The Green Room

 Energy conservation is low-hanging fruit--no new technology, power plants or pipelines are required.  But it can be a stubborn nut to crack if there is no financial motivation to conserve, and the question of motivation all depends on who pays the bills. 

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Of 22 fatal crashes in Washtenaw County in 2012, six of those fatalities were bikes and pedestrians.  Some say our speed limits are too fast, while others say they are too low.  In this month's installment of WEMU's "The Green Room", Reporter Barbara Lucas explores the controversies regarding speed limits.  

When you buy a clove of garlic or jar of honey at the chain grocery store in your town, do you ever wonder where it came from? Chances are, it was produced in China. Think about the amount of fuel, and carbon emissions,  it must take to get those items to your table.  In this month's installment of WEMU's "The Green Room",  Reporter Barbara Lucas explores access to local foods and its impact on environment and community.  

Open natural areas such as meadows, prairies, and "oak openings" are declining habitats, which spells trouble for the species that depend on them.

Barbara Lucas reports:

Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti are increasingly becoming bicycle-friendly.  As residents throughout Washtenaw County look long and hard at how to better live sustainably in the future, this form of alternative transportation will only continue to grow. In this month's installment of WEMU's "The Green Room", Barbara Lucas explores where we are locally, and how we stack up against a city like Copenhagen, Denmark where 55-percent of the population commutes by bike.

Clean Water sustains life. And, clean water is dependent on a healthy watershed. Measuring the health of these watersheds is not just the job of scientists, As Barbara Lucas discovers in this months installment of WEMU's "The Green Room",  it also takes a virtual army of citizen volunteers.  

From a half-dozen college students with a beat up truck to a major business, Barbara Lucas traces the 35 year history of Recycle Ann Arbor on The Green Room from WEMU.

Being environmentally responsible, even in death.  A fascinating look at 'green burials' on The Green Room from WEMU.

This week on The Green Room, Barbara Lucas examines how available housing choices -- or the lack thereof -- in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, impact the level of greenhouse gasses.

On any given day, we waste a lot of food, whether it's during preparation, after it hits our plates, or because it's gone bad in the refrigerator.  Most of us probably don't think of this as an environmental issue, but it is.