Echo

The vanishing dark night and its health consequences

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By Matthew Cimitile, cimitile@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo

As the world gears up to turn off its lights for Earth Hour Saturday, researchers and stargazers suggest a need to reduce excessive light pollution permanently. In the industrialized world, dark skies pierced with radiant starlight are increasingly rare. Starlight that guided earlier humans down from the trees and through the wilderness and uncharted waters to every corner of the planet has rapidly vanished. That leaves a dimmer view that some researchers say may cause health problems from breast cancer to insomnia. But stargazers, astronomers, conservation experts and health advocates are attempting to regain the night sky to ignite wonder, save energy and protect health.

Echo

For Grand Rapids, sustainability is just smart business

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By Matthew Cimitile, cimitile@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
GRAND RAPIDS – From the highway, Grand Rapids, Mich. looks like any American city. Skyscraper shadows darken city blocks during the day. Streetlights, cars and the nightlife animate the city after sunset. But in Grand Rapids, businesses and government are investing in alternative technologies while incorporating sustainable practices to save money, earn profits and develop a struggling state economy.

Echo

Valuing the Environment

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By Matthew Cimitile, cimitile@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
EAST LANSING – There are economic, environmental and social benefits in sustainably managing governments and businesses. There are also costs for not doing so. The field of ecological economics studies the costs and benefits of the interaction between the human and the natural world. Daniel Kramer is an assistant professor at Michigan State University with joint appointments in Fisheries and Wildlife and James Madison College. His research details the human side of conservation biology; the interaction between humans and nature as it pertains to conserving biodiversity.

Echo

Michigan toxic numbers unscrubbed

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The “new” Environmental Protection Agency under Lisa Jackson has released a toxic tally of releases to air, land and water in Michigan and the rest of the United States. Folks here care about this stuff because the region relies on the Great Lakes for fishing, recreation, drinking water, you name it. It’s part of our identity.And if you’ve ever stood and looked out into the expanse of Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie or Superior, it just cheers you up. The latest numbers aren’t as cheery. The TRI (Toxic Release Inventory) data show an overall decrease of 5 percent in releases from 2006 to 2007.

Echo

VIDEO: Shine on, shine on capitol lights?

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By Amanda Peterka
Great Lakes Echo

LANSING – The lights usually dim at 6 p.m. in Michigan’s Capitol. The schedule is meant to reduce energy use in Lansing’s historic centerpiece. But when lawmakers are trying to pinch the state’s pennies late into the night during budget crises, lights glow long into the night, wasting energy and the very dollars that the Legislature is trying to save. “The last budget crunch — for a week straight — the lighting wasn’t reduced at all until 1 a.m.,” said Steve Benkovsky, the Capitol’s operations manager who oversees the building’s energy use. Spotlights and incandescent bulbs keep the chambers glowing warmly through the night – to mimic the Capitol’s original gas-lit rooms.

But maintaining appearances is costly.

Echo

Discarded computers pose recycling risks

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By Andrew McGlashen
Great Lakes Echo

Most college students don’t think about lead or mercury when they sit down at a computer. But in 2007, Michigan State University chucked more than 140,000 pounds — that’s about 50 Volkswagen Beetles —of used electronics. Among the heaps of computers, printers and other unwanted machines were some 1,405 monitors containing, by a conservative estimate, 5,560 pounds of toxic lead that can seriously damage the nervous system, especially in children. The electronics students use each day contain these and other toxic substances known to harm human health, and they have to go somewhere when their universities upgrades to the latest technology. Environmental activists and government officials say much of the so-called e-waste is frequently and illegally exported to developing countries, where it’s often handled improperly, posing serious health risks and degrading the environment.

Echo

Great Lakes fishermen less contaminated than a decade ago

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Anglers who ate Great Lakes fish have 33 percent fewer PCBs and 43 percent less DDT in their bodies than they did a decade ago, largely because they changed their diet and switched to less contaminated fish, according to a study by Wisconsin researchers.