Ten Years of the Fund for Lake Michigan
Erin Keleske- A decade is like the blink of an eye in the million-year lifespan of a Great Lake, but as the Fund for Lake Michigan marks its 10-year anniversary, it’s clear just how much can change in such a short span of time. The Fund was launched in 2011 as part of an agreement between […]
Woodland Dunes Then & Now
Just across the West Twin River from the City of Two Rivers, neo-tropical songbirds, Monarch butterflies, bats, amphibians, mammals, and over 400 plant species flourish among the glacial ridges and swales of the 1,500-acre Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve. Before colonization, indigenous people set up villages on these riverbanks and crested the sandy […]
Leading with Resilience: Racine’s Racial Equity and Environmental Justice Fellows
By Erin Keleske Climate change is not just a problem of the future, nor is it the only environmental threat we as a Great Lakes community must confront. From lead poisoning to food deserts, local families continue to fight a barrage of environmental challenge after challenge, often without even ascribing them as such. But it’s […]
Westlawn Gardens at Ten
A decade ago, Westlawn, a 75-acre public housing development in Milwaukee’s Lincoln Creek Watershed, was ripe for improvement. A combination of public and private funding launched an ambitious community planning process overseen by the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee (HACM). Through surveys and neighborhood meetings, residents re-envisioned Wisconsin’s largest public housing development as a […]
Green and Healthy Schoolyards for Milwaukee’s Next Generation
Michael Timm – Inspirational work takes place at our public schools every day, but thanks to the nonprofit Reflo’s Green & Healthy Schools program, that groundbreaking work is happening outside of the classroom as well. Where once stood a sea of asphalt you will now find a natural oasis, but just below the surface lies […]
Finding a Home for a Living Fossil
Erin Keleske – At the bottom of Lake Michigan dwells an ancient creature with origins dating back over a hundred million years. With distinct, shark-like tails and armored plates, the mere sight of these living fossils leaping from the lake is enough to captivate any audience. As the largest and longest-living species in Lake Michigan, […]
Living Lake Friendly
Erin Keleske–Imagine you’ve come home from vacation to find a pipe has burst and your kitchen is flooded. Water is everywhere and it continues to flow. Do you reach for a mop and clean up the mess? Of course not– first you turn off the tap. This is the philosophy underpinning Plastic-Free MKE, a new […]
Take Back My Meds Protects Water Quality While Fighting Opioids
In Milwaukee, wastewater from household and commercial uses is treated and returned to Lake Michigan, the source of Milwaukee’s drinking water. Unfortunately, standard water treatment technology wasn’t designed for many of today’s pharmaceuticals. While scientists and engineers are busy designing water technology to address new contaminants, the current sobering truth is that what you rinse down your sink or flush down your […]
Keeping Our Beaches Tobacco Free
Erin Keleske–The most commonly littered plastic in the world isn’t straws. It’s not the single-use plastic bags we see floating around like urban tumbleweeds or even the plastic film that seems to be wrapped around every single item in the grocery store. It’s something most people don’t even realize is plastic–cigarette butts. From cigar tips […]
Toward a Sustainable Future for Great Lakes Cities
Erin Keleske – Communities have settled and grown along the Great Lakes for centuries, drawn in by seemingly limitless freshwater and natural resources. But as our cities grew and urbanized, our presence has begun to drastically alter the very characteristics of the region that brought us here in the first place. The vitality of our cities […]