Echo

Study warns of hybrid invasive weeds

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Native weeds are bad enough. Invasive weeds are worse, and invasive hybrid weeds are things of nightmares. As if single invasive species of plants weren’t powerful enough on their own, a recent article from Michigan Farm News makes us aware of the fact that we may need  to worry about invasive hybrids. According to the article, hybrid invasive weeds are two species that breed to create a particularly powerful force that can be even more improbable to get rid of. The article cites a study published in the Invasive Plant Science and Management Journal that focuses specifically on Japanese knotweed and giant knotweed, two invasives prevalent throughout the Great Lakes region.

Today is World Toilet Day. No, we aren’t kidding.

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Today is World Toilet Day. No, we didn’t make it up to have something new on the site this morning. In fact, it is an annual celebration of toilets, happening across the world every year. We have all prayed to the porcelain god once and make a daily trip to the throne, but most of us have done so without much thought or appreciation to the fixture. And that’s where World Toilet Day comes in.

Wildlife

Endangered species protection is proposed for two freshwater mussels

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Two funny-named species of freshwater mussels currently found in rivers of the Great Lake states were recently proposed for Endangered Species Act protection.

The rayed bean and snuffbox mussels were recently proposed to be listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Chemical contaminants, sedimentation, nonpoint source pollution and mining are threats to their habitat’s water quality, according to the service.

Echo

Today is America Recycles Day

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Today is America Recycles Day, and the Great Lakes region is celebrating. This is the 11th year of the day and exists to promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling. Use this website to find celebratory events happening across the U.S. When I entered the code for East Lansing, Michigan (the home of Great Lakes Echo), several events came up. For instance, in Ann Arbor, Mich., University of Michigan Recycling will host a tour of the facility for faculty, students and staff. The Kellogg Corporate Headquarters in Battle Creek, Mich.

Echo

City Harvest site offers place to post Great Lakes urban agriculture projects

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I ran across a website recent that I thought that the many people involved in urban agriculture in the Great Lake states might be interesting in contributing to. City Harvest is a site where people from across the world can collaborate on and document news, publications and projects related to urban agriculture. While the site was created in the UK, it welcomes submissions from across the world. A person who knows of an urban agriculture project can add a project and information to the site. Some people in the United States have already caught on and there are projects in California, New York and Boston.

VIDEO: Today marks 35th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck

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Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the most famous shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. In 1975, the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk to the bottom of Lake Superior after being caught in an intense storm. Twenty-nine people died in the wreck. To this day, the United States Coast Guard has not figured out why exactly the ship sank, but there were rumors that the crew had not fastened the hatches correctly. Many people believe that it wasn’t because of the rough weather.

Report finds health disparities among races in Twin Cities

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A recent report found significant health disparities between races in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Mortality rates are 3.5 times higher for American Indians and 3 times higher for African-Americans than for Caucasians, according to the report by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of Minnesota. The report links the environments of communities to the health of the people living in them. 

David Wallinga, director of the Food and Health Program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, said that pollution and access to healthy food would put more people at risk for illnesses and thus increases mortality rates. “These neighborhoods generally are lower income and more populated by people of color,” said Wallinga. The average life expectancy in the Twin Cities is 81 years for Caucasians, 83 years for Asians, 74 years for African Americans and only 61 years for American Indians.

VIDEO: Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs Features Great Lakes Invasive Species

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Invasive species issues have been achieving publicity lately with the help of Mike Rowe, the host of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. The show profiles the lives of workers around the United States who have particularly “dirty” occupations. For example, host Mike Rowe has worked as a bologna maker, a maple syrup maker and a diaper cleaner. And tomorrow, he will show the public how taking care of invasive species in the Great Lakes can also be a dirty job. In the 34th episode of this season, Rowe acts as a Sea Lamprey Exterminator in Michigan.

Echo

CDC: Adults not eating fruits and veggies

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Eating fruits and vegetables prevents heart disease and obesity. But that may not be enough to prompt Americans to eat them. In 2009, only a third of adults ate two servings of fruit a day, according to a recent report. Only 26 percent of adults ate vegetables three or more times a day.