About NECO

Networked Neighborhoods for Eco-Conservation (NECO) is a new web-based system being developed by the Institute of Water Research (IWR) at Michigan State University to help individuals in the Great Lakes region map and share environmental practices they have installed at homes or businesses, such as rain barrels and rain gardens. The project was funded by the Great Lakes Protection Fund (GLPF) in 2008 as part of an information technology request for proposals. The GLPF was looking for a suite of projects to design, deploy, and evaluate information technology prototypes that permit individuals, institutions, and/or private corporations to make healthier choices for the Great Lakes ecosystem; IWR proposed building the NECO website.

The NECO site has three main goals:

1. increase the effectiveness of existing environmental groups and organizations
2. motivate people to adopt environmentally beneficial behaviors or practices
3. improve the health of the Great Lakes through the adoption of environmental stewardship practices

NECO uses the concept of social networking and mapping technology to link people together with common goals of improving the environment in the Great Lakes Basin or in their own back yard. Simple installations of rain barrels, rain gardens, porous pavement, and many other practices can add up to significant improvements in your watershed or neighborhood.

 

What can you do on NECO?

The NECO website strives to encourage individuals, business, and organizations to install green practices that benefit the health of the Great Lakes by promoting infiltration, filtration, and temporary storage of storm water to reduce sediment, nutrients, and contaminants that enter local streams and end up in the Great Lakes. The website provides a variety of tools that help connect individuals doing similar activities in the Great Lakes basin. With NECO you can:

Map and showcase your green practice

View other practices near you

Contribute to improving the health of the Great Lakes

Access high resolution aerial photography

Learn more about green practices

Network and share photos with others

Calculate how much water you manage with your rain barrel, rain garden, or other practice

Build environmental reports for your neighborhood or the Great Lakes

Maple River

Allen Neighborhood

Learn more!  

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