December 9th, 2011 by Irene Miles
As the year ends, top ten lists begin to crop up, putting the year’s events in perspective and celebrating accomplishments. IISG has put together our own list of successes from projects that have come to fruition in recent years, and here is an example:
IISG presented a seminar on climate change, land use, and human health impacts to the Northern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) Environmental Management Planning Committee. The seminar led to the development of a climate change steering committee, which drafted a resolution on climate change for the NIRPC Board of Trustees. Sea Grant also participated in this process.
The NIRPC Board of Trustees approved the resolution requiring that any future planning and funding efforts that NIRPC puts forth incorporate climate change components, especially green infrastructure. This kind of action provides positive action on climate change issues, both in the near term and in the future planning. It also fosters an impact at the local level, where communities and residents will benefit directly from the improvements.
December 6th, 2011 by Irene Miles
Join IISG in taking a look at some of the projects we’ve been involved in during the past year or two. There have been a number of important initiatives that are already benefiting communities throughout the Great Lakes region, and here is just one example:
Flushing unused medicines is a bad idea. for aquatic wildlife, and for us–these chemicals can end up in local rivers and streams as well as drinking water sources. IISG has been at the forefront in efforts to to raise awareness on this issue and to help communities organize local medicine collection programs.
IISG and the Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program created permanent medicine collection programs in several Great Lakes communities, and Sea Grant has purchased 15 medicine collection boxes for communities that now have ongoing pharmaceutical collection programs in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
As a result of the program, 15 Great Lakes communities collected 4,600 pounds of medicine in 2010 alone, preventing all of that from entering the water supply and negatively impacting the environment.
Pictured here is the drop box in Peru, Illinois and the local team that worked to make it happen. For more information on medicine collection programs and proper disposal of pharmaceuticals, visit the IISG webpage on Safe Disposal of Unwanted Medicines.
December 1st, 2011 by Irene Miles
As 2011 winds down, top ten lists begin to crop up, putting the year in review and celebrating recent accomplishments. IISG has put together our own list of successes that have come to fruition in recent years. Here is just one example:
Illinois EPA provided funding to IISG to study the costs and effectiveness of green infrastructure as a way to replace or supplement existing stormwater management. The study showed that on average, green infrastructure practices are equally effective in managing stormwater, while costing less to establish and maintain. Martin Jaffe, environmental planning specialist, presented these findings to the Illinois General Assembly.
As a result, the Illinois General Assembly established a $5 million discretionary fund to support green infrastructure projects in communities throughout the state. In addition, because of this study, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning 2040 Regional Comprehensive Plan, adopted in the fall of 2010, recommended incorporating green infrastructure practices in future development.
Managing urban stormwater is a significant matter facing communities throughout the U.S. – including northeastern Illinois and surrounding areas. Increasing storm intensity and aging infrastructure are combined threats to existing stormwater management, but green infrastructure may provide a useful and effective approach to these issues.
November 29th, 2011 by Irene Miles
The most common poisons that threaten our beloved pets are our own medicines—ibuprofen, acetaminophen, antidepressants, and ADHD medications. Any medication, even those prescribed for a pet, can pose a risk to dogs or cats who decide to eat what they find.
For this reason and more, the National Sea Grant College Program and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) have forged a formal partnership to raise awareness about the need for proper storage and disposal of unused medicines.
Pets, of course, are not the only victims of accidental poisonings. The Journal of Pediatrics recently reported that between the years 2001-2008, more than 430,000 children five years or younger were brought to emergency rooms due to self-ingested medicines. And, in the larger picture, drug-related deaths now outnumber motor vehicle fatalities, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
What’s more, pharmaceuticals are turning up in the environment. “Medicine disposal has become an emerging issue as numerous studies have found pharmaceuticals in drinking water and in lakes and rivers,” said Laura Kammin, IISG pollution prevention specialist. “The long term impacts are not known, but it’s clear that flushing medicines or throwing them in the trash contributes to the problem.”
“We are excited about this collaborative effort involving the AVMA and NOAA‘s National Sea Grant College Program,” said Mike Liffmann, Extension leader for the National Sea Grant Office. “Our Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant colleagues will, on behalf of the National Sea Grant College Program, lead this joint outreach and education effort aimed at ensuring that leftover or unused medications for animals are disposed of properly so they cannot harm people, the animals or the environment.”
For the past six years, IISG has worked with communities to develop local medicine collection programs. Through workshops and the IISG toolkit, the program provides information and support so that these efforts are safe and successful.
Now, alongside the AVMA, the information campaign can grow to encompass new audiences, including animal owners who, along with many in the general public, may need to dispose of unused and expired medicine.
“By increasing the general public’s awareness of options available to them for the proper disposal of pharmaceuticals and the environmental consequences of improper disposal, it is hoped and anticipated that fewer and fewer medications will flushed or poured into our waters,” said Kristi Henderson, AVMA assistant director of scientific activities.
For more information about medicine collection programs, visit unwantedmeds.org. There, you can download the toolkit Disposal of Unwanted Medicines: A Resource for Action in Your Community.
November 28th, 2011 by Irene Miles
From NBC Chicago:
Scientists dumped a red dye “tracer” into the river between Route 83 and the Lockport area beginning late Tuesday night to study Asian carp and other species migrating to Lake Michigan.
Read more.
November 16th, 2011 by Irene Miles
From WTTW Chicago:
Scientists believe the Quagga mussel first stowed away in the ballast water on transoceanic ships from the Caspian Sea. The mussels made their way into the lakes when that ballast water was purged.
The tiny fingernail-sized mussels closely related to another invasive, known as the Zebra mussel, first appeared in lake waters here in 1988.
The Quagga mussel is now the most pervasive and destructive invasive species ever to enter the Great Lakes. Over the last 15 years, the Quagga population has exploded, eclipsing the Zebra mussel and infecting all five of the Great Lakes. Read more.
November 7th, 2011 by Irene Miles
The National Sea Grant Academy was established to provide continuing education for Sea Grant Extension faculty, to give a national perspective on the role and importance of each Sea Grant program, and to further the work of studying, improving, and protecting America’s waterways.
In March 2011, IISG specialists Paris Collingsworth, Carolyn Foley, Laura Kammin, Caitie McCoy and Kristin TePas attended the first half of the 3rd National Sea Grant Academy in Washington, D.C. This week-long training event gave participants the opportunity to interact with other Sea Grant staff from around the globe, learn how to better design their projects, and begin to understand the inner workings of the National Sea Grant Program Office.
During the week of October 23-29, 2011, Carolyn, Laura and Caitie attended the second week’s events in Portland, Oregon. These sessions offered information on how to plan projects aimed at achieving meaningful outcomes, and solidified the connections made during the first week’s sessions by allowing participants to share their thoughts, experiences, and resources with other Sea Grant specialists. During the week, participants had the opportunity to learn about and be inspired by the work being done by other Sea Grant programs around the country, especially in the host state of Oregon.
These recent graduates of Sea Grant Academy are looking forward to using the skills and connections made during these two training weeks as they work to create interesting, useful programs in the Great Lakes region and beyond.
October 25th, 2011 by Irene Miles
From the Great Lakes Echo:
Scientists are in Washington D.C. today to present to federal lawmakers research suggesting the Great Lakes region has more problems with mercury than previously thought.
Their visit comes just weeks after the GOP-led House of Representative passed two bills that would handcuff the EPA from limiting mercury emissions.
As Echo reported, scientists reviewed research on mercury in the Great Lakes region and found despite overall decreases in the pollutant, concentrations are rising in some species and health risks are occurring at lower levels than expected. Read more.
October 12th, 2011 by Irene Miles
A blog post from the Metropolitan Planning Council:
About 200 reports are now released annually about low levels of chemicals, such as drugs, detergents and plastics, in our waterways. As products, these compounds are beneficial (I am grateful that my office mates use soap.) Some of them, like heart meds, are even life-saving. The problem begins once we are done using them — when they are flushed (one way or another) down the toilet or swept away in stormwater, and flow into our streams and lakes. Because, especially in areas like the Fox River Basin, that is also our drinking water. We know that some of these chemicals, at certain levels, can disrupt our endocrine system, causing a host of health problems, ranging from infertility to cancer. But, is there enough in our water to make us sick?
To try to answer that, on Sept. 15th, Openlands and MPC held “Emerging Contaminants, Emerging Solutions,” our latest roundtable on the region’s water challenges (listen to the audio recording, courtesy of Chicago Amplified). Almost 80 people from through the region convened in Elgin to hear about known (and unknown) risks, and possible methods to prevent or reduce contamination. The audience had the opportunity to ask national experts about cutting-edge scientific findings on the issue. Read more.
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