Protecting The Great Lakes and Michigan's Water

In states across the country, Clean Water Action is tackling the PFAS pollution problem. PFAS (per- and polyflyoroalkyl substances) is known as the "forever chemical" because it persists in the environment and in our bodies. It is associated with a range of health harms from cancers to liver impacts to reproductive issues.  PFAS can impact communities in a variety of ways so we will be share updates from spots across the country in the coming weeks to highlight some of these local impacts. Stay tuned and let us know if you'd like to get involved locally!

In a very memorable episode of Seinfeld, Kramer and Newman take off in Newman’s mail truck loaded down with empty pop cans to return in Michigan for a tidy profit of 10 cents per can. The scheme was hatched in Jerry’s apartment, and their initial run was to be a sort of test to see whether or not a massive operation of muling pop cans into Michigan to defraud our bottle bill program was feasible.

It’s 2002. I’m seven years old and sitting at my dining room table with my mom, eating breakfast and drinking a glass of orange juice. My mom and I are laughing about something when I knock the glass over. The juice spills everywhere – on the table and floor as I stare at the mess in shock. My mom scrambles to the kitchen, grabs paper towels and hands them to me, saying “It’s ok, just clean up your mess.”