Common Groundwater
Michigan is defined by the Great Lakes that surround it. But there's a so-called sixth lake that’s critical to our state, too: our groundwater. It flows deeply through every community and to every corner of our peninsulas. Yet, we have so much more to learn about this natural feature.
Like groundwater, this podcast aims to reach across our state and reveal deeply nuanced stories of environmental threats and solutions through a lens of humanity. We go beyond the headlines to show you something grand yet personal to us all.
Episodes
12 episodes
Lines in the Sand - Gears in the Sand
Last episode, Tanya Cabala took us through the geologic, social and political histories of Michigan's globally special freshwater dunes. That last bit of history, the political, has recently not been too pretty.Emily Smith of the Michig...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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32:37
Cold One Cracked Open - A Better Bottle Bill
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 landscap...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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33:39
Turn of the Hourglass - Gears in the Sand
Michigan is home to the world's largest assemblage of freshwater dunes. They run up and down the west coast of the Lower Peninsula and dotted along the Upper Peninsula. They're beloved by just about anyone who visits (and many do), and they hel...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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38:22
Lightning in a Bottle - A Better Bottle Bill
Michigan’s bottle deposit system: Buy a beverage, pay a bit of upcharge, drink it, return it, get that upcharge back.It’s as routine an experience for us Michiganders as talking about the weather. Yet, it’s extremely powerful. It's a wa...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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33:33
From in the Red To in the Black - The Polluter Rulebook
Ink from recycled paper, of all things, was what polluted the Kalamazoo River Watershed so much, it was placed in two federal cleanup programs. Paper mills, oil spills, dams, manure—the "Kazoo" has seen it all. And yet, this watershed a...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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46:27
Permission to Pollute - The Polluter Rulebook
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 h...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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34:37
The Sentence - The Polluter Rulebook
Michigan’s environmental duties are defined by an act that is hundreds of thousands of words long. Included is 22,000 words that give our state its rules to fight pollution in our lakes and streams. These words stayed strong for yea...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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31:09
The Stove War - Project Greenprint
"God. Guns. Gas Stoves." That's what a prominent legislator posted on social media early in 2023. Welcome to the Stove War, a cultural flashpoint that pitted gas stoves against their electric counterparts. As with most viral debates, misinforma...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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42:33
Homes of the Future - Project Greenprint
Eric Schertzing considers land banks like a Veg-O-Matic. These entities offer a plethora of innovative ways to hold and redevelop properties in our communities. Eric joins us in the third episode of our Project Greenprint podcast miniseries to ...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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27:10
Up to Code - Project Greenprint
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....
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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32:30
Have a Haven? - Project Greenprint
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, cau...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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32:21