pollution

Global Warming Solutions for Minnesota

Author
J. Drake Hamilton
Science Policy Director, Fresh Energy

Footnotes/Endnotes

Resources:

  • Fresh Energy
    www.fresh-energy.org
  • Union of Concerned Scientists
    www.ucsusa.org/greatlakes
  • The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth, Tim Flannery, Atlantic Monthly Press 2005.
  • Playing with Fire: Climate Change in Minnesota, Fresh Energy 2001.
  • Fresh Energy, 408 St. Peter Street,
    St. Paul, MN, 651-726-7562
    www.fresh-energy.org
  • Minnesota Department of Commerce Energy Information Center
    1-800-657-3710 (MN only)
    651-296-5175
    www.commerce.state.mn.us

How Curbside Composting Can Help Get us to Zero Waste

Author
EUREKA RECYCLING
Imagine completing every day at home without generating garbage.

Although you may recycle everything you can, your trash may be far from empty. Recycling is a powerful way to protect our environment and conserve resources, but it does not prevent waste entirely. By composting, you can eliminate another 25% of what's currently in your trash. When you recycle and compost, you begin to see what's left in your trash can, and it becomes easier to make different choices to eliminate waste altogether.

Footnotes/Endnotes
 

ON THE WEB!

Eureka Recycling: Working
Toward a Waste-free Tomorrow,
eurekarecycling.org

Stop Trashing the Climate,
stoptrashingtheclimate.org

read up!

Backyard Composting: Your Complete Guide to Recycling Yard Clippings, by Harmonious Technologies, 1995.

Worms Eat my Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System, by Mary Appelhof, Flower Press, 1997.

 

Reducing the Impact of your Driveway

Author
EARTHWIZARDS.COM
Most homes have driveways. We use driveways for vehicle storage and to provide access to our homes and garages from the street. We use driveway surfaces that are sturdy enough to hold the weight of automobiles, to tolerate freezing weather and summer heat, and to stand up to snow removal.

Most driveways are made from asphalt, concrete, paving stones, or gravel. All of these are considered "impermeable" surfaces because they do not allow water to pass through them. That's right-standard pavers and standard

Footnotes/Endnotes

ON THE WEB!

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency,
pca.state.mn.us/sustainability

Your Watershed District,
mnwatershed.govoffice.com

True Story of a Green Driveway Transformation,
frankejames.com/debate/?p=98

Read Up!

Making Paths and Driveways, by Claude H. Miller, Kessinger Publishing, 2007.

The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture, by Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne, Princeton Architectural Press, 2005.

Act Locally!

Earthwizards, Inc.-
earthwise contracting and design
Minneapolis, MN
763-784-3833
earthwizards.com

 

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency,
pca.state.mn.us/sustainability

Your Watershed District,
mnwatershed.govoffice.com

True Story of a Green Driveway Transformation,
frankejames.com/debate/?p=98

Read Up!

Making Paths and Driveways, by Claude H. Miller, Kessinger Publishing, 2007.

The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture, by Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne, Princeton Architectural Press, 2005.

Act Locally!

Earthwizards, Inc.—
earthwise contracting and design
Minneapolis, MN
763-784-3833
earthwizards.com

Local Green Band | Cloud Cult

Author
By Craig Minowa
Singer/Songwriter/Guitar
The band Cloud Cult operates by unique environmental practices that have been covered by the media from the New York Times to MTV News to National Public Radio. On top of buying Green Energy Credits and planting hundreds of trees per year to compensate for any energy used and pollution created, the band has established their own environmental record label, Earthology Records. They have declined major label offers based on their need to control the environmental aspects of their business.
Footnotes/Endnotes

Commingling the Environment & Health Care

Author
By Linda Lindquist
RN, BSN

Healthcare workers are a hidden, next generation treasure of environmentalists. This group includes, but is not limited to, doctors, such as those specializing in infectious disease, nurses of all disciplines in heath care, respiratory therapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, dietitians, pharmacists, and emergency rescue response workers.

Footnotes/Endnotes

Environmental Health News
environmentalhealthnews.org

Hospitals for a Healthy Environment
h2E.org

Health Care without Harm
hcwh.org

Environmental Health and Nursing Practice, Barbara Sattler & Jane Lipscomb, Springer Publishing, 2003.

Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood, Sandra Steingraber, Perseus Publishing, 2001.

Minnesota Department of Health
St. Paul, MN, 651-201-5000 or 888-345-0823 o health.state.mn.us

Minnesota Technical Assistance Program's Healthcare Environmental Awareness and Resource Reduction Team (HEARRT)
University of Minnesota
612-624-1300
mntap.umn.edu/health/hearrt.htm

Has Our Environment Become Toxic?

Author
By Sara Grochowski
Do It Green! Minnesota

What ever happened to stepping outside for a “breath of fresh air?” It is often said that the air inside a home could be more toxic than outside. However, it seems our environment is becoming contaminated, and scientists continually are finding links to the impact on human health. Air quality is not the only concern; the water we drink, food we eat, grass or gardens we cultivate, even the furniture on which we rest can affect our health.

50 Ways To Love Your River

Author
Reprinted from the Oregon Environmental Council
oeconline.org

More and more, people forget the impact they have every day on their rivers. Most clean water regulations focus on reducing pollution from big sources such as factories and sewage treatment plants. Although industry needs to be cleaned up further, it’s time we turned our attention to forestry, agriculture and the behavior of each resident of the watershed.

Rain, Rain, Where Do You Go?

Footnotes/Endnotes
Planting for Clean Water www.bluethumb.org

Friends of the Mississippi River www.fmr.org

Minnesota Associate of Watershed Districts www.mnwatershed.org

Don’t Burn Your Garbage

Author
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
reprinted from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Many people in rural areas in Minnesota still use on-site disposal methods like backyard burning to dispose of their household wastes. From burning waste in fire pits and woodstoves to the traditional burn barrel, 45% of rural Minnesota’s municipal solid waste (MSW) is still managed in this way. Did you know that burning garbage contributes to nearly half of all wildfires in Minnesota each year, contributes to food contamination on farms, and creates a potent carcinogen?

Footnotes/Endnotes

Dioxin info Minnesota Department of Health, www.health.state.mn.us

Burn Barrels Info
www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/reduce/burnbarrel-guide.cfm

County solid waste office
for alternatives

www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/lc/county.cfm

Burn Barrel Reduction Campaign Grants, Mark Rust, MPCA
651-215-0198 or 800-657-3864

 

 

Healthy Schools Projects

Author
Linda Countryman
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency – Prevention & Assistance Division

Three Minnesota schools reduce pollution and save energy and money. Houston Public Schools in southeastern Minnesota, Pine Point Elementary on the White Earth Reservation, and Hutchinson High School took part in a recently finished pilot project to develop a healthier, more sustainable work and study environment in schools. These schools were part of a grant to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency called the Healthy Schools project.

Footnotes/Endnotes

Minnesota Healthy Schools Program  www.healthyschools.state.mn.us

Healthy Schools Network  www.healthyschools.org

The Green Schools Initiative  www.greenschools.net

 

MN Pollution Control Agency - Prevention and Assistance Division

Linda Countryman

651-757-2292 or 800-657-3864

linda.countryman@state.mn.us

 

Life in a Watershed

Author
Erin Hendel & Alyssa Hawkins
Watershed Education Center

Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes, birthplace of the Mississippi and many other rivers - all of which are fed by the dozens of overlapping watersheds in our communities.

Footnotes/Endnotes

Web Resources

Minnesota Association of Watershed Districts

www.mnwatershed.org

Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources

www.bwsr.state.mn.us/

 

Print Resources

Recipes for Clean Water: A Homeowner's Stormwater Survival Guide, William Boudreau, 1999

Lakescaping for Wildlife and Water Quality, Carrol L. Henderson, Carolyn J. Dinder, Fred Rozumalski, 1999

 

Organizations

Friends of the Mississippi River
46 E. 4th St.
Suite 606
St. Paul, MN 651-222-2193
www.fmr.org

University of Minnesota Extension Water Quality Program
173 McNeal Hall
1985 Buford Ave.
St. Paul, MN 612-624-9282
www.extension.umn.edu/water
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