Weekly commentaries on the environment and appreciating the natural world, by Rob Kanter from the School of Earth, Society, and Environment at the University of Illinois.
Retrocommissioning is the analysis of the energy-dependent systems in a building—heating, ventilation and cooling, lighting—and then doing what’s necessary to get those systems operating as efficiently as possible
Illinois marks the northern limit of the range of the Alligator Snapping Turtle, but the Illinois Natural History Survey recently reintroduced 97 of these large freshwater turtles into a creek in southwestern Illinois
Halloween, the time of year people put up spider webs at home instead of taking them down, is also a great time to celebrate and explore some of the things that creep us out - like spiders
Progress on Illinois Climate Action Plan is a focus at U of I Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment
When people think about the landscape of central Illinois prior to European settlement they tend to think “prairie,” vast expanses of flat land covered in tall grass and tall flowers. And for the most part, that image is accurate. But groves of trees intruded on the grasslands here and there, especially on the eastern edges of rivers and streams, creating natural breaks to prairie fires driven by winds from the west.
Photovoltaic solar panels are going up all over Champaign-Urbana, from the Mass Transit District to churches and homes
Even if the heat and humidity of recent weeks have limited your time outdoors, I bet you’ve been hearing a familiar insect song. It’s the mating call of dog day cicadas, loud enough to rise above the drone of air conditioners and so persistent and widespread that people who hear can hardly miss it.
Recreational activities like fishing and wildlife spotting on rivers like the The Salt Fork River—and rivers like it across the country— can serve as a reminder that these rivers were once treated by industry as sewers and rendered unfit for use by wildlife or people. But during the course of just a few decades, they’ve come back, thanks in large part to the federal Clean Water Act that forced polluters to take responsibility for their waste.
High school students and incoming UIUC freshman participated in a summer classroom exercise called “Sustainable Futures” - their challenge was to save money for themselves and save the earth at the same time
The Woody Perennial Polyculture site at U of I's South Farms employs principles of what is known as permaculture - taking advantage of natural systems rather than constant technological intervention, replacing annual crops with perennial ones, and replacing monoculture with a diverse, complementary suite of crops
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