Since July Echo has been following “The Greening of Flint” a project by Michigan State University faculty and students. The project follows Flint, Mich. – a city abandoned by an automobile industry – as it attempts to revitalize itself through sustainable and green programs.
A screening of the project’s 8-minute film, “The Kings of Flint” will be shown at the Flint Film Festival this Saturday, Oct. 16th from 1 to 3 pm.
This film will also be shown at the MSU Journalism School Centennial Saturday, Oct. 23rd.

It’s time for the first two competitors in the Great Lakes SmackDown! to flex their mussels: The zebra mussel vs. the quagga mussel.

A group of Michigan natives have created an innovative way to help empower people with knowledge about where their local food comes from. Realtimefarms.com provides a way for individuals to find locally sourced food items using a variety of maps.

The latest round of Department of Agriculture (MDA) grants will promote new cost-effective ways to manage wastewater from food processing — a rising concern in growing specialty crops.
The grants to companies in Frankfort and Grand Haven and to Michigan State University are part of a larger initiative to enhance the state’s agriculture industry, including food processing.

Don’t forget about Echo’s new series: Great Lakes SmackDown!
We’ve chosen eight formidable invasive species to compete against each other over the next few weeks.
And we want you to help us to decide which one is the ecologically most destructive to the lakes.
We’re still accepting brackets until next Friday, Oct. 15th. You can find one here.
Competitors will be sized up and introduced starting Tuesday, Oct. 12th. Don’t forget to debate and vote for your picks!

By Alice Rossignol and Rachael Gleason
Welcome to the Great Lakes SmackDown!
Which invasive species is the most ecologically destructive to the Great Lakes? We pitted eight of the region’s most formidable aquatic invasive species against each other in “lake fights” in true March Madness form.
We asked biologists, resource managers, invasive species experts and Echo readers to weigh in on each battle. Follow the links below to see how the contenders fared in three rounds of lake fights. Check out each battle’s “discussion” to see our reasoning behind each winner.
Updates:

Echo launched the …

Last week Echo reported that a new event, “Recycle Rama,” recycled thousands of pounds of material in Michigan’s Ingham County.
David Smith, an environmental specialist with the city of East Lansing, let us know the event’s finals counts excluding things like mercury thermostats, CFL light bulbs and fluorescent tubes that haven’t yet been weighed.
Items recycled (in pounds):
Electronic waste: 78,000
Scrap metal: 5,000
Appliances: 16,700
Bikes: 1,400
Books: 9,400
Miscellaneous re-sale items: 4,200
Clothing: 2,500
Shoes: 1,000
Air conditioners: 2,280
Dehumidifiers: 3,780
Unwanted medications: 548
Cooking oil: 414
Miscellaneous recyclables (mainly cardboard): 440
Holiday lights: 550
That’s 126,212 pounds (about 63 tons) of materials total.
That’s about …

Michigan environmental groups say the Senate has unjustifiably delayed a bill to ban a chemical linked to brain damage among breast-fed children.

New research shows increasing concentrations of flame retardants in women’s breast milk in the Great Lakes basin.

Studies show the chemical can harm human health and is finding its way into soil, water and wildlife in Michigan.

“The glaciers made you, and now you’re mine” is a song lyric from a Canadian folk rock band called the Great Lakes Swimmers. The song — “Your Rocky Spine” — is a metaphoric love poem about the region.
The words perfectly capture the affinity I now feel for Lake Michigan.
A wilderness writing course brought me face to face with a Great Lake for the first time in my life last weekend. We camped at Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area in Manistee, Mich.
Despite the cold, rainy weather, this native Texan had the …

When, a coalition of public health and environmental organizations recently had 50 canned food and beverages analyzed, they discovered what they believe to be the highest levels of Bisphenol A ever found in the United States. And the sample responsible for setting this record came from a home pantry in Wisconsin.
The can of DelMonte French Style Green Beans contained 1,140 parts per billion of BPA, a chemical often used in plastic baby bottles, water bottles, printer inks, receipt paper and as a lining inside cans.