Sustainability : Featured Stories

With the help of advocates such as the Toledo-based Center for Innovation in Food Technology, Ohio's food innovators enhance what's natural, create new products, and make food safer and more convenient.

Stormwater run-off can overflow sewers, flood homes, erode roads and stream banks, and pollute waterways. Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District seeks to address these issues. Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, manager of watershed programs for NEORSD, explains what that means for residents.

One creative Cleveland developer has partnered with local nonprofits to turn urban blight into fallow, flipping dilapidated vacant homes for as much as it would cost to demolish them. The frugal concept works courtesy of a keen focus on minimalism, material reuse and upcycling.

With help from incubators, venture capitalists and nonprofits, Ohio's smaller cities -- including Dayton, Youngstown and Athens -- are fast becoming centers for new ideas and innovation outside of the big 3C cities.

As new VP of operations for the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp (LEEDCo), Dave Karpinski will guide the organization through the next phase in the process of building the nation’s first freshwater offshore wind project. With its first round of financing in tow, LEEDCo must now compete for a critical second infusion of funds against six other projects across the country.

As part of the city's 10-year initiative Sustainable Cleveland 2019, 2013 is being called the Year of Advanced and Renewable Energy. Evidenced by measures big and small -- both civic and private -- Cleveland continues to inch toward becoming a "Green City on a Blue Lake."

Wind farm? Check. Biogas facilities that turn waste into fuel? Check. Thanks to state legislation requiring renewables, alt energy projects are popping up across Ohio, creating jobs and powering our economy.