Great Lakes Echo (http://greatlakesecho.org/tag/echo/page/7/)
In some states, the Department of Natural Resources offers an annual seed collection program. Anyone with a dry container can collect pine cones and seeds from trees and redeem them at listed nurseries for cash. The program is available in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Requirements for collection vary by state and species, but all seeds must be collected from trees of natural origin, not planted.
The Michigan Public Transit Association has launched an information advocacy campaign to fill hiring needs and increase ridership. The advocacy initiative includes television, radio, billboard and social media campaigns and is expected to continue into May.
In the Great Lakes region there are community fridges in such major cities as Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Cleveland and Toronto. Community fridges are working fridges, usually connected to an organization, that provide free food to passersby. The concept is to take what you need and bring what you can.
Michigan’s top five safest small cities are all in Oakland County, according to a recent national study. Safety was calculated by factoring in the violent-crime rate, property-crime rate and motor vehicle crash deaths per capita.
Flint ranked the worst for economic health in Michigan small cities in a recent report by WalletHub, a personal finance organization that tracks financial and other trends. To evaluate economic health, the study looked at population, job and income growth, along with the unemployment rate.
Holland, Michigan ranks number one in the state for quality of life in “Best Small Cities in America,” a study published by WalletHub, a personal finance website that tracks financial and other trends. It is one of five measures the study used to rank the desirability of small cities. Quality of life was assessed by measures like average commute time, city walkability and number of bars, restaurants and cultural centers per capita.
Small cities across the nation are filling up, according to a national study by WalletHub, a personal finance organization. In Michigan this growth affects small rural communities like Holt, about eight miles south of Lansing, and mid-sized cities that lay just outside of Michigan’s metropolises, like Southfield near Detroit.
Michigan’s energy consumption dropped 5% in 2020 which is 1% more than the national average.
Barefoot hiker wins the 2019 Life on Lake Erie Photo Contest.
A university researcher is tracking balloon litter in the Great Lakes region to spread awareness of how it harms the environment.