Monica Plawecki This piece was originally published by the Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. In the few short months that have passed since a week of heavy rain caused the failure of the Edenville and Sanford Dams, much of the news coverage of the disaster has focused on the finger-pointing that has arisen in the […]
Posted inGuides
Why do we call 48217 Michigan’s ‘most polluted zip code’?
Experts say more air quality monitoring and better assessment methods are needed to understand how cumulative exposures to pollution affects communities. Planet Detroit was recently asked about the claim—frequently repeated by journalists—that Detroit’s 48217 zip code, home to the Boynton and Oakwood Heights neighborhoods, is Michigan’s “most polluted.” The commenter referred to this as a […]
Posted inCommunity
A peek inside ‘Yeah, What Lester Said’ environmental art exhibit
PARTNER CONTENT This weekend is the last opportunity to check out Yeah, What Lester Said , a free, online exhibition this summer that aims to tackle climate change. Named after activist Lester Brown, the exhibit aims to tackle climate change. Many of the artists are from Detroit, based here, or have works that represent the city […]
Posted inVoices
OPINION: Southwest Detroit and Downriver should form an environmental justice coalition
Air pollution respects no boundaries and impacts those who live adjacent to or downwind of the emitting sources. Since the industrial revolution, socially constructed laws and systems created urban environments where the most vulnerable in our society, those of low income and disenfranchised minorities, bear the costs of air pollution in our modern society. Detroit […]
Posted inAccountability
Metro Detroit’s environmental organizations are largely white. Some are working to change that.
“We have to grow caretakers. That means creating environments—indoors and outdoors—that have a culture of belonging from the top down. There’s a line that Artina Sadler likes to quote, from the engineer W. Edward Deming: “Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.” It is apt when it comes to environmental organizations, […]
Posted inCommunity
Nature cropping up in Midland lakes where dams failed
LANSING, Mich. — Nature is returning to craters left from lakes drained by two dams that failed in May during torrential rain in mid-Michigan. But not always in a good way. “Shortly after the water receded, you could look out over the exposed bottom lands of the lake and it was like looking at the […]
Posted inCommunity
Bridget Quinn joins Planet Detroit as an Artist in Residence
Quinn is an artist, activist and experimental nature therapy guide who invites people to reconnect with nearby nature using their senses and imaginations. Planet Detroit is pleased to announce that Bridget Quinn of the A.W.E. Society will be joining us for a Community Engagement Artist Residency! Bridget Quinn is an artist, activist, and experimental nature […]
Posted inCommunity
Introducing ‘Sidewalk Botany’ with the A.W.E. Society
Once I stopped immediately judging plants as weeds, the landscape became alive with stories. About five years ago I set out to recover from plant blindness. This has proven to be a deeply rewarding and at times, delicious, personal project. While some people focus on plants often sold at nurseries, I started my plant education […]