Folks come to a "minimalist" lifestyle in a variety of ways. Maybe they're empty-nesters looking to downsize. Maybe they've come under the spell of an author or a TV show that encourages decluttering.

We talk with Karina Heim, Coastal Training Program (CTP) Coordinator, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve about tonight's River Talk , part of a monthly series of informal talks about the St. Louis River Estuary. This evening's topic is " Handling Hazards and Dealing with Disasters: Emergency Management in the Estuary ."

Dr. Josef Pesch isn't having it. "All I heard was 'this is impossible,'" he says. "So boring." A leader in Germany's community-focused renewable energy transition, Pesch dismisses the naysayers who thought the energy grid could only withstand 3-5% renewable energy or it would be "the end of the world." 50-100% later, Pesch says the world hasn't ended.

If you're getting a little bored with seed catalogs, the Duluth Community Garden Program has several things to spark your enthusiasm for spring gardening. The DCGP's spring registration opens next month for returning gardeners, in March for those on waiting lists and in April for the public. And the new GIS (Geographic Information Systems) -created garden maps let you explore your garden online whenever you need a bit of spring - plus it shows plots available for rent and how to rent them!

In a world with precious little good news, a conversation with the executive director of the St. Louis River Alliance is like a refreshing dip in ... well, the St. Louis River.

Rural communities worried about shrinking populations and fewer jobs. Low-income people for whom solar energy is out of reach financially or not an option because they rent. But what if an entire community could have a solar energy system, and folks already qualifying for energy assistance could get those benefits, too? Could there really be an option that's good for the environment, helps lift people out of poverty and provides jobs and economic development or small communities? Rural Renewable

Less ash than coal. Less mercury and sulfur than coal. No need for costly retrofits. Uses less energy, smaller carbon footprint and its an environmentally-friendly biofuel. And you make this new fuel using the residuals you get when you thin forests to prevent forest fires.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes says it takes about a hundred years for people to transition from one energy source to another -- no matter how appealing the new energy source might be. But do we have that kind of time? KUMD's Adam Reinhardt has the story. Energy: A Human History is published by Simon & Schuster. [ This story originally aired on November 21, 2018, and was re-aired on December 26, 2018 .]

Moving water from the Great Lakes to drought-stricken parts of the country: environmental justice or enabling unsustainable water practices? That's just one of the topics Northland College's Peter Annin tackles in his book Great Lake Water Wars , and in this conversation with KUMD's Adam Reinhardt.

The Imagine Canal Park project wrapped up last month and now it's time to crunch the data and evaluate what worked and what didn't . Folks haven't heard the last of it, though: there are plans to go ahead with Cold Front February again this year and once the artists get done with them, you may be paying more attention to those utility boxes than you ever thought you might.