Echo

Making a Case for the Environment and the Bottom Line

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(NY) The New York Times – DVD packaging is getting 20 percent lighter, reducing the impact on the environment and corporate bottom lines. Warner Home Video, by far the world’s largest distributor of television and movies on DVDs, has started releasing all of its new and library titles in cases that have 20 percent less plastic, a spokeswoman said. In some instances, the cases feature a thin layer of plastic; others have cutouts in the walls. Lightening the load on the environment was the primary motivator, says Warner, which said the effort will reduce its home entertainment division’s carbon emissions by 31 percent.  More

Recreation

State forest offers an affordable camping adventure

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – There’s still a way to travel cheaply, do things that kids and adults can enjoy together and get a feel for what the first loggers experienced when they made their way to the seemingly endless woodlands of northern Michigan in the 1870s — camping in the Pigeon River Country State Forest. This 105,000-acre stretch of woodlands — home to the biggest elk herd east of the Mississippi River — has some great overnight hikes for the fit and ambitious, and also some for casual afternoon walkers or people with young children who would like to get into the woods but can’t tackle anything too ambitious. More

Echo

Environmental group’s leader named Great Lakes czar

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – Cameron Davis, leader of a Chicago-based environmentalist group, has been appointed to oversee President Barack Obama’s initiative to clean up the Great Lakes. Davis is president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, one of many organizations that have pushed for a restoration program expected to cost more than $20 billion. He was appointed by Lisa Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency. More

Echo

Great Lakes lawmakers ask EPA for answers on BP emissions

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – Members of Congress’ Great Lakes Caucus are asking the Environmental Protection Agency to review all of British Petroleum’s emissions, after reports that a BP facility in Whiting, Ind., has been violating clean-air standards. In a letter, 18 members of Congress from Illinois, New York, Wisconsin and Michigan asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to closely examine BP’s emissions. More

Echo

Residents want DEQ to remove tannery lagoons

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(MI) Muskegon Chronicle – The material in the six contaminated lagoons on the former Whitehall Leather Co. tannery site likely won’t be removed, based on comments Wednesday night by environmental consultants and state Department of Environmental Quality officials. Many of the 100 or so residents who turned out for a public meeting at the Howmet Playhouse voiced concerns about the proposed plan that would leave the lagoons in place. The proposal is expected to be part of a final cleanup plan for the entire 33-acre site polluted by more than a century of leather-tanning operations. A developer wants to turn the site into condominiums. More

Echo

Rooftop gardens all about growth

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – A year ago, Erik Lindberg rented a boom lift with a bucket and hoisted 15 cubic yards of dirt to the roof of his north side remodeling business. In the process, he planted himself firmly in the middle of a growing urban agriculture movement. Lindberg, owner of Community Building & Restoration, turned to rooftop gardening in the belief that his actions might encourage people to grow their own food or buy locally grown produce. And by selling the vegetables he grows to subscribers and a nearby Outpost Natural Foods store, he may have become Milwaukee’s first commercial rooftop farmer. More

Echo

Lovebird Peregrine falcons found nesting on Durant Hotel downtown Flint and chick Maize is born

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(MI) The Flint Journal – The under-construction former Durant Hotel may not seem like the most romantic rendezvous spot — but that’s where peregrine falcons Barry and Majestic were found nesting a few weeks ago. And their chick, who was born on the downtown landmark’s ledge, has kind of become a University of Michigan-Flint mascot. She was aptly named Maize. More

Energy

Fuel-efficiency competition is today in Marshall

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(MI) Jackson Citizen Patriot – Eaton Corp. is hosting the 30th annual Society of Automotive Engineers Supermileage competition today in Marshall, where college teams from around the world will race for the best fuel economy. About 40 teams, including Central Michigan University and Michigan Tech, are charged with building a one-person, fuel-efficient vehicle, and the highest miles per gallon wins. More

Echo

PR isn’t the problem

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -No amount of burnishing will change the fact that the chemical BPA isn’t worth the risk to public health. It should be banned. The “holy grail” for food packagers and chemical industry lobbyists was a pregnant woman endorsing bisphenol A, according to a Journal Sentinel Watchdog report. More