Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 299 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Chennai Ran Out of Water — But That's Only Half the Story

Erica Gies Dhritiman Mukherjee

October 30, 2020 |

bioGraphic |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: India, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

The city of Chennai in India is engaging in wetlands restoration and stormwater management by using traditional knowledge and community action to reduce flooding and ensure that people have access to drinking water. Through a development program called Water as Leverage, they are implementing “slow water” projects that restore flow paths for water, which could provide greater water resiliency for humans and protect and restore natural ecosystems. While it can be difficult to get government engineers to embrace green solutions, public awareness of the environmental work is helping move the projects forward.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Pee fanatics want to feed the world with your liquid gold

Katy Lee

October 07, 2020 |

Wired |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: France, Bordeaux

A French startup is turning urine into an environmentally-friendly fertilizer that could replace chemical products. Early tests suggest that the urine mixture created by Toopi Organics can compete with synthetic fertilizers, which end up in waterways and can alter lake and river ecosystems. While the organic fertilizer requires a significant amount of urine to make, it could be a viable alternative to grow crops.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Portland's mutual aid supports local Indigenous communities

Jessica Douglas

September 22, 2020 |

High Country News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Warm Springs Indian Reservation, United States, Oregon

Indigenous communities in need of clean drinking water have turned to aid from a Black-led nonprofit in Portland. Don't Shoot Portland raised $16,000 dollars for water and other basic supplies for the Warm Springs Tribe, which is dealing with a high infection rate of coronavirus in addition to old and faulty infrastructure which has left much of the tribe without water. Mutual aid groups have temporarily come to the rescue of indigenous communities who have been unable to receive adequate government funding to repair old water pipes.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Efforts To Save Hawaii's Forests Are Preventing A 'Freshwater Crisis'

Claire Caulfield

September 06, 2020 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Hawaii

Landowners, state employees, environmental groups, and local hunters are working together to protect Hawaii’s forests and drinking water by eradicating invasive plants from the state’s protected forests. By allowing native plants to flourish, these forests could help combat climate change by sequestering carbon and allowing freshwater quivers to recharge with rainfall. Since 2013, the state has built 132 miles of fence to keep grazers away from forests to prevent the spread of seeds of invasive plants. However, this method can be expensive; a 1,400-acre fence cost over a million dollars.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Blazing the trail: How coast slum flattened the curve

Winnie Atieno

September 04, 2020 |

Nation Africa |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Bangladesh

Although residents in Bangladesh were initially hesitant to take precautionary measures against COVID-19, once one county began reporting cases, the community took swift action. From implementing hand washing stations at the borders of the regions to teaching children and other community members how to make soap and face masks, Bangladesh has not only been able to flatten the curve of coronavirus cases, but has also been able to avoid the typical influx of cholera cases that occur during the rainy season.

Read More
Go to Original Story
What sewage can tell us about the spread of COVID-19

Jane C. Hu

September 02, 2020 |

High Country News |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Bozeman, Montana

Scientists in Bozeman, Montana are tracking community spread of COVID-19 by studying samples from the city’s wastewater. Although this form of tracking is more tedious and not necessarily as effective as testing individuals via a swab, the wastewater tracking program is able detect the virus and help health officials identify the area where it likely originated from.

Read More
Go to Original Story
The Warsaw Ghetto Can Teach The World How To Beat Back An Outbreak

Fran Kritz

September 02, 2020 |

NPR |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Poland, Warsaw

In the 1940s, typhus spread throughout the community living within the Warsaw ghetto, but cases dramatically decreased in the winter of 1941. While some researchers remain unsure why, others point towards a change in behavior that included increasing hygiene and nutrition practices and introducing social distancing.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Philadelphia Has Tried to Address Water Debt

Emily Nonko

September 01, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

An income-based payment structure has alleviated water debt in Philadelphia. Decreasing federal aid to municipal water utilities in conjunction with rising costs associated with climate change has increased the cost of water, making it unaffordable for many. Philadelphia created an income-based program, which caps water bills at three percent of income. The Tiered Assistance Program, or TAP, also provides debt elimination for those who make their minimum payments. Advocates have successfully pushed for similar reforms in Baltimore.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Organic fertilizers to lift African farmers out of poverty

Morgane le Cam

August 27, 2020 |

Heidi.news |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Burkina Faso, Koubri

After realizing that chemical fertilizer was doing more harm to the land than good in Burkina Faso, a Burkinese agronomist created a fertilizer from organic waste that has allowed the land to once again become fertile. Although the organic fertilizer promises a much higher increase in yields, chemical fertilizer is still widely used in the region.

Read More
Go to Original Story
With the Hippo Roller, a revolution in fetching water rolls on

Morgane le Cam

August 21, 2020 |

Heidi.news |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: South Africa

After realizing the difficulty that people in South Africa were facing when carrying water back to their communities, two South African engineers devised a machine "that brings all the water back in one trip by rolling it." Users report that while it does not perform well on steep terrain, it can carry much larger amounts of water "effortlessly and in a single trip." So far, 60,000 of these large plastic drums have been sold, but the cost of the machine is often a barrier for those who live below the poverty line.

Read More
Go to Original Story