Tag: sustainable

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Celebrate the Yule Book Flood with these books on sustainability issues

Tabletop showing an open book, a string of lights, Christmas ornaments, an unlit candle, and a bowl of tangerines and candy.
Photo by Sabina Sturzu on Unsplash

Temperatures are dropping and many of us are once again doing our winter holiday shopping. Some people find generating gift ideas overwhelming in the best of times, and with rising costs, funding and workforce cuts, and other issues, this year may feel even more tumultuous. To help instill a sense of hygge (a Danish and Norwegian word related to comfort, content, and coziness), this post will focus on another northern tradition—the Icelandic Christmas Book Flood, also known as the Yule Book Flood or Jólabókaflóð.

Iceland has a rich literary history, and after World War II, like many other countries, it was rebuilding its economy and restricting imports. Paper was a commodity that remained relatively cheap, and there were fewer restrictions on paper-based products. So, books were more commonly imported items and thus became popular as Christmas gifts. The tradition of books as holiday gifts officially began in 1944 with the first publication of the Journal of Books (Bókatíðindi), an annual catalog of newly published books that is distributed to all Icelandic houses for free at the beginning of the holiday season (today it’s available online as well as being sent by post). The basic tradition includes the presentation of books as gifts on Christmas Eve, followed by settling down to read and enjoy drinks and snacks. According to Erika Ebsworth-Goold, “No matter how the books are doled out, once they’re opened, and favorites are selected, it’s time to settle and snuggle in for a nice, restful read that helps block out winter’s chill. There’s usually hot chocolate, jólabland (a curious Icelandic combination of brown ale and orange soda), other sweet treats, and a calming sense of quiet, reserved togetherness. It’s tough to imagine anything more peaceful or perfect.”

If you’d like to try out this cozy-sounding tradition, the following books related to sustainability issues might be suitable gifts for loved ones or additions to your own wish list. Both non-fiction and fiction titles are included. This list is by no means exhaustive, and additional resources are offered to guide further exploration of sustainability-related titles.

And while we’re on the subject of books, it should be noted that ISTC’s Sustainability Information Curator and librarian extraordinaire, Laura Barnes, is preparing to retire at the end of December 2025 after 34 years of service. If you’ve had the chance to work with Laura, you may want to contact her and wish her well. Cheers, Laura!

As always, links, companies, or products included in this post are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as endorsements by ISTC, the Prairie Research Institute, or the University of Illinois. Happy holidays!

Non-fiction

  • Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katherine Hayhoe. This book can help readers learn how to talk about climate change with anyone, even those whose worldviews are very different from their own.
  • What if We Get it Right? Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. “Sometimes the bravest thing we can do while facing an existential crisis is imagine life on the other side…With clear-eyed essays, vibrant interviews, data, poetry, and art, Ayana guides us through solutions and possibilities at the nexus of science, policy, culture, and justice.”
  • The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late by Judith Enck and Adam Mahoney. “The Problem with Plastic critically examines the paradox of this material, first celebrated for its innovations and now recognized for its devastating environmental and public health impacts…the book reveals how plastic pollution contributes to poisoned oceans, polluted air, a warming planet, and overwhelming waste, disproportionately impacting marginalized communities who bear the brunt of petrochemical pollution.”
  • Composting for a New Generation: Latest Techniques for the Bin and Beyond by Michelle Balz explains the science behind compost, provides tips for using compost, and explores techniques including traditional bin composting (with DIY instructions for building your own bin), vermicomposting, using black soldier fly larvae, keyhole gardens, and trench composting.
  • The Zero-Waste Chef: Plant Forward Recipes and Tips for a Sustainable Kitchen and Planet by Anne-Marie Bonneau. The popular blogger turned author says ‘In my decade of living with as little plastic, food waste, and stuff as possible, I’ve learned that “zero-waste” is above all an intention, not a hard-and-fast rule. Because, while one person eliminating all their waste is great, if thousands of people do 20 percent better it will have a much bigger impact on the planet. The good news is you likely already have all the tools you need to begin to create your own change at home, especially in the kitchen.’
  • Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth. The author, an Oxford economist, explains a framework for creating a “safe and just space for humanity” between 12 social foundations (based upon the UN Sustainable Development Goals) and nine planetary boundaries which represent ecological limits beyond which the Earth’s environmental system may not be able to self-regulate. Her diagram of this framework resembles a doughnut, with an interior ring where humanity can thrive while maintaining planetary stability.

Fiction

  • All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall. “In the years after the glaciers melt, Nonie, her older sister and her parents and their researcher friends have stayed behind in an almost deserted New York City, creating a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History. The rule: Take from the exhibits only in dire need. They hunt and grow their food in Central Park as they work to save the collections of human history and science. When a superstorm breaches the city’s flood walls, Nonie and her family must escape north on the Hudson. They carry with them a book that holds their records of the lost collections…they encounter communities that have adapted in very different and sometimes frightening ways to the new reality. But they are determined to find a way to make a new world that honors all they’ve saved.” Note that this and the next book listed are examples of “climate fiction,” also known as “cli-fi.”
  • Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta. “The world is a landscape of drought and risen seas. A military regime controls the remaining freshwater resources with an iron grip. In the far north, seventeen-year-old Noria Kaitio is the last in the long line of tea masters. She must soon take responsibility for a secret carefully guarded by her predecessors: her family has been caring for a hidden freshwater spring for generations. As the army turns its attention towards the tea master’s house, Noria learns that knowledge and power are irrevocably connected – and that her choices will determine the fate of everyone she loves.”
  • How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue. “Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price.”
  • Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation edited by Phoebe Wagner and Brontë Christopher Wieland is an anthology of short stories, artwork, and poetry from the “solarpunk” genre. According to Wikipedia, the genre “works to address how the future might look if humanity succeeded in solving major contemporary challenges with an emphasis on sustainability, human impact on the environment, and addressing climate change and pollution.” The publisher’s description says the book “focuses on the stories of those inhabiting the crucial moments when great change can be made by people with the right tools; stories of people living during tipping points, and the spaces before and after them; and stories of those who fight to effect change and seek solutions to ecological disruption.”
  • 108: An Eco-Thriller by Dheepa R. Maturi. “While working the night shift at a San Francisco news agency, Bayla Jeevan has a shocking out-of-body experience. Her consciousness is transported deep into an Indian forest, where she witnesses a noxious liquid spreading through the soil. At the same time, she receives a message from her father, presumed dead for fifteen years, warning her of imminent danger. Coincidence? Unlikely. Halfway around the world, agrochemical corporation ZedChem-led by billionaire Krakun Zed-tests its latest innovation, a product heralded as the solution to topsoil erosion. But the data reveals something else entirely…In this action-packed eco-thriller, the bonds of family-and the power to save Earth-are put to the test.”
  • Cast Away: Poems for Our Time by Naomi Shihab Nye. “Acclaimed poet and Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye shines a spotlight on the things we cast away, from plastic water bottles to those less fortunate, in this collection of more than eighty original and never-before-published poems…With poems about food wrappers, lost mittens, plastic straws, refugee children, trashy talk, the environment, connection, community, responsibility to the planet, politics, immigration, time, junk mail, trash collectors, garbage trucks, all that we carry and all that we discard, this is a rich, engaging, moving, and sometimes humorous collection for readers ages twelve to adult.”

Additional resources

  • Environmental Novels. This University of Illinois LibGuide compiled by Laura Barnes, Lauren Bordson Dodge, and Charlotte Roh serves as a guide to juvenile, young adult, and adult novels with environmental themes, generally focused on pollution and climate change. It also highlights environmental book awards to help you keep abreast of new and notable titles.
  • Dragonfly.eco. Curated by Mary Woodbury, this site ‘explores the wild, crazy, and breathtaking literary trail of eco-fiction, with a large book database, spotlights, interviews, and more. Our motto is “blowing your mind with wild words and worlds.”’
  • The Greatest Nonfiction Books of All Time on Sustainability. You may not agree with the rankings on this site, but it will certainly provide fodder for your “to read” list.
  • 25 Inspiring Climate Change Books to Read This Year written by Deena Robinson for Earth.org.

Other (non-book) gift ideas

These previous ISTC blog posts may provide some inspiration for the non-readers on your list. Please note that due to the age of these posts, some links included in them may no longer be available.

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Holiday gifts with sustainability in mind

Alma mater and block-I shaped cookies on a plate among other cookies
Illinois-themed Alma Mater and Block I holiday cookies. Credit: UI Public Affairs, Fred Zwicky.

Whichever winter holiday(s) you observe, odds are ‘tis the season for gift giving. Even if you don’t observe any of the major winter holidays, you’ll surely think about gifts at some point in the near future to celebrate a special occasion. If you’d like to align your gifts with sustainable values, the following ideas and resources might be helpful. Please note that links and companies mentioned in this post are for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as endorsements by ISTC, the Prairie Research Institute, or the University of Illinois.

Give an Experience

Many of us are fortunate enough to have plenty of “stuff” already, and if that’s the case for your intended recipient, consider an alternative to giving them more material goods. Experiences can often be more meaningful and personalized than physical gifts and presenting them can be an opportunity to start a conversation about consumption and its impacts on resource use, though one should not equate gifting experiences with avoiding consumption. Experiences still involve the use of material goods and consumption of resources; e.g., cooking someone their favorite dinner still requires the use of cookware, energy, and ingredients that themselves require natural resources to grow, raise, or manufacture. However, some gifted experiences may use items or resources that you or your recipient already own or would consume regardless of the special occasion. Continuing the previous example, you’re not likely to buy new pots or appliances to cook dinner, and since your recipient would need to eat anyway, there would always be impacts associated with the ingredients for the meal. Of course, other experiences may involve situations outside normal day-to-day circumstances that necessitate the use of resources (e.g., fuel for travel) we would not otherwise consume. Taking a spouse on a dream vacation or treating your best friend to a concert performance by their favorite band are examples. In such instances, it’s important to remember that giving an experience is less about avoiding resource use than shifting human attitudes and focus. The goal when gifting an experience is not to completely avoid consumption–we all consume resources as part of being alive. Rather, giving an experience shifts the focus away from material items as ends in themselves toward human interactions and the associated memories that will endure longer than most physical gifts possibly could. Memories are durable gifts! As a person who cares about sustainability, you can still try to incorporate responsible consumption into the equation if possible—perhaps by using local, sustainably harvested ingredients for the special dinner you’re preparing, buying carbon off-sets for the travel to that dream destination, or taking public transportation to the concert. The key is sharing or fostering experiences fulfills the human need for authentic connection rather than human desires for material goods, and reinforces the idea that relationships matter more than stuff. Valuing relationships between living things (in this case between people) is essential to thinking about ecosystems and the mindset that humans are a part of, rather than apart from, the rest of the natural world. Valuing relationships/connections can build a foundation for more sustainable behavior.

Give to Charity

Another option is to make a donation in honor of your loved one to a charitable organization that resonates with their interests and values. If you aren’t already aware of a specific group dear to their heart, you can search Charity Navigator at https://www.charitynavigator.org/ to find organizations by cause. The results display ratings, if Charity Navigator has adequate information to calculate one, based on “the cost-effectiveness and overall health of a charity’s programs, including measures of stability, efficiency, and sustainability.” You can filter the results by ratings, different aspects of performance (called “Beacons” on the site), state, organization size, and other factors. For example, I entered the term “sustainability” into the site’s search bar with the state filter “IL.” Charity Navigator also produces curated lists of charities, including “Where to Give Now,” “Popular Charities,” and “Best Charities.” As examples, check out the List of Best Women’s Charities, the “Where to Give Now” list for the Hawaii Wildfires, the List of Most Popular Charities. You can of course always enter keywords into Google or another search engine, but you might appreciate having Charity Navigator do some of the virtual “leg work” for you and having their expert analysis.

Note that your donation need not be monetary—you could donate your time or skills through volunteering. You might use your social media experience to help with promotion and online engagement for the literacy program for which your wife works, for example. You might even combine supporting a good cause important to your loved one with gifting an experience. For example, you might arrange to volunteer with an animal-loving friend at the local Humane Society shelter or pick up litter with your dad at his favorite nature preserve.

Give Gifts that Foster Reuse and Waste Reduction

Maybe you want to give your favorite waste reduction wonk items to help them get closer to the ideal of zero generation, but all you can think of are reusable coffee cups and cloth grocery bags which you know they already own. Here are some ideas and lists from which to draw inspiration.

Give Gifts that Reduce Dependence on Fossil Fuels

Friends don’t let friends rack up avoidable greenhouse gas emissions. Consult the following guides for some quick tips.

Give Gifts Free of PFAS

According to PFAS Central, a project of the Green Science Policy Institute, “PFAS, sometimes referred to as PFCs or highly fluorinated chemicals, are used in many consumer products and industrial applications because of their oil-, stain-, and water-repellent properties. Examples of chemicals in this class include PFOA, PFOS, and more than 3000 related compounds. The most studied of these substances is a chemical called PFOA, which is linked to kidney and testicular cancer, elevated cholesterol, decreased fertility, and thyroid problems and decreased immune response to vaccines in children. The most studied of these substances is a chemical called PFOA, which is linked to kidney and testicular cancer, elevated cholesterol, decreased fertility, and thyroid problems and decreased immune response to vaccines in children.” PFAS persist in the environment and pollute even the most remote places. Check out ISTC’s information and work on PFAS. This recent video from Bloomberg tells the fascinating story of how one woman uncovered how PFAS pollution became prevalent in her area.

So, these substances are clearly bad news for human and environmental health, but they’re in lots of consumer products—how can you help friends and family avoid exposure? Check out https://pfascentral.org/pfas-free-products/ for a list of PFAS-free outdoor gear, apparel, shoes, personal care products, baby gear, furniture, food ware, carpets and rugs, textiles, and home maintenance products.

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ISTC Technical Assistance Program launches new webpages

TAP homepage

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Technical Assistance Program (TAP) has a new web presence. You may now find information on TAP at https://go.illinois.edu/techassist.

TAP makes companies and communities more competitive and resilient with sustainable business practices, technologies, and solutions. TAP works at the intersection of industry, science, and government to help organizations achieve profitable, sustainable results.

The new website makes it easier to find information on TAP programs, services, and projects. Visitors can sign up for free site visits or learn about fee-for-service opportunities to engage our sustainability experts. Any Illinois organization, business, manufacturing facility, institute of higher learning, government entity, public utility, or institution may request one free site visit (per location) at no cost to the facility.

General inquiries may be addressed to istc-info@illinois.edu. You may also reach out to specific TAP team members for assistance in their areas of expertise.

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Ten: 10 Days of ISTC; Anniversary Presentation Video

30thBlogThing10Videos of presentations at ISTC’s anniversary event provide a fascinating look at problems of pollution contamination in Illinois and how the Center contributed to the clean up. Links to the videos will be made available over the next two weeks as they become available.

ISTC Looks Back, and to the Future During Anniversary

VIDEO 10: Mark Ryan After leading the assembly in “Happy Birthday” to ISTC, Ryan shared a brief survey of the history of “sustainability in the modern context.” In 1980, sustainable development was called a global priority in “World Conservation Strategy” published by the International Union for of Conservation of Nature.

 

The United Nation’s Bruntland Commission defined it in 1987: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

 

But sustainability in the sense of natural resources goes back thousands of years to so many cultures across the globe that Ryan said he was comfortable labeling it a “universal truth.”

 

For examples in ancient times he cited, “Deuteronomy’s” caution not to kill female birds with young, forest management practiced in the Han Dynasty, and the Roman latifundium which managed the production of wood and other crops. Ryan noted that when Rome fell, and latifundia disappeared, so did many of the forests in Italy and France.

 

Ryan continued to offer examples of preserving resources for future use through the centuries, right up to the establishment of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center in 1985.

 

ALL VIDEOS and other ISTC 30th Anniversary information is available at this ISTC web page.

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Nine: 10 Days of ISTC; Anniversary Celebration Videos

30thBlogThing2Videos of presentations at ISTC’s anniversary event provide a fascinating look at problems of pollution contamination in Illinois and how the Center contributed to the clean up. Links to the videos will be made available over the next two weeks as they become available.

ISTC Looks Back, and to the Future During Anniversary

VIDEO 9: State Senator Scott Bennett’s presentation gave insights on how policies work their way through the state legislature. For 10 years politics, policy and science questions surrounded a proposal to store PCBs and manufactured gas plant waste in a DeWitt County landfill positioned over the Mohamet Aquifer.

 

He has been active in promoting legislation to protect the aquifer, which is a critical source of drinking water for a large region of central Illinois. Another pending bill to protect the state’s natural infrastructure is a comprehensive program to monitor the quality of air, water, and land resources. Also, a proposed law would allow cities to collect fees from power plants to prepare for the costs of environmental cleanup when the plant eventually closes down.

 

NEXT UP: Mark Ryan, PRI executive director, “A Brief History of Sustainability.”

 

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Eight: 10 Days of ISTC; Anniversary Presentation Videos

30thBlogThing9Videos of presentations at ISTC’s anniversary event provide a fascinating look at problems of pollution contamination in Illinois and how the Center contributed to the clean up. Links to the videos will be made available over the next two weeks as they become available.

ISTC Looks Back, and to the Future During Anniversary

VIDEO 8: Jerri-Anne Garl represented the federal Environmental Protection Agency during the ISTC Anniversary Celebration. Since EPA’s pollution prevention program started in the early 1990s, ISTC “has been one of our most effective and innovative partners,” Garl said. “ISTC itself has served as a model for other state programs.” She outlined successes of ISTC programs in assisting local communities and small companies, as well as major manufacturers, save money, water, energy, and make their operations more environmentally friendly.

 

Garl reviewed federal priorities for the EPA: 1) making a visible difference in communities; addressing climate change and improving air quality; launching a new era of state, tribal and local partnerships; and embracing EPA as a high performing organization. She added that the agency has set three emphasis areas for its work: climate change, food manufacturing, and hazardous materials mitigation.

 

“We believe that the ISTC is really well-positioned with the tools, experience, connections and the innovative spirit, to be a central partner in this effort.

 

NEXT UP: Scott Bennett, Illinois Senate (52 Dist. D), “Protecting Our Environment.”

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Seven: 10 Days of ISTC; Anniversary Presentation Videos

30thBlogThing8Videos of presentations at ISTC’s anniversary event provide a fascinating look at problems of pollution contamination in Illinois and how the Center contributed to the clean up. Links to the videos will be made available over the next two weeks as they become available.

ISTC Looks Back, and to the Future During Anniversary

VIDEO 7: Kevin Greene’s career in the environmental arena spans almost 30 years, including nearly 20 years at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. During the early days of the pollution prevention movement, he viewed the reaction against environmental contamination from several perspectives — as an environmental issues consultant, lobbyist, and regulator.

 

He noted that during the 1970s there was a wave of federal environmental laws which represented a change in the environmental community from public activists for change working from outside institutions to working inside them. Early regulations were also aimed at dealing with managing pollution after it was created.

 

A second wave of community activism developed in the 1980s over concern about how effectively industrial by-products were being handled, and their potential health impacts, he said. “Specialists or technocrats” continued to be “at the table” in seeking waste management solutions, but public activists were growing less trusting, he recalled.

 

Activists’ focus shifted away from calls for regulations that manage pollutants to local level activism to halt proposed storage/disposal facilities.  Increasingly the questions became “why is waste being generated in the first place” and the response shifted to getting critical information about pending waste projects to affected communities.

 

NEXT UP: Jerri-Anne Garl, U.S. EPA, “Working with ISTC on Pollution Prevention: Past Accomplishments and Future Opportunities from a Federal Perspective.”

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Six: 10 Days of ISTC; Anniversary Presentation Videos

30thBlogThing6Videos of presentations at ISTC’s anniversary event provide a fascinating look at problems of pollution contamination in Illinois and how the Center contributed to the clean up. Links to the videos will be made available over the next two weeks as they become available.

ISTC Looks Back, and to the Future During Anniversary

 

VIDEO 6: Timothy Lindsey As long-time head of technical assistance at the Center, Timothy Lindsey, helped pioneer more effective technical assistance efforts by applying the principals of innovation diffusion. He recalled he and his colleagues at the Center were frustrated when they made recommendations that would clearly save money and trim waste, yet often they were not adopted.

 

As part of his doctoral studies, Lindsey began to apply the ideas of Everett M. Rogers in his book “Diffusion of Innovation.” Innovations are initially perceived as uncertain and even risky, Lindsey said. They must be demonstrated in the context of the scale and type of the existing process. Innovations are most likely to be shared among trusted peers and the process can be slow.

 

Lindsey explained that sustainability in an innovative way of doing business, similar to innovations like the assembly line or electronic commerce. Following innovations in sustainable business, he said,  financial performance, environmental performance and social performance must be considered over the long term.

 

Now Global Director of Sustainable Development at Caterpillar Inc., Lindsey has applied principles of innovation diffusion to the multi-national manufacturer. Sustainability has long been important at Caterpillar, he said. But 2104 was a formative year at the company when sustainability became more than just an important thing they do. “Sustainability became an important part of who we are,” as one of the corporation’s core value, he said.

 

NEXT UP: Kevin Greene, “Pollution Prevention: Looking Back Towards the Future.”

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Five: 10 Days of ISTC; Anniversary Presentation Videos

30thBlogThing7Videos of presentations at ISTC’s anniversary event provide a fascinating look at problems of pollution contamination in Illinois and how the Center contributed to the clean up. Links to the videos will be made available over the next two weeks as they become available.

ISTC Looks Back, and to the Future During Anniversary

VIDEO 5: Jeff Levengood, spoke about the strong collaboration between ISTC and the other four state surveys during its history. The diverse expertise of the scientists at the Prairie Research Institute’s four other surveys — spanning water, geology, natural history, and archaeology — enabled them to examining complex, place-based, legacy environmental contamination and degradation issues.

 

The work resulted in research reports published by the center, but also in refereed journal articles. He said this work helped communities around Illinois in managing their contamination problems but the collaborations also made significant contributions to the knowledge base in the field.

 

At Lake Calumet, Waukegan Harbor, Lake DePue and other post-industrial natural habitats, the surveys studied exposure and uptake of pollution by wildlife. They tracked changes in habits including nesting, foraging, reproduction in the birds, fish and the greater ecosystem. The information helped lead to innovative restoration projects at compromised sites in the state.

 

“I think we have to be proud,” Levengood said, “anybody that was involved in those early studies, because we really kind of kicked this off and helped to show what could be, what was possible.”

 

He quoted Nicole Kamins Barker, who worked on the Lake Calumet restoration as part of the Chicago Department of Environment, who said “The Surveys’ involvement took our work in the Calumet region to a new level of effectiveness by merging the latest scientific research with natural resource planning and management.”

 

NEXT UP: Timothy Lindsey, “Incorporating Innovation into Pollution Prevention and Sustainability.”

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Four: 10 Days of ISTC; Anniversary Presentation Video

30thBlogThing4Videos of presentations at ISTC’s anniversary event provide a fascinating look at problems of pollution contamination in Illinois and how the Center contributed to the clean up. Links to the videos will be made available over the next two weeks as they become available.

ISTC Looks Back, and to the Future During Anniversary

VIDEO 4: Craig Colten While working at the Center, Craig Colten, conducted pioneering longitudinal analyses of manufacturing techniques in urban manufacturing sites throughout the state.  The work accounted for changing hazardous materials produced and changing waste handling practices over more than 100 years.

 

The research was valuable for understanding not just current threats but residues from long forgotten industrial sites. Building on this data, Colten was able to construct a general historical geographic model in urban areas, as well as a series of tools and applications including a Historical Hazardous Substance Data Base and a Historical Hazards Geographic Information System. These tools helped establish the ground work for Superfund litigation and the ability to support real estate transactions.

 

Colten and others at the Center became national leaders in sustainability by addressing emerging concerns about brownfields, as well as abandoned, derelict sites, especially sites where the industrial land use changed several times. He established the long-term relationship of industry and environment — adding a time component to our the state of knowledge about what was toxic, how wastes were managed, what was the technology for managing wastes, and what was the regulatory framework then.

 

Later Colten co-authored “The Road to Love Canal: Managing Industrial Waste before EPA.” Today he is Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography, Louisiana State University.

 

NEXT UP: Jeff Levingood, “ISTC and the Other Surveys: Working Together to Solve Illinois’ Legacy Pollution Issues.”