Common Groundwater

Michigan homes have high pollution levels and high prices. How can we possibly change that for all 4.5 million of them and counting? For climate expert Carlee Knott, the answer is by cracking the code (literally) of home development and repair. In this second episode of our "Project Greenprint" miniseries, we talk about housing as a solution to our cost of living and climate change crises.
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To send an email to your legislator urging good housing investments in our state budget, go to https://bit.ly/2025budget-housing.
Do you lead a business, nonprofit or community group? Send us an email at [email protected] to consider adding your name to our formal letter to legislators.
To get other stories, information and opportunities around Project Greenprint, go to https://projectgreenprint-mienvcouncil.my.canva.site/home.

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Common Groundwater is hosted by the Michigan Environmental Council and Lansing resident Beau Brockett Jr.
Our music is "The Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi, arranged by Derek Zhang and performed by Jackson resident Taj Wallace.
Our 2024 series is sponsored by Kalsec, a global ingredient company headquartered in Kalamazoo that meets the highest recognized social and environmental standards through its B Corps certification.

Michigan's in a bit of an odd place. It's considered a climate haven, a place that can protect people from the worst of climate change. But its literal havens—our homes—are causing problems. They're old, expensive, elusive and, in fact, causing climate change. In Episode 1 of our four-part Project Greenprint miniseries, Crain's Detroit Business reporter (and Detroiter) Nick Manes joins us to talk about the state of housing and how it serves as both a problem and a solution to our state.
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To follow Nick's real estate reporting, go to crainsdetroit.com.
To get more episodes, stories and opportunities for action around green, affordable housing, go to projectgreenprint-mienvcouncil.my.canva.site/home.

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Common Groundwater is hosted by the Michigan Environmental Council and Lansing resident Beau Brockett Jr.
Our music is "The Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi, arranged by Derek Zhang and performed by Jackson resident Taj Wallace.
Our 2024 series is sponsored by Kalsec, a global ingredient company headquartered in Kalamazoo that meets the highest recognized social and environmental standards through its B Corps certification.

The environmental arm of our state was created to protect our land, water, wildlife and us residents from pollution—it's enshrined in Michigan's constitution. And yet, over the course of 30 years, the department and its thousands of employees have been stripped of its powers time and again, rendering it far more toothless than we might expect.
In Episode 1 of "The Polluter Rulebook" miniseries, we learned how one sentence froze Michigan's pollution laws back in time. In Episode 2, Christy McGillivray of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter puts that sentence into context. She tells us how one governor began a domino effect of gutted environmental protections that we're now building back with force.
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To learn more about the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, click here.
To read Christy's breakdown of our state environmental department's stripped powers, click here.
To learn more about concerted effort to stop water pollution, check out The Polluter Rulebook home base here.

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Common Groundwater is hosted by the Michigan Environmental Council and Lansing resident Beau Brockett Jr.
Our music is "The Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi, arranged by Derek Zhang and performed by Jackson resident Taj Wallace.
Our 2024 series is sponsored by Kalsec, a global ingredient company headquartered in Kalamazoo that meets the highest recognized social and environmental standards through its B Corps certification.

Buy a pop. Pay a little extra. Drink it. Rinse it. Return it, and then get that little extra back. Michigan’s bottle deposit system sounds simple, and yet it’s internationally known for keeping bottles and cans out of our landfills and landscapes.
Now, as its 50th anniversary nears, it’s time to bring this beloved and successful system from the 70s into the present. The Michigan Environmental Council and groups across the state have a vison: (Almost) any beverage returned at almost any place with more environmental protections to boot.
Join Environmental Council President & CEO Conan Smith in our latest podcast episode as he cracks this effective yet aged system open.
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We want your Bottle Bill thoughts and stories! To share, fill out our form here.
To get exclusive updates about our better Bottle Bill effort, fill out our email form here.
Want to advocate? Take part in our inaugural Plastics Education Day Nov. 13. Sign up here.

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Common Groundwater is hosted by the Michigan Environmental Council and Lansing resident Beau Brockett Jr.
Our music is "The Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi, arranged by Derek Zhang and performed by Jackson resident Taj Wallace.
Our 2024 series is sponsored by Kalsec, a global ingredient company headquartered in Kalamazoo that meets the highest recognized social and environmental standards through its B Corps certification.

In Saugatuck, it's symbiotic. Hundreds of acres of preserved, rare, freshwater dunes can be found along the area's coast. That, in turn, has created delightful small towns with big tourist economies. But all this goodness did not come from nothing, and there's still goodness still to protect.
Saugatuck's dunes and economy have come about through years of yeoman's work building relationships, working through the courts and organizing. David Swan, its president, joins us in the third episode of our Gears in the Sand podcast series to talk about Saugatuck's story and how proposed legislation can help other towns find similar success without as much slog.
Learn more about the Environmental Council's dunes work here.
Learn more about the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance here.
Interested in playing a role in dunes advocacy? Let us know by emailing [email protected]. He'll get you set up.

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Common Groundwater is hosted by the Michigan Environmental Council and Lansing resident Beau Brockett Jr.
Our music is "The Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi, arranged by Derek Zhang and performed by Jackson resident Taj Wallace.
Our 2024 series is sponsored by Kalsec, a global ingredient company headquartered in Kalamazoo that meets the highest recognized social and environmental standards through its B Corps certification.