New book highlights eco-friendly Michigan travel destinations

By Greg Monahan
Great Lakes Echo
A new book from longtime journalist Sally Barber takes an environmentally conscious look at exploring outdoor attractions around the Great Lakes state. A new book from longtime journalist Sally Barber takes an environmentally conscious look at exploring outdoor attractions around the Great Lakes state. The Michigan Eco-Traveler is for a “new and growing breed of travelers” who travel with the intention of minimizing the ecological footprint they leave behind. The book has nine chapters, with sections that include features on sustainable kayaking, ski slopes and the most eco-friendly lodging options in the state. “I wanted to show travelers that they can make a positive impact while they’re enjoying the outdoors,” said Barber, a lifelong Michigan resident.

Poet, artist explore birds

What started as a note on a friend’s windshield evolved into “The Unauthorized Audubon,” a whimsical poetry and art book that offers a peek into a world of quirky imaginary birds.

What’s on your bookshelf?

By Eric Freedman

The more things don’t change…

I’ve been perusing the shelves of the Knight Center’s conference room library, getting rid of–recycling–outdated books to make room for new ones. These, published from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, are just a sampling of our castaways:

“Footprints on the Planet: A Search for an Environmental Ethic” by Robert Cahn
“Public Policy for Chemicals: National & International Issues” by Sam Gusman, Konrad von Moltke, Francis Irwin & Cynthia Whitehead
“Fear at Work: Job Blackmail, Labor & the Environment” by Richard Kazis and Richard Grossman
“Radiation & Human Health” by John Gofman
“Renewable Energy: The Power to Choose” by Daniel Deudney & Christopher Flavin
“Environmental Regulation and Economic Efficiency” by the Congressional Budget Office
“Crossroads: Environmental Priorities for the Future” by Peter Borelli
“International Environmental Policy: Emergence & Dimensions” by Lynton Caldwell
“Global Warning: The Economic Stakes” by William Cline
“How Many Americans? Population, Immigration & the Environment by Leon Bouvier & Lindsey Grant

Although their content may be stale–often by decades–what struck me was how the same issues remain prominently in today’s headlines: Alternative energy. Population. Climate change.

Book explores Detroit’s unreal estate

What do you do with urban territory that has fallen out of the literal economy?

A University of Michigan architecture professor suggests community gardens flourishing in empty lots, artists using fire-damaged buildings as palettes and neighborhood fairs in alleys.

Coast Guardsman writes children’s books about Great Lakes adventures

 

A U.S. Coast Guardsman stationed in Buffalo wrote a children’s book about his adventures on the Straits of Mackinacas seen through the eyes of an adopted dog, Onyx. Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Benson began writing the book from his original home in St. Ignace, Mich. because his three daughters would often ask why he would be gone for days, according to this story from WGRZ news in Buffalo. His family now lives in Buffalo where the book has been published.