Students at Michigan State and Wisconsin win EPA funding for environmental health innovations
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By Isabella Figueroa
Student researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin are among the winners of an Environmental Protection Agency contest for innovations in sustainability. Muhammad Rabnawaz, an associate professor of packaging at Michigan State, brainstorms with his team
The EPA established the People, Prosperity and the Planet Student Design Competition to support teams of undergraduate and graduate students working to develop solutions to environmental and public health challenges. The latest round of grants, announced in September, provided around $100,000 each for teams that previously received up to $25,000 from the agency for promising projects. Michigan State’s team is working to create more sustainable materials for disposable cups, takeout containers and other single-use items. Today many of those products are made with microplastics and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” due to their extremely slow breakdown in the environment.
Land
Lawmakers plan bills to protect Michigan sand dunes
Red highlighted areas on this map indicate Michigan townships that contain critical dunes. Image: Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and EnergyBy Clara Lincolnhol
Michigan’s towering freshwater sand dunes make up a one-of-a-kind natural resource and the largest collection of freshwater dunes on the planet. But environmentalists say the state’s legal protections are vague and leave the beloved dunes—and homes nestled among them—vulnerable to shortsighted development.
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Industry opposition, partisan politics slow polluter-pay bills
By Elinor Epperson
Capital News Service
It’s been one year since Michigan Democrats introduced legislation that would significantly change the state’s environmental regulations. But those bills are stuck in committee. Election distractions, negotiation, and a slim Democratic majority in the state House have kept a suite of polluter-pay bills in limbo, according to environmental advocates and one of the sponsors.
Land
Efforts to bridge digital divide expand in Michigan’s rural areas
By Donté Smith
Capital News Service
The digital divide remains a pressing issue for Michigan’s rural communities, where broadband access lags due to challenging geography and limited infrastructure. Jason Hamel, the operations manager and product assembler for Hower Tree Baler Corp. in Merritt, says current dial-up connection speeds in the area “aren’t worth it.”
“It was much faster to sit by a window to try and pull something up on our phone than it was to use our dial-up connection,” said Hamel.