Waste

Green Gridirons: University of Nebraska

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A football stadium may have green grass but does it have green habits? Each week, Great Lakes Echo highlights a Big Ten football stadium’s attempts to do the most to impact the environment the least. All schools have information on the stadium’s diversion rate – the amount of waste recycled instead of put in a landfill. Stadium: Memorial Stadium

School: University of Nebraska

Built: 1923

Capacity: 81,091

2012 diversion Rate: 95 percent

Scouting report: The school’s athletic department began partnering with Recycling Enterprises of Nebraska during the 2008 season to max out recycling.  Recycling bins for paper and plastic are placed near all trash receptacles, said Richard Sutton, professor of Agronomy and Horticulture. The athletic department also asks fans to pick up the surrounding area of their seats during and after games.

Wildlife

Minnesota’s second wolf hunt offers lessons for Michigan

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After a year filled with controversy, Michigan is holding it’s first wolf hunt in nearly 40 years.

Although this is Michigan’s first hunt, that’s not the case for other states in the upper Midwest.

Minnesota and Wisconsin are both heading into their second wolf hunt this year.

Wildlife

Mr. Great Lakes: Bats, environmental art and a field guide to Saginaw Bay

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Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart) reports from Bay City, Michigan’s Delta College Q-90.1 FM.  
Nov. 15, 2013 – The Environment Report – Delta Q 90.1 FM – Jeff Kart – Mr. Great Lakes by jeffkart

This week, Kart discusses two new bat species, an art contest through NOAA and the new Saginaw Basin Field Guide. Text at Mr. Great Lakes

Energy

Gales of November

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Check out this map for a scary picture of wind over the Great Lakes around 9 p.m. Sunday. This static shot doesn’t do it justice. Click the image to catch the animation. Of course, if you’re seeing this long after the wind has died, it won’t be as impressive. Just know that Sunday evening would have been an exciting time for a Chicago to Mackinac Island reach.

Echo

Green Gridirons: University of Illinois

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A football stadium may have green grass but does it have green habits? Each week, Great Lakes Echo highlights a Big Ten football stadium’s attempts to do the most to impact the environment the least. All schools have information on the stadium’s diversion rate – the amount of waste recycled instead of put in a landfill. Stadium: Memorial Stadium

School: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Built: 1922

Capacity: 60,670

2012 diversion rate: 84.50 throughout campus; n/a for stadium only

Scouting report: “We are just starting our green initiative out for the stadium,” said Lenny Willis, director of athletic facilities at the University of Illinois. The university plans to collaborate with the campus to start a stadium-specific program, with recycling bins at the gates and in parking lots.

Echo

Shaping the world by watershed

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If you had the chance, how would you recreate the United States? John Lavey, a land use planner at the Sonoran Institute, designed this map that divvies up the country by its watersheds. The idea is to use water more efficiently while minimizing conflicts over its use. He gerrymandered state boundaries by Hydrologic Unit Codes, keeping capitals and national borders intact. Not a bad idea.