Environment

UF researcher Treavor Boyer has devised a system that could cut up to 20 percent of UF's water usage. The system involves reducing the amount of water needed to fertilize Florida Field — by swapping nitrogen fertilizer for human urine.

Tourism in Hernando County has significantly increased in the last year, in large part to its outdoor recreation opportunities and mermaid shows. Hernando County has rebranded itself as Florida's "Adventure Coast."

JTC Farm Chicken Houses has started construction of a facility that will house up to 270,000 chickens. Legally, no wastewater permit is required for the operation. But local residents who live close to where the chicken farm is being built as well as the Ichetucknee Alliance have raised concerns about the possible increase on nitrate levels in the Floridan aquifer due to runoff from the chicken farm.

The Alachua County Planning Commission recommended Thursday night the adoption of an amendment to the Envision Alachua Sector Plan/Comprehensive Plan.

Claims of illegal baiting during Florida's 2015 Black Bear hunting season stir controversy. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission plans to issue an in-depth analysis of the hunt in a few weeks.

Red tide algal blooms have been discovered on the coasts of Florida. This organism has toxins that are harmful to marine life's central nervous systems and humans respiratory systems.

A group of University of Florida students has teamed up with the Alachua Conservation Trust to raise awareness for the Oval pigtoe mussel. The species, native to the Santa Fe River area, has been endangered since 1998.

UF is playing a large role across the nation in paving the way for decreasing harmful emissions caused by transportation by implementing Gator Gears, UF’s student bike rental program.

Founders Mike Myers and Sarah Goff created an environmental cooperative, The Repurpose Project, three years ago to help alleviate reusable trash from entering landfills. Today, Goff and Myer's efforts are widely celebrated throughout the Gainesville community with local residents joining in the festival of saving the planet through shared responsibility.