Month in Review: Icy waters and carp fatigue

At the end of each month, Current State  check in with Great Lakes commentator and journalist Gary Wilson for updates on environmental stories from around the basin. For this Great Lakes Month in Review, Gary focuses on ice cover and Asian carp fatigue. Wilson last spoke with Current State after the Army Corps’ study on Asian carp in the Great Lakes was released. Wilson says that carp fatigue has set in, meaning that Asian carp reports are in the news so frequently that people tend to tune it out. Great Lakes Month in Review: Ice cover, Asian carp and Federal funding by Great Lakes Echo

Big Ten’s Eco Efforts: Purdue University

In the spirit of our “Green Gridirons” series (but just in case college football wasn’t your thing), the “Big Ten’s Eco Efforts” series highlights creative off-the-field sustainability efforts. In order to create a “living building,” Purdue University needed a small building with an apartment and classroom for an ecologist-in-residence. They wanted to build it to the standards of the Living Building Challenge, said Michael Gulich, director of sustainability at the school. The Living Building Challenge requires 20 prerequisites for certification, said Gulich. The requirements include net zero energy, which means producing as much energy as it consumes; net zero water, which requires a person’s water use to only come from collected precipitation or reused, purified water; an area for agriculture and an education component explaining how the site was built and how it functions.

Seven of the snowiest campuses in the nation, right here in the Great Lakes basin

 

Seven of the 10 snowiest college campuses across the nation are in the Great Lakes states, according to a list recently released by Accuweather. Blame that lake effect for making winters in our parts exceptionally snowy. As cold air gusts across the lakes, it meets the warm air rising off the water, creating lots of snow by the time the mixture hits the shore. Campuses in the region hold the top five and the eighth and ninth slots on Accuweather’s list. They even beat out the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Clean, Green Breweries: Great Lakes Brewing Co.

The abundant freshwater of the Great Lakes region is increasingly used for craft beer brewing. Breweries compete for customers with an eclectic array of beers and a raft of sustainable efforts. Some companies recycle used grain, others use recycled packaging. Some run delivery trucks on vegetable oil or harness wind and solar power. Some even donate proceeds to watershed projects.