The Michigan Green Communities (MGC) program is recognizing 48 counties, cities, townships, and villages that took part in the annual MGC Challenge for their environmental leadership. These communities logged the actions they took through 2022 related to energy efficiency, climate adaptation and resilience, recycling, environmental justice, and more. Nine communities received bronze certification, fourteen received silver certification, and twenty-five received gold certification.

 

“Michigan communities are leading the charge to ensure that all Michiganders live in clean, safe, and healthy environments,” EGLE Assistant Division Director for the Materials Management Division Julie Staveland said. “The Michigan Green Communities program amplifies and accelerates their progress in improving air and water quality, adopting clean energy, building the circular economy and becoming more resilient in the face of climate change.”

 

The 48 communities and their certification levels are as follows:

Bronze

 

Bay City

City of Grandville

City of Madison Heights

City of Plymouth

City of St. Joseph

Marquette County

Monroe County

Saugatuck Township

Village of Mackinaw City

Silver

 

City of Birmingham

City of Clare

City of Fennville

City of Grosse Pointe Park

City of Kalamazoo

City of Livonia

City of Sterling Heights

City of Westland

Eaton County

Ingham County

Oakland County

Village of Milford

West Bloomfield Charter Township

Williamstown Township

Gold

 

Charter Township of Canton

City of Ann Arbor

City of Battle Creek

City of Berkley

City of Detroit

City of East Grand Rapids

City of East Lansing

City of Ferndale

City of Grand Blanc

City of Grand Haven

City of Grand Rapids

City of Holland

City of Lansing

City of Marquette

City of Novi

City of Petoskey

City of Portage

City of Rockford

City of Royal Oak

City of Ypsilanti

Delhi Charter Township

Meridian Charter Township

Orion Charter Township

Pittsfield Charter Township

Traverse City

This year, the MGC program added metrics to the Challenge for communities to track their success in reducing water use and greenhouse gas emissions, adopting renewable energy and electric vehicles, and more. Twelve communities completed the metrics and are listed below.

– City of Ann Arbor

– City of Battle Creek

– City of Birmingham

– City of Ferndale

– City of Grand Haven

– City of Grand Rapids

– City of Petoskey

– City of Portage

– City of Rockford

– Pittsfield Charter Township

– Traverse City

– Village of Mackinaw City

 

Some highlights from the metrics include:

– Battle Creek reduced municipal water use by over 14% from 2021 to 2022

– 208 publicly accessible EV charging stations among the twelve communities

– 44.4% of Grand Rapids’ energy for municipal operations was supplied by renewable sources in 2022

– 14 cooling centers/resilience hubs were reported among four of the communities

– Over 53% of the area of the Village of Mackinaw City is covered by tree canopy

 

Michigan Green Communities is a network of local government staff and officials that is designed to:

– Promote and facilitate peer learning and sharing to support innovative solutions for community sustainability and livability.

– Recognize communities for their sustainability accomplishments.

– Promote Michigan’s leadership role in environmental stewardship and green economic development.

– Enhance Michigan’s economic competitiveness in the 21st century global green economy.

– Develop and share world-class models that will reduce costs and increase business activity in our communities and stimulate world-class research, development and commercialization of breakthrough green technologies, products, and processes.

 

The Michigan Green Communities (MGC) program is open to all local governments in Michigan, at no cost. MGC is a sustainability networking, benchmarking, and technical assistance program. It guides and supports municipalities and counties in adapting to a changing climate, protecting infrastructure, improving the quality of life for residents, and creating a more environmentally and economically sustainable future for the state of Michigan.

 

In January 2023, the MGC program, funded by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), launched the Accelerator Cohort, a free networking and technical assistance program for Bronze- and Silver-certified MGC communities. This cohort helps municipalities and counties accelerate their progress in embedding environmental sustainability in their operations, practices, and policies and move toward Gold-level MGC Challenge certification.

 

The Accelerator Cohort will first address green infrastructure – features such as green or vegetated roofs and walls, stormwater infrastructure, rain gardens, permeable pavements and surfaces, cisterns, rainwater collection and reuse, native landscaping, and more. Through hands-on exercises with subject matter experts from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), Lawrence Technological University, and other partners, the cohort will identify relevant green infrastructure solutions and zoning reforms needed to enact those solutions. Once communities complete this green infrastructure module, they will identify another sustainability subject to address as a group. Funding for this technical assistance component of the MGC program comes from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

 

Michigan Green Communities is supported by EGLE, MEDC, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan Association of Counties, the Michigan Municipal League, and the Michigan Townships Association.