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Liberian women leading the way in tackling plastic pollution

Tina Mehnpaine

April 04, 2022 |

African Women in Media (AWiM) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Liberia, Monrovia

A recycling initiative in Liberia turns plastic waste into tiles and provides income for the women who collect it. From picking up plastics, some women can earn up to $40 a week. While it’s not always easy, picking up the waste has also unblocked drains which has reduced flooding.

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In Austria, the Government Pays to Repair Your Stuff

Kaja Šeruga

March 22, 2022 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Austria, Vienna

In 2020, Vienna, Austria launched a program to subsidize half the cost of repairs to items such as clothing, electronics, bicycles, and furniture. The initiative supported the repair of more than 35,000 items, saving 850 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and spurring other localities, such as Thüringen, Germany, and Portland, Oregon, to roll out their own repair bonus schemes.

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From Fish Waste to Community Wealth

Meenakshi J

March 17, 2022 |

Hakai Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Chennai

A government agency in India is turning fishing waste into useful commodities, which help both the environment and the community. Discarded fish parts often littered the beaches near fish markets, leaving a stench and a mess that stigmatized the neighborhood. Now the parts are being processed and sold as fertilizers leading to a cleaner community, less waste, and a much-needed alternative source of income in the fishing community.

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Researchers use waste glass to clean up polluted sea

Yui Sawada

March 09, 2022 |

J-Stories |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Japan, Nagasaki

The beach in Omura Bay in Japan isn’t a normal beach covered in sand: It’s covered in glass. This glass beach, developed by the Nagasaki Prefectural Environmental Health Research Center, is meant to recycle waste from the ocean and promote the growth of shellfish to maintain the water’s health. After five years, the center has seen about 525 clams per square meter, an increase over previous years.

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How to recycle the unrecyclable

Kai Steinecke

February 11, 2022 |

Deutsche Welle (DW) |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Germany

A chemical recycling plant in Germany is taking old tires and turning them back into their original components. From there, those materials can be used in the production of insulation, steel, and oil. The gas that is discharged during the process is also used to power the whole plant. Other plants around the world are also exploring how to take plastic waste and chemically recycle it instead of burning it, so there are less carbon emissions.

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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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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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ResQZone

Amanda Anderdson

February 08, 2022 |

KWCM-PBS |

Broadcast TV Programs |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Marshall, Minnesota

An e-waste recycling program in Minnesota aims to take old computers that normally end up in a landfill and give them to community members with income-based needs. Since the ResQZone initiative started as a partnership between a nonprofit and the county government, they’ve been able to get 420 computer systems back into public use. They also hire and train people with disabilities to do the refurbishing.

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Q&A: Jessica Davis of Rebuilders Xchange, a hub for salvaged building materials

Marc Lefkowitz

February 01, 2022 |

The Land |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

Salvaged building materials are staying out of the landfill as a result of this circular economy initiative. Rebuilders Xchange is taking tubs, sinks, hardwood floors, and any other constructions materials to reuse and resell. They also offer services to repair and refit materials into new spaces.

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Turkey Bets on Green Card

Sevilay Nur Saraçlar

January 25, 2022 |

Inside Turkey |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Turkey, Antalya

A program in Turkey allows residents to recycle its waste, and in return, receive points that can be used to pay for goods or be withdrawn as cash from an ATM. When the Green Neighbor Card program launched in 2016, the first month saw residents turning in over 8,700 kilograms of waste. By 2020, it has grown to 200,000 kilograms a month. Some say the program has some flaws, but residents have earned 5.3 million liras since the program began.

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