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How Poop-Eating Worms Could Help Save Thousands Of Lives Each Year

Oliver Balch

January 16, 2019 |

The Huffington Post |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Nairobi

The Bill Gates Foundation is currently funding a number of organizations that seek to solve the rate of open defecation by creating low-cost toilets that utilize the feces within them. One organization, called Sanergy, operates in 11 neighborhoods across Nairobi and uses a systems-based approach that takes into account financing and maintenance of the toilet as well as selling the waste as fertilizer. Another, called Tiger Toilets in India, uses a septic tank toilet that places worms within the drainage layer who then consume the feces and produce fertilizer to be used or sold.

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Toxic secrets: Pollution, evasion and fear in Wausau's River Street neighborhood

Shereen Siewert

October 30, 2018 |

Wausau Pilot and Review |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Wausau, Wisconsin

A local citizens group called Citizens for a Clean Wausau in Wisconsin is calling for greater transparency from government officials on environmental records related to project zoning and properties. While the group has had some legal successes, project development projects have continued to move forward despite public health and environmental concerns from digging up contaminated soils.

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Alternative toilet facilities in schools attract more children in Kibera

Henry Owino

October 02, 2018 |

Talk Africa |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kibera, Nairobi

In a slum in Kiberia, Kenya, a new invention called Peepoople Kenya (or Peepoo for short) is addressing a mounting sanitation issue from open defecation and lack of clean facilities. The solution is a single-use, biodegradable toilet (via a bag that spreads across a small pot) in new and maintained facilities. Teachers and pupils testify to the cleanliness and usability of the toilets and have even found unexpected benefits as well, like the facilities in a safer location and less time lost from lessons by waiting in line for a latrine.

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Wastewater and public health in the rural South

Melissa Brown

September 24, 2018 |

The Montgomery Advertiser |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Hayneville, Alabama

A wastewater infrastructure crisis in the southern United States is much like those found in far less-developed countries. Now researchers and nonprofits are looking to successes in Africa, in an effort to eradicate obscure diseases and improve quality of life.

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Berlin's mayor tries to wean Germans off the water bottle

Luisa Beck

September 14, 2018 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Germany, Berlin

Although commonplace in many parts of the world, Berlin has recently adopted the practice of using water fountains to cut back on plastic bottle usage. Not everyone supports this environmental push, but the mayor is hopeful they will at least catch on with tourists who are accustomed to the invention already as well as act as a resource for refilling plastic bottles rather than throwing them away.

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A major US city will start drinking its own sewage. Others need to follow.

Zoë Schlanger

August 23, 2018 |

Quartz |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, El Paso, Texas

As water shortages continue to be on the rise, so are water expenses. El Paso, Texas is more familiar with this than many other cities due to it's serious lack of rainfall and historically rapid consumption of water. The city's newest approach, however, utilizes a closed-loop water system that cleans and recycles sewage water, making it ready for public consumption.

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Water scheme improves access to safe water

Bill Oketch

August 22, 2018 |

Daily Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Nebbi District

With little access to clean water, the community in the Nebbi District in Uganda were facing health issues. A new government initiative, however, has changed this reality by implementing a water scheme that utilizes technology to trap water and transport it closer to the community.

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Dams and reservoirs can't save us. This is the new future of water infrastructure.

Zoë Schlanger

August 22, 2018 |

Quartz |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, El Paso, Texas

El Paso, Texas only gets about 10 inches of rainfall per year, which doesn't help the water shortage the city is facing. Faced with no other choice but to seek solutions, the city has already implemented rainwater catchment systems, but is now looking to other countries as they turn their focus to toilet-to-tap practices.

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A Huge Win for Keeping Water Systems under Public Control

Dharna Noor

August 17, 2018 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

Voting to approve the prohibition of privatizing the city water system was just the most recent success in Baltimore's history of keeping the water system under public ownership. Through efforts pioneered by the city's various communities coming together, the city itself has turned into a model for others to learn from.

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'Uber For Poop' Aims To Break Up Senegal's Toilet Cartel

Robert Smith

July 27, 2018 |

NPR |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: Senegal, Dakar

In Senegal, emptying your septic taste is expensive business; the two options, hiring someone to shovel it onto the street or paying a high price to the "cartel of 'toilet suckers,'" are not sustainable for residents or public health. To force members of the raw sewage cartel to compete with each other and lower prices, a new call center "auctions" the service by text to individual sellers instead of forcing people to contend with a banded group, and "prices for toilet suckers have come down an average of 7 percent" since the program began.

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