Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/category/solutions/page/2/)
Stories that offer environmental solutions.
By Isabella Figueroa
There are many reasons for aquaculture, like food, stocking, ornamental and bait. Historically, commercial fishing provided local, sustainable seafood. Due to environmental regulations, species decline and economic shifts, however, this industry has shrunk in the Great Lakes Region, according to a recent study.
By Emilio Perez Ibarguen
Michigan beer and pop buyers increasingly aren’t bothering to return their bottles and cans to get their deposit back, and in the process left more than $116 million on the table last year. Some beverage industry representatives are pointing to the decrease as a sign that the law has become irrelevant. Meanwhile, retailers and environmentalists alike are looking at what could be done to make returning empties more convenient — although they butt heads on how exactly to do so.
By Katie Finkbeiner
A group of Democratic and Republican senators want to bring gun safety instruction into middle and high schools with DNR-certified instructors. The lead sponsor, from North Muskegon, said the program would improve gun safety among youth and perhaps increase the ranks of young hunters. Cosponsors include senators from Detroit, Harbor Springs, Manton and Mount Pleasant and Six Lakes. A U-M expert discusses.
By Elinor Epperson
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has updated an online tool that maps which communities may be most susceptible to adverse effects from pollution. The department first released MiEJScreen as a draft in 2022, but released an updated version in early August after seeking public comment. It says it hopes the tool will make it easier for advocates, residents and government officials to understand how environmental contamination affects different populations in their community. The tool combines data about health, socioeconomic and environmental factors to determine which communities are at higher risk of adverse effects from pollution. The data reflect what residents have known for a while, Regina Strong said.
Rural Michigan residents who suffer from a chronic illness that requires specialized treatment may have to drive hours to receive care.
That barrier to access to health care is one reason rural county death rates tend to be higher than their urban counterparts, according to Robert Howe, the medical director of the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department.
Human engineering solves age-old problems each day.
But the natural environment has been engineering solutions to solve problems for thousands of years. People are catching on.
A Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision that upheld the state’s first ordinance requiring bird-friendly building construction could spread similar policies to other cities.
Already Middleton, Wisconsin, has passed such an ordinance following the ruling last October, said Brenna Marsicek, director of outreach at the Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance.
When reporting in rural communities, journalists must “listen and shut up.”
That was the advice of former Native News Online managing editor and author Valerie Vande Panne, a panelist at a session of the recent Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference in Philadelphia.
Environmental reporting experts at the recent Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Philadelphia discussed how to report on climate in a more productive way.
Allen Arthur, the engagement director at Solutions Journalism Network, emphasized the need to avoid negative sentiments while engaging in the climate crisis dialogue to promote engagement in community-based activities.
Environmental journalists and educators face a changing media field and systemic barriers that make it difficult to improve the profession.
Experts at a recent Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Philadelphia addressed some of these challenges to reimagine a more sustainable system.