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Reaching Sustainability
In an effort to reduce her carbon footprint, Lansing resident Kiirsten Olson uses worm composting bins to efficiently dispose of her garbage.

Wanting to better the process and learn what she might not have been doing properly, Olson attended a worm composting workshop Tuesday at Michigan Energy Options, 405 Grove St., a nonprofit organization focused on helping people live more energy efficiently.

At the workshop, outreach and education manager Becky Jo Farrington and programs assistant Marissa Stern educated people about the process of red worms serving as decomposers and taught the group how to make a composting bin.

Like Olson, many people who attend the workshops — held at various times during the year — already have composting bins, but they want to confirm the best and most efficient method of composting.

“I have done worm composting already, and I do a lot of worm composting because I want to reduce my footprint and make sure I have as little trash as possible,” Olson said. “I think there’s no sense in sending it to a landfill if I can take care of it myself.”
kmp_fea_worms2_062811 Photo: Becky Jo Farrington, ...
kmp_fea_worms3_062811 Photo: Lansing residents ...
worms_sn_video Video: Worms

With many local and statewide programs — especially with an additional office in Marquette, Mich. — Michigan Energy Options, or MEO, is driven toward education and providing assistance to those who want to live more efficient lives.

In addition to the composting workshop, MEO reaches out to children. Working with the city of Lansing, the nonprofit goes to elementary schools and teaches children how to build composting bins.

“It gets kids excited about recycling garbage,” said Stern, a recent MSU graduate. “They already know how to recycle, reuse and reduce — that they get taught when they’re very young, … and it has an impact on them when they go home as well.”

Reaching out
Started in East Lansing 33 years ago, the goal of MEO — previously known as Urban Options — is to share the benefits of energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainability and provide people with the means to implement necessary changes in their lives, executive director Dr. John A. Kinch said.

“If people begin to see the benefits of conserving energy both to their wallets and also the larger benefits to society, such as reducing climate change, they’re going to buy into it and become more of a lifelong practitioner of energy efficiency,” Kinch said.

Working with Lansing Board of Water and Light, a current MEO program is working with households struggling to pay utility bills. The free program helps people change their behavior — at little to no cost to their homes — to lower their utility bills.

Another program, in cooperation with the city of Lansing, is the energy fitness program for low-income homeowners or renters who live within the city limits.

Also a free program, Lansing has provided funding since 1989 for MEO to do home energy audits to identify areas where people could be more energy efficient and provide them with the tools to make the changes and save money.

“It’s an educational experience because we go in there and teach people how to (make energy changes) themselves as well as provide $100-worth weatherization kits they can use,” Stern said.

For people who do not qualify for the free audits, MEO still provides inexpensive audits for different income levels.

Although Lansing subsidizes MEO’s efforts, the city of East Lansing has not provided funding in more than 30 years, Farrington said.

Because of this, MEO provides the same services but for a fee to East Lansing residents, such as MSU alumnus Michael Belligan.

Following the audit through Belligan’s house, MEO provided him with a weatherization kit and demonstrations for how to apply the tools that were not self-explanatory. Since his audit in December 2010, he said he’s seen improvements with his utility bills.

“The most beneficial thing was they came through with the thermal camera and showed us parts of the house where there might be missing insulation or where we could use more,” Belligan said.