Civic Engagement and Elections in Michigan

When Dana Nessel was sworn in as Michigan’s Attorney General in January of 2019, an era of overdue reform and renewed advocacy for the people of Michigan began. For years before, the Attorney General’s office had largely served to protect corporate interests at the expense of Michigan residents and the natural resources on which we all rely.

To celebrate Clean Water Action's 50th anniversary, we’re sharing our history and journey with the people who have joined us along the way as we worked to protect clean water through #CleanWater50Stories. Michigan Senator Jeff Irwin has long been a champion on the issues that affect water resources in Michigan and the Great Lakes. In his time in the Michigan State House Senator Irwin received Clean Water Action’s Lawmaker of the Year Award and has continued to be a strong environmental advocate in the state Senate.

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.