After Kevin Reich was elected to the Minneapolis City Council in 2009 for Ward 1 (Northeast), he noticed while walking his dog that there were four different lawn care services and four jurisdictions maintaining, in isolation, adjacent youth-oriented properties: Hennepin County Library, YMCA, Edison High School, and some open green park area. He was also…
Energy & Design
Spotlight: Cooperative Energy
Timothy DenHerder-Thomas, of Cooperative Energy Futures, is co-creating a collective that puts the Community into solar gardens in Minneapolis and St. Paul.In a recent series of discussions with Minneapolis neighborhood and business advocates, hosted by Xcel Energy to talk about engaging community with energy efficiency and pending solar, one of the many voices at the…
Toxins
The Visibility Cloak: Creating Collective Attention
At an April 19 “Sustainable We” forum, the topic was how we make the invisible visible. Discussion leaders included Sarah Super of Break the Silence, who gives voice to rape survivors partly by telling her own story… Kathleen Schuler of Healthy Legacy, who works to reduce dangerous toxins in the home… and Shalini Gupta of…
Toxins
What Gives Us Cancer? A Primer on Indoor Air Toxins
In educating myself about air quality issues in Minneapolis, I’ve become more aware of what most of us don’t realize — how much toxicity we are exposed to in our own homes. Low-income communities in particular tend to be vulnerable because of multiple exposure: 1) they live in areas that have worse outdoor air quality…
Toxins
Creating a Healthy Legacy: Reducing home toxins
On April 19, 2016, the “Sustainable We” forum was about “The Visibility Cloak” – how do we get attention to the very real dangers around us that tend to remain hidden? The discussion featured Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy – which brings attention to the disproportionate air pollution in Minneapolis – and Healthy Legacy,…
Toxins
The Future Is… Toxins
John Warner has been promoting green chemistry since 1990. Here’s why we haven’t seen a revolution in making our products and manufacturing processes safer.As I’ve mentioned, my father was an analytical chemist who went into plastics/polymers partly because of one of the infamous lines in The Graduate. He worked for Archer-Daniels and was a manager…
Toxins
When People Make Toxic Tides Shift
In 2002, the Denver-based insulation company Johns Manville decided that the science (and market) around the dangers of formaldehyde were too strong to ignore, and it stopped using the chemical to make insulation. At the time, the company reported, “While there is no evidence to suggest that the level of formaldehyde released by traditionally bonded…
Toxins
Who Regulates Toxins?
“Policy makers and regulators are regularly called on to make decisions based on the best information/science available at the time, which is often incomplete. That’s where considerations such as risk tolerance and level of protectiveness come into the discussion, and these factors are more about societal values than scientific knowledge.” — Sharon Lotthammer, Minnesota Pollution…
Toxins
Making Things Visible: Sarah Super
What do air pollution and rape have in common? Both were the focus of conversation at “The Visibility Cloak” on Tuesday, April 19, 2016, Red Stag. What is invisible right in front of us, and what can we do about it? With so many issues begging for attention — with the sometimes overwhelming weight of white…
Waste
TechDump: The Electronic Waste Land
During a recent visit to TechDump‘s St. Paul location, 17-year-old Julian and 11-year-old Dylan got a tour by CEO Amanda LaGrange. She offered a snapshot of what the company does with massive mounds of e-waste, and why. You can’t throw old electronics in the trash as you would normal trash. That’s because electronics contain hazardous…