You might remember the “Seinfeld” episode in which George Costanza offers an optimistic take on horse manure while walking with a woman through New York’s Central Park. His date is unimpressed and shuts down the relationship, but the funny thing is that George was right: It was around the same time when the episode aired back in the 1990s that Mackinac Island began turning horse poop into compost.
Three decades later, workers still scoop ploppings off the streets and mix them into piles of organic waste, which break down into fertile topsoil that’s used in many of the beautiful flower gardens all over Mackinac Island.
Sustainability on Mackinac Island
Many people know that Mackinac Island is car-free. So, as soon as you step off the ferry, you can tell that the USA’s Best Summer Travel Destination has a smaller carbon footprint than the typical vacation hot spot.
What many people don’t know, however, is that a car-free culture is just one of many ways that Mackinac Island supports sustainable tourism. The lack of cars means there are lots of horses moving people and products around, and we’ve already looked at how the manure from some 600 horses in peak season creates a literal ton of eco-friendly compost.
Yet, horse poop isn’t the only ingredient. Did you know that a slop wagon goes from one restaurant to the next at Mackinac Island’s Mission Point Resort, collecting food waste from the kitchens for delivery to the city’s compost piles? The resort then buys back compost for use in the property’s many gardens. It’s a full-circle, zero-waste cycle.
Recycling on Mackinac Island
Aside from keeping food waste and horse manure out of the garbage, Mackinac Island also operates an extensive recycling program. That’s because around the time of George Constanza’s verbal gaffe on “Seinfeld,” Mackinac Island’s landfill closed. That meant that all solid waste had to be transported to the mainland, and that can get pretty expensive.
To limit the cost, Mackinac Island unveiled sustainable waste-handling options including composting and recycling. Mackinac Island’s 500-some year-round residents can pay $4.50 per trash bag or $2 per green compost bag. The price difference incentivizes people to set aside food scraps and paper products for composting.
As for the horse poop, 40 to 60 yards of it get taken to the city’s compost piles each summer day. In turn, residents and businesses can buy the compost for $10 per yard – much less than the cost of shipping in topsoil from the mainland.
All of it together contributes to Mackinac Island being named the most eco-friendly travel destination in Michigan.
More Aspects of Green Travel on Mackinac Island
Farm-to-ferry dining and sustainability-certified places to stay are more ways that Mackinac Island offers a green travel experience. For example, Grand Hotel is piloting the OZZI system in its employee cafeteria to eliminate disposable products and replace them with 100% reusable items. Mission Point Resort also is cutting down on single-use plastics by using packaging made from biodegradable materials, such as compostable coffee pods, and by switching to glassware in guest rooms.
Of course, new initiatives are just the latest examples of the sustainability ethic that encompasses all of Mackinac Island. The very nature of the place breeds a green way of life that prioritizes a clip-clop pace with walking, bicycling and horse-drawn carriages. Mackinac Island is the epitome of “slow travel” and the many benefits – both environmental and personal – that come from that kind of vacation.
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