Education

Minnesota’s lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and groundwater are valuable public resources. In addition to being powerful symbols of our state, they provide drinking water, recreational and tourism opportunities, wildlife habitat, water for agriculture and industrial…

There could be some in your medicine cabinet right now — unused prescription drugs you’ve just forgotten about. Proper disposal keeps them from being misused or contaminating our fragile rivers and lakes, and now it’s…

Take a look in your closet. What do you see? Clothes you wear? Clothes you never wear? You’re probably not thinking that’s a lot of plastic. Plastic —polyester, acrylic, nylon, and other synthetic fibers—is about…

The Adopt-A-River program encourages Minnesota volunteers to “adopt” a section of a river, lake, wetland, ditch or ravine to ensure its long-term health through annual cleanups. The Adopt-A-River Program is part of the Department of…

It turns out that plain soap and water is just as effective as antibacterial soaps for keeping hands clean and germ free. But Triclosan, the chemical compound added to some liquid soaps, toothpaste, cosmetics and…

Using street sweepers is more than just for aesthetic purposes.  The food wrappers and cigarette butts are an eye sore, but the sand and salt on the streets are just as much of a nuisance….

High temperatures can bring harmful algal blooms Algae, microscopic aquatic plants, are a natural part of any aquatic ecosystem. Most algae are harmless, but under the right conditions certain types of algae can pose health…