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When Your Stuff Breaks, Don't Throw It Away — Go to These Cafes

Monica Humphries

April 05, 2019 |

NationSwell |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Netherlands, Amsterdam

Encouraging people to repair their broken items is an important step toward reducing consumer-generated waste. The Repair Cafe Foundation, a nonprofit based in the Netherlands, helps volunteers open their own repair cafes worldwide. So far, thirty-five countries have opened such cafes, with more expected as consumer-rights advocates push for “Right to Repair” legislation.

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School district turns unused cafeteria food into frozen, take-home meals for kids

Ashleigh Jackson

April 03, 2019 |

KPHO-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Elkhart, Indiana

Elkhart Community Schools in Indiana has teamed up with a nonprofit called Cultivate to provide meals for students who may go without food over the weekend. In this pilot program, 20 students will receive a backpack full of eight frozen meals made up of "rescued" food from the cafeteria that was made but never served. This initiative helps reduce food waste and ensure that students will not go hungry.

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'Plogging' fitness craze comes to Cleveland to clean streets

Homa Bash

March 26, 2019 |

WEWS-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Cleveland

A new fitness craze called plogging has taken Cleveland, Ohio by storm. Participants pick up trash while jogging, adding physical health to environmental benefits.

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Copenhagen Wants to Show How Cities Can Fight Climate Change

Somini Sengupta

March 25, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Denmark, Copenhagen

Copenhagen is doing its best to become net carbon neutral by 2025. With strong leadership from Mayor Frank Jenson, the city has installed wind turbines, a trash incinerator that also helps heat the city, and stronger bike lanes. Without national support, however, the city is fighting an uphill battle to protect itself from climate change.

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Waste to Wealth: How Kenyan farmers are bringing life back to degraded Lake Victoria swamps

Annika McGinnis

March 22, 2019 |

InfoNILE |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kisumu, Kisumu County

Families living in the wetlands of Lake Victoria in Kisumu, Kenya are working together with a nonprofit called Ecofinder Kenya to protect and conserve the wetlands they live on. The crux of the incentive centers around the Eocfinder toilet, which converts human and animal waste to biogas, but they also work with solar lamps, water pumps, and a "farmer-to-farmer" program in which farmers share environmentally-friendly expertise. The program has been going on for 3 years now, and the wetlands have since seen a return of wildlife and growth, particularly with fish and birds.

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Forget plastic bans: Colorado mountain towns try volunteerism, bootcamps as solutions to single-use

Tamara Chuang

March 22, 2019 |

The Colorado Sun |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Telluride, Colorado

In the mountain towns of Telluride and Mountain Village, locals are going beyond banning plastic bags and are thinking bigger about how to reduce single-use plastic. The Telluride Venture Accelerator focuses on bringing “startups in the plastics-alternative market” to Colorado. A local committee is also finding ways to encourage businesses to change their plastic habits, and together the local government initiatives and environmental startups will change consumption habits regionally.

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The Great American Cardboard Comeback

Michael Corkery

March 22, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Combined Locks, Wisconsin

Rather than close their doors for good, Wisconsin paper mills have adapted to the booming internet business and begun making something even Amazon needs: cardboard. Though traditional glossy paper sales have plummeted since the early 2000s, the demand for cardboard in the online shopping industry has skyrocketed, leaving an open market for American paper mill factories.

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Where Kids Fought Plastic Pollution—and Won

Fran Korten

March 20, 2019 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Bahamas

Earlier this year, a youth-led initiative called Bahamas Plastic Movement successfully convinced the government of the Bahamas to ban all single-use plastics across the country. The founder started a summer camp for Bahamian youth to focus on plastic pollution education and engaged youth in other smaller campaigns.

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Straws Made of Seaweed Could Replace Their Plastic Nemesis

Madison Dapcevich

March 14, 2019 |

EcoWatch |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

An innovative solution to the massive amount of plastic in our oceans is a new startup called Loliware. It produces 100% biodegradable straws "that look, feel, and act like plastic" but are actually made of seaweed. Not only do the straws decompose in a few weeks and are gluten-free, non-GMO, and sugar-free, but the process of creating them sequesters carbon dioxide, which further increases their positive environmental impact.

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This new recycling innovation could help fix our broken trash system

Adele Peters

March 08, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Haverhill, Ohio

A common type of plastic, Polypropylene, is usually “downcycled” - meaning it makes lower quality materials when recycled. A new innovation in recycling will allow it to be recycled into “virgin” material that is cost- and energy-effective and will have a broader range of uses, increasing the likelihood that plastic will end up in new material and not in a landfill. PureCycle Technologies has had such successful pre-sales that the first plant has 20 years worth of pre-orders.

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