If you’re sick and tired of coming home to a fresh phone book lying on your doorstep, you can avoid driving it to the recycling center or just chucking it in the trash bin.

Abandoned urban land no longer generating tax revenue could produce food. The State Land Bank is brokering leases for urban gardens on vacant lots.

A Michigan native recently reconsidered farming after finding a niche in one of the newest technologies, Geographic Information Systems also known as GIS.

Tom Czuba was recently featured in Michigan Farm News for finding a path back to his family’s farm heritage after modern technology reignited his interest in agriculture. Czuba’s father was a fruit farmer. After contemplating whether to farm or attend college, Czuba began using GIS, a system that captures, manages and maps data.

He used the software to model the best area to grow peaches in …

You know the big names credited with major policy decisions that affect the basin.

But who are the people behind the scenes who shape Great Lakes policy?

Our series ends this week with Sandy Bihn, western Lake Erie’s well-armed activist.

What can you do?
Advocates recommend Chicagoans take these actions to help ensure the future of regional water:

Disconnect downspouts and install a rain barrel to use to capture water for watering your lawn or washing your car. Buy a $40 rain barrel at mwrd.org or to the Department of Environment Web site at cityofchicago.org for more information.
Go to Metersave.org and to set up a time for them to install a water meter in your home.
Don’t use automatic sprinklers. Turn sprinklers on only as needed and at night when water is better …

City officials, urban planners and environmental experts warn of a disconnect between Chicagoans’ perception of water abundance and reality.

They fear future scarcity unless there are radical changes in the way water is collected, distributed and consumed.

My kids may not learn everything they need to know from kindergarten but they are learning a lot about science from the ‘90s alt-pop band They Might Be Giants.
The duet of John Flansburgh and John Linnell, following up on their kids’ album “Here come the ABCs,” released “Here Comes Science” late last year.
The album is amazing. I could listen to “Electric Car” all day long and “Meet the Elements” prompted my six-year-old Elliott to download, print and tape to his bedroom wall a periodic table.
But it is a pair of …

Some Great Lakes biologists forecast a mostly cloudy future for the Asian carp.
The open waters of the Great Lakes are too cold for silver carp to digest food and reproduce, said Gerald Smith, professor emeritus with the University of Michigan’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department and author of the Guide to Great Lakes Fishes.
That’s good news for the part of the $7 billion Great Lakes sports fishery supported by deep water fishing for salmon and trout. If the carp thrived, they could pull the rug out from under the deep-water …

Environmental groups want all Michigan diesel trucks, buses and construction vehicles to catch exhaust pollutants with a filter. They say diesel pollution can cause 443 deaths and 57,000 missed work days in Michigan.

The rise of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in the U.S. has begged the question: what is Canada doing to restore its 2,904 miles (4,797 counting islands) of Great Lakes shoreline?
The Toronto Star, Canada’s biggest newspaper, asked that of its own government in a February editorial responding to the states’ $2.2 billion Great Lakes plan:
“So, where is Canada’s plan?” they ask. “Troublingly, it seems our federal government is not nearly as concerned about the health of the lakes.”
But, sweeping strategic plans aside, Canada actually leads the U.S. on Great Lakes …