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While many of us lose sleep at night grappling with the existential stress of our planet’s fresh water situation, West Michigan Environmental Action Council’s Director of Environmental Programs Carlos Calderon is doing something about it.

People will not stop building or consuming, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change our ways. Cutting-edge construction suppliers such as Hanover Architectural Products are helping to find the middle ground between excellent materials and a greener future.

If you take a quick tour through human history, you’ll notice that most engineering advancements seemed like science fiction until they became science.

We are at a global climate crossroads, and binary thinking dominates much of the conversation … except among green building experts, who prioritize balance above all else. Our interview with Chuck Gallo of Keene Building Products seeks to illuminate this thinking.

Too often in this modern age, sustainability and profitability are seen as opponents in some sort of global green cage match. It’s like the only choices are tree-hugging hippies or Hexxus from Ferngully.

We know how much you love to spend money, especially when you don’t have to. Unnecessary bills, amirite? Hooray!

Environmental sustainability is all well and good as a philosophy, but it takes more than good intentions and smiley face emojis to build a green roof.

It’s that time of year again — Smart Irrigation Month!

Each July, we take time to spread awareness about smart irrigation and its benefits. We know what you’re thinking… We already have smartphones, smartwatches, robot vacuums that clean by themselves, and now there’s smart irrigation? What could possibly come next? 

We once thought climate change and the continued degradation of the environment was simply the product of humans overusing and over-abusing our natural resources.

But the truth is, it’s actually far more complicated than that.

Climate change shares a turbulent history with racial injustice, and scientists across the board agree that we have to find simultaneous solutions to really make positive progress. If we truly want to solve environmental issues, we must also solve the systemic racism and widespread economic inequalities in our society.

Why are these two issues connected? Why are people of color far more at risk from environmental health hazards than white people? For that answer, we have to first look at where the roots of this problem began.

If you’re American, there’s a 95% chance you have these invisible, killer chemicals somewhere in your body. They’re called PFAS.

What are these mysterious chemicals, how did they get in our bodies, and what does this have to do with our water supply? Let’s take a look.

It shouldn't be a surprise that in today’s world, carcinogens lurk everywhere. And while we don’t want to freak you out, there’s a particular chemical lurking in the American landscape that we should all know about.

First off, let’s agree to just use the shortened version of the group of chemicals - PFAS.

If you want to know the long version, they are technically called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Basically, these are a group of man-made chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s and also include such tongue twisters as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Not to burden you with too many acronyms, but PFOA and PFOS are important to mention, as they are the two most produced and studied of the PFAS chemicals.

So now that we have the nomenclature all set, what we need to know is that PFAS is used in a variety of industries around the world and in a dizzying amount of consumer products.

Worse, PFAS are persistent in both humans and the environment. Persistent, in the scientific community anyway, is actually a pretty frightening term. It means PFAS builds up over time instead of breaking down. So instead of disappearing or disintegrating with passing years, layer upon layer gets added and sticks around...forever.

This year, it’s not much of a stretch to imagine a Day Without Something. Remember when you thought you’d have to go without toilet paper? Or hand sanitizer? And the run on potatoes and pasta was something to see!

We don’t mean to poke fun. Back in the spring, when it felt like suddenly we might not have access to whatever modern day or basic supply we might want was shocking, and a little scary.

Which makes this year’s Imagine a Day Without Water a little close to home for most of us, and incredibly relevant as we think about what we want our world to look like in the coming years.

Stormwater detention is an important goal in any city, but we’re not necessarily going about it the right way. Let’s take a look at what it is and how we can do it better.

When you look outside at the rain, what do you see?

If your answer is something along the lines of “a wet walk, muddy dog paws and Seasonal Affective Disorder,” then no one can blame you. But those aren’t the worst downsides of precipitation.

No, that honor goes to stormwater runoff.

While you can find numerous definitions of stormwater and runoff, the best way to think of it is precipitation that hits the ground. In other words, when rain lands on a surface, it becomes stormwater – and it needs to go somewhere.

Urban areas have typically dealt with this by routing it into sewer systems, where it leads to combined sewer overflows. Or it runs along streets and across parking lots until it finds a stream, lake or other waterway. It picks up toxins along the way, spreading them to plants and animals. Obviously that’s not ideal.

If we want to understand what stormwater management is and how best to approach it, we must first grasp stormwater detention.