Upcoming Zoom Webinar Enbridge Line 5: Trouble under the Surface August 20, 2024 12pm EDT Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline is over 71 years old and remains a threat to the waters and people of the Great Lakes region. On August 20, join FLOW and Oil & Water Don’t Mix for a special live webinar, and… Read more »
Great Lakes beaches and parks need your help this summer It might be more than the right thing to do for the environment. It might be the right thing to do for your health. Consider the number one pollutant that people leave on the shore – plastic. Some 86% of the litter collected for the… Read more »
by FLOW policy director Carolan Sonderegger, Giziibii Ogitcheda-ikwe’ Aaniin (Anishinaabemowin for: Hello everyone), eco-warriors, and recycling enthusiasts! Today, we’re diving into the wild world of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) – the unsung superhero of waste management and a powerful tool for environmental protection, including protecting our precious waters (niibii)! In simple terms, EPR is an… Read more »
During the week of April 15, a group of students from the Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School (LREI) in Greenwich Village, Manhattan visited Traverse City and spent time with FLOW executive director, Liz Kirkwood. The students were studying water pollution and plastics, and their research led them to travel to the… Read more »
Earth Day has always been about action as much as education. But in a complex world with complex environmental problems, where do we begin? Here are eight specific actions you can take protect the world’s greatest lakes: Pare down plastics Plastic pollution is growing exponentially, with some of the highest concentrations of microplastics in the… Read more »
By Daniel Macfarlane Daniel Macfarlane is an Associate Professor in the School of the Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. He is also a senior fellow at the Bill Graham Center for Contemporary International History, University of Toronto, and President of the International Water History Association. His research and teaching focus on the… Read more »
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are 112,000 particles of plastic per square mile of Great Lakes water. While the specific, causal effects plastics may have on human health are yet unknown and currently being researched, animal studies suggest that plastics and plastic byproducts affect digestive, respiratory, endocrine, reproductive, and immune systems.
Picnics with Less (or Zero) Plastic You may be surprised at how much trash we generate from what might seem a low-impact picnic. Reducing picnic waste—especially plastics—is particularly important at a time when scientists are sounding the alarm about the buildup of small particles, or microplastics, in the Great Lakes Zero-Waste Picnic vs Typical Picnic… Read more »
Photo: Liz Kirkwood is Executive Director of FLOW (For Love Of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, Michigan. Reach her at liz@flowforwater.org. Editor’s note: The following op-ed originally appeared Jan. 17, 2023, in Bridge Michigan. Michigan is a water wonderland — think Great Lakes, 36,000 miles of rivers and… Read more »
By: Liz Kirkwood, Executive Director January 17, 2023 // Bridge Michigan Michigan is a water wonderland — think Great Lakes, 36,000 miles of rivers and streams, groundwater that supplies 45 percent of our state with drinking water, and more than 6 million acres of wetlands. But these waters face a daunting array of challenges, everything… Read more »
