Holden Forests and Gardens

What unique situations and initiatives have you undertaken or do you plan to undertake to address climate change that were not captured in our initial survey?

Holden Forests and Gardens consists of two campuses, the urban Cleveland Botanical Garden and the exurban Holden Arboretum. The Holden Arboretum has 3,000 acres of natural areas including 2000 acres of forest. Our working woods project seeks to demonstrate sustainable forest management whereby land owners may obtain income while managing their land to increase biodiversity and mitigate climate change (e.g. increasing tree growth rates, keeping woody debris within the forest). This project couples research with educational outreach while allowing us to increase our own forests ability to sequester carbon.

What are the most pressing problems or opportunities in your community that can be leveraged to address climate change?

One pressing problem centers on the potential increase in temperatures within urban areas, and the enhancement of the “heat island effect” with climate change. As an advocate for tree planting within urban and built environments, our work can increase resilience to climate change within our communities.

What unique features of your garden can be leveraged to address climate change?

As noted above, Holden’s extensive natural areas act as both a laboratory and a method by which Holden can learn, educate and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Teach facts and best practices to mitigate and reduce global climate change.

In FY23, our primary focus was on establishing recycling programs at both campuses. These campuses are now equipped to recycle everyday items, including glass. Composting initiatives have also seen significant growth with the introduction of the new composting area at ARB. We are actively exploring the potential for implementing food composting at ARB in collaboration with Rust Belt Riders.

In FY23, we identified Green Corps Interns as a key audience for climate education, equipping them with factual knowledge and practical strategies to reduce environmental impact. Interns applied this learning through hands-on sustainability actions, including ink-recycling initiatives that modeled waste-reduction best practices. Building on this approach in FY24, we hired a dedicated Green Corps intern to lead a food waste reduction initiative, focused on educating school groups about the climate impacts of food waste and implementing best practices to reduce lunch waste sent to landfills. Together, these efforts positioned interns as informed climate stewards who actively apply and share solutions that mitigate global climate change.

Additionally, to achieve this goal, we initially attempted to arrange a multi-day workshop for educators focused on climate change. Regrettably, the workshop was canceled due to low registration. Nevertheless, we adopted a new approach. In collaboration, our Education and Research departments hired a Teacher-in-Residence in the summer of FY24. This Teacher in Residence developed teacher-led lessons and educational materials on climate change and its mitigation. Lessons and other resources are available on our website for educators to download.

Eliminate all single-use plastic in food service, horticulture, gift shops, and all other facilities and operations.

We devoted significant efforts to pursue this objective, recognizing that eliminating single-use plastics may not always be feasible without viable alternatives. We have successfully addressed single-use options in both campuses’ food services by transitioning vending machines and water offerings to cans or self-serve stations. Our Horticulture department is actively experimenting with non-plastic alternatives for pots and other single-use plastic products. Moreover, our gift shops are switching suppliers to favor non-plastic packaging materials. In all other facets of our departments and operations, we diligently seek alternatives to single-use plastics wherever practical.

In addition, in FY24, the Sustainability Committee launched the Employee Single-Use Plastic Challenge to engage staff in reducing or eliminating single-use plastics across departments, events, projects, and programs at Holden Forests & Gardens. Through team-based planning and implementation, the challenge increased organizational awareness of the impacts of single-use plastic and prompted departments to more intentionally evaluate and adjust everyday practices. Results emphasized reduced reliance on disposable plastics, cross-team learning, and increased adoption of alternative practices, reinforcing a culture of mindful consumption and collective climate action.