So obviously as a PitE and Earth double major I’m interested in environmental issues and I couldn’t help but to notice the phrase “The Greening of Detroit” being thrown around as something that’s becoming a big thing here. Like all cities Detroit has problems with air pollution, toxic land from old buildings, energy and water shutoffs, economic challenges and on top of that a very large population. Surprisingly when searching “greening Detroit” on Google news few things showed up. I found many more articles when I searched negative things like “Detroit environmental issues” and “Detroit environmental problems”. In fact on the list of problems that I mentioned above, many of them I have learned about through other people in the DCBRP. That is all of them except for toxic land from old buildings. In this article I found out just how big of an issue this is in Detroit. Though this article talks about things mostly from a financial perspective, I never realized how much dangerous property the city owns. I’ve always know that there are many problems with old landfills, but I never realized just how many old buildings used toxic building materials and how easily these pollutants can enter the ground. Working at DPS I have seen this problem first hand at the old school buildings that are closed. I know that DPS has been looking out for many of it’s students in ways that I would have never even thought of. For the gardening part of the Go Green Challenge, schools are required to build their gardens in elevated boxes with soil that have gone through extensive tests for safety. I’m glad that DPS wants this program to not only be a learning opportunity for students but also valuable for the schools, They’ve made sure that the food grown in these gardens can actually be used in the school kitchens and are safe for students to eat. Go DPS for being awesome!
Link for article again if you missed the hyperlink: http://www.dcbureau.org/201308268919/natural-resources-news-service/detroits-toxic-legacy-bankrupt-city-faces-environmental-challenges.html
