For Friday, Jan. 10, 2020

1 – The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has recommended 21 community and state parks, trails and sports facilities to share $4.6 million in Land and Water Conservation Fund grants.

Projects recommended for funding include $300,000 for phase one development of a Thomas Township Nature Preserve in Saginaw County.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a federal program administered in Michigan by the Department of Natural Resources on behalf of the National Park Service. 

It’s supported by revenues from federal gas and oil development from the Gulf of Mexico. The project recommendations will be sent to the National Park Service for federal approval.

2 – January is Radon Action Month in Michigan.

Residents are encouraged to learn more about this environmental hazard and test their homes during the heating season.

You cannot see, smell or taste radon, and there are no short-term side effects. 

But long-term exposure to radon increases the risk of developing lung cancer. 

Behind smoking, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.

Officials say testing for radon is easy, inexpensive and the only way to know if a home has a problem. The problem can be easily fixed if detected. 

One in every four Michigan homes is expected to have radon levels exceeding the federal action level. 

For help getting a radon test kit and more information, go to Michigan.gov/Radon. 

3 – A representative and a senator from Kalamazoo have introduced bills to significantly expand Michigan’s 40-year-old “Bottle Bill,” modernize state recycling efforts and strengthen environmental conservation.

The legislators say the Bottle Bill was an innovative, effective approach to pollution prevention when it was first approved. But they say the state has failed to make updates needed to keep pace with change, including the explosion of single-use plastics. 

Michigan’s existing bottle deposit law provides a 10-cent refundable deposit on certain soft drinks, beers and other carbonated beverages. The bills would expand this deposit to all other non-carbonated beverages with the exception of milk containers.

If passed, Michigan would join four other states that already have added most non-carbonated beverages to their deposit laws. Those are California, Hawaii, Maine and Oregon, according to the Container Recycling Institute. 

– Mr. Great Lakes is heard Friday mornings in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Q-90.1 FM NPR (now streaming). Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes

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