Plastic Pollution: How to Stop it at the Source

This week marks national volunteer appreciation week, and on this Lakes Chat episode, we’re chatting about volunteering to help the Great Lakes.Guests included:Olivia Reda – the Alliance for the Great Lakes Volunteer Engagement ManagerEileen Ryan is a long-time Alliance Ambassador and an Adopt-a-Beach volunteerNovem Cheng, a volunteer with the Alliance Ambassador and Adopt-a-Beach programs

We chatted with Andrea Densham, Senior Strategic Advisor to the Alliance for the GreatLakes, about plastic pollution and how we can stop it at the source.

Temperatures this winter have been warmer than usual, leaving the Great Lakes nearly devoid of ice cover. In this episode, we chat with Physical Scientist James Kessler of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and dig into big-picture trends, and what this all means for the lakes.  

We’re discussing some new research on the cost of reducing runoff pollution from agricultural lands and preventing harmful algal blooms in western Lake Erie with Tom Zimnicki, the Alliance’s Agriculture and Restoration Director.  

In a previously recorded webinar, Alliance policy staff discussed their top 5 federal Great Lakes policy priorities They focus on stopping invasive species, fixing our failing water infrastructure, stopping plastic pollution, preventing harmful algal blooms, and ensuring funding for Great Lakes restoration. During the webinar, our panel answered several questions submitted by listeners around the region.

In late January, our policy team here at the Alliance for the Great Lakes released their top 5 Great Lakes policy priorities for the new Congress and the Biden administration. Our policy team focused on stopping invasive species, fixing our failing water infrastructure, stopping plastic pollution, preventing harmful algal blooms, and ensuring funding for Great Lakes restoration. It’s a big list. Over the coming weeks, our policy experts will meet with lawmakers to urge them to take action on these critical issues. On this episode, we spoke with Don Jodrey, the Alliance’s Federal Government Relations Director, who talked us through this list of priorities and gave us a big-picture view of what’s happening on Great Lakes issues in Washington, DC. 

In this episode, we chat with Joel Brammeier, the Alliance’s CEO, and Don Jodrey, the Alliance’s Director for Federal Government Relations, about what the results of the midterm elections mean for the Great Lakes.  *Note: We recorded this conversation at midday on Monday, November 14. Therefore, information may well have changed by the time you listen to this podcast. Also, the Alliance for the Great Lakes is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, which means that we cannot and do not endorse candidates for office. However, we can – and do – educate candidates about Great Lakes issues.  

In this episode, we chatted with two experts: Fred Stonehouse, a maritime historian, author, and lecturer, and Carl Lindquist, founder and executive director of the Superior Watershed Partnership and Land Conservancy.Lindquist and Stonehouse discuss the history of the Stannard Rock Lighthouse in Lake Superior and the future of the lighthouse as a climate research hub in the middle of the world's largest freshwater lake. 

In this episode, we chatted with Drew Youngedyke a native Michigander with a deep love for the lakes, and a volunteer with the Northern Michigan Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. In his day job, Drew is Director of Conservation Partnerships for the National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center.Youngedyke talked about Great Lakes surfing, the mission of Surfrider and a few of their campaigns, including their work to shut down the Line 5 pipeline and efforts to keep plastic pollution out of the lakes.  

In this episode, we chatted with Joel Brammeier, Alliance President & CEO, about the big picture of Great Lakes health, how Great Lakes protection has evolved, and where the clean water movement needs to go from here.