of labor from the custodial staff, and prompts people to interact with their colleagues.
This past summer, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park took an even bigger leap. Their goal was to host a zero waste event for their final concert of the summer.
“For our September 15 concert, we took all of our trash cans away," said Crawford. "We asked guests to bring reusable containers, and if they had trash to pack it in and pack it out." They had compost and recycle bins for the guests to empty their unwanted materials in. The feedback ended up being overwhelmingly positive from guests, and they hope to do more in the future.
From the recyclable materials in their cafe to providing all visitors the chance to recycle, their goal is to reduce waste and help West Michigan communities along the way.
“We recently also had a very cool opportunity to partner with Grand Rapids Public Schools for our office renovation projects," shared Crawford. "We had a significant amount of lightly used office furniture, and our friends at GRPS had a real need on the administrative side to not have to go out and purchase new.”
It was a "win, win" for both local organizations.
“It's important that we all grow together and take on these challenges. We will continue to pilot new efforts like zero waste," said Crawford. "Having everyone kind of wrap their arms around it, embrace change... for the, for the greater good.”
The next time you visit Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, you'll be able to enjoy the scenery or a concert, and leave knowing that you're helping the planet along the way.
