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The Eco-Friendlier Future of the Disposable Spork

Michaela Haas

February 11, 2022 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Germany, Schwedt

A clean-tech startup in Germany is producing sustainable food packaging out of agricultural waste as an alternative solution to single-use plastic. Bio-Lutions claims its products are compostable and uses less water than other products, but the material used won’t work for some food items like hot beverages. The company already has investors such as Delivery Hero that will use its products when the factory is producing compostable packaging.

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Restaurant Resiliency Program's Rocky Start Tests East Harlem Restaurants

Aina de Lapparent Alvarez

February 10, 2022 |

NY City Lens |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The Restaurant Resiliency Program, which was adapted as a government initiative during COVID, tied up restaurants with charities with the aim of ensuring that vulnerable communities had access to meals while the restaurants were able to keep their business running in those uncertain times. However, when the funding abruptly ended on February 3 without reaching all the beneficiary restaurants, it showed how the much-needed program required better implementation and thought.

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The urine revolution: how recycling pee could help to save the world

Chelsea Wald

February 09, 2022 |

Nature |

Photojournalism |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Gotland

Companies and research initiatives around the world are developing and testing new toilets that can collect human urine and turn it into fertilizer. These urine diversion toilets have been implemented in places like South Africa with mixed results. However, researchers in Sweden are using portable toilets to gather the urine, dry it into fertilizer pellets that are then used to grow barley for beer. This work could show how to implement these kinds of toilets on a large scale.

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Food waste? There's an app for that.

Christina Griffith

February 09, 2022 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Food Connect is a nonprofit that acts as a middleman between businesses with edible food waste and people battling food insecurity. From donations to delivery, the whole process is streamlined through an app.

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'It's our stuff': consumers wage right-to-repair revolution

Carey L. Biron Umberto Bacchi

October 14, 2021 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

In the recent years, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission voted to restore consumers' "right to repair" their products and 27 states have introduced repair bills. This policy push has encouraged a growing number of independent repair shops and workshops that enable consumers to fix their products safely and effectively. Together, they're leading to a reduction in both electronic waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

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Building a Just Energy Future in Michigan

Nina Misuraca Ignaczak

July 30, 2021 |

Belt Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

After the 2008 economic recession hit, Carla Walker-Miller shifted her energy services business model to not only supply electrical equipment but also implement energy efficiency programs for communities of color in Detroit. She has been able to service 75 households, which has resulted in energy bill savings up to $600 a year for families. The company also has a robust recruitment and training program for young people and those experiencing economic hardship.

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Co-ops are democratizing the food chain

Jaisal Noor

June 10, 2021 |

The Real News Network |

Video |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The food-supply business is known for exploitative pay and poor working conditions. But Brooklyn Packers, a Black-owned cooperative launched in 2016, pays its owner-workers and vendors fair wages and is founded on traditions in the Black community of food sovereignty and mutual aid. Those values paid off at the start of the pandemic, when demand for fresh produce deliveries exploded. Brooklyn Packers retooled its business model to meet the demand, showing that a non-hierarchical business can move quickly.

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Sew it goes: The Sewing Machine Project stitches lives back together

Richard Mertens

June 03, 2021 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Madison, Wisconsin

The Sewing Machine Project has helped thousands of people who rely on sewing as a livelihood. The organization refurbishes used sewing machines and sends them across the world. For some recipients, access to their own sewing machine can result in economic mobility and an improved quality of life.

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Food waste is heating up the planet. Is dumpster-diving by app a solution?

Katie Yoder

May 25, 2021 |

Grist |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

The app Too Good to Go helps restaurants and other shops prevent food waste by selling their extra food to people for a cheaper price. So far, more than 700,000 people in the United States have downloaded the app and the company estimates that, on average, each meal sold halts 2.2 pounds of food from ending up in the garbage, which ends up reducing carbon emissions. There are challenges to widespread implementation, but the app has launched in New York City, Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle.

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This South L.A. startup will turn your front lawn into a farm

Adele Peters

May 25, 2021 |

FastCompany |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

A startup in California called Crop Swap LA is converting unused front yards into community gardens that can grow crops like kale, rainbow chard, and tomatoes as a way to feed neighbors. Community members can pay for subscriptions for up to $43 a month to receive a bundle of greens and vegetables from the microfarms and homeowners get a share of the profits. Each garden needs to have the proper maintenance, which can make it difficult to scale, but these gardens can help provide access to food to those who don’t have a grocery store in their area.

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