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The Town That Extended ‘Smart Growth' to Its Water

Jason Plautz

April 30, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Westminster, Colorado

Haunted by a 1962 drought in the town of Westminster, Colorado, the city's planners now incorporate water data in their planning processes to ensure that they never face the same sourcing issues again. By breaking down the silos between its water management and planning departments, the town has figured out how to manage its finite water resources, even in the face of a ballooning population. Now, other towns are following suit.

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This truck is making sure the homeless have clean clothes

Kumasi Aaron

April 24, 2019 |

KMGH-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Backed by $160,000 in philanthropic donations, two laundry trucks frequent 7-8 locations in Denver, Colorado to offer laundry services for people experiencing homelessness or extreme poverty. Clean clothes are vital to an individual's confidence and dignity, and can enable people to keep appointments, go to job interviews, or to just fight the stigma of homelessness. These trucks are part of a larger movement across the US to offer these mobile laundry services to those who need it most.

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Is there a beautiful, briny solution to the world's clean water crisis?

Fiona Harvey

April 10, 2019 |

The Guardian |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: South Africa, Cape Town

As demand soars and climate change routinely throws cities into shortage crises, the availability of clean water is one of the most pressing challenges of the present and near future. Desalination has long been lambasted for being too expensive and polluting, but a new solar-powered prototype is putting forth a more sustainable, small-scale solution. Solar collectors boil water and then condense it separately from the brine and dirt so that it is drinkable.

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Tech accelerators help nonprofits fast-track technology aimed at solving environmental challenges

Meg Wilcox

April 04, 2019 |

Ensia |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Honolulu, Hawaii

A solar panel that turns water in the air into clean drinking water is just one of many environmental solutions coming out of new partnerships between technology accelerator programs and environmental non-profit organizations. Groups like Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund are working alongside programs like Elemental Excelerator - all aimed at scaling environmental solutions. The goal isn’t to avoid policy change or other work, but rather to make creative innovation more widely accessible in the meantime.

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How a laundry room revolutionized a New Jersey high school

Jeff Glor

March 26, 2019 |

CBS News |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

After high school principle Akbar Cook realized that students weren't coming to school because they were embarrassed about wearing dirty clothing, he created a school laundry room with 5 commercial-grade washers and dryers. He also started a program called Lights On that leaves the school open in the evenings on Friday's to offer a recreational space with warm meals for students who have working parents or have to take care of siblings. Grateful students say that Mr. Cook had a big impact on the school and the neighborhood.

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School laundry help aims to improve student attendance

Ann Schimke

March 22, 2019 |

Chalkbeat Colorado |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Laundry machines are an increasingly common sight on the campuses of Denver elementary schools. "A lot of times our teaching goes beyond the academic piece,” one principal said. “Teaching kids how to do laundry is a life skill.” The easily accessible facilities are improving student confidence and attendance.

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Schools Find a New Way to Combat Student Absences: Washing Machines

Emily S. Rueb

March 13, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Schools have found that, among other deterrents, dirty clothes are one reason students skip school. Some, serving predominantly low-income populations, have now installed washing machines within their buildings, offering students free laundry services during the school day.

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India's Bathroom-Buses for Women Are a Step Toward 'Potty Parity'

Romita Saluja

March 06, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: India, Pune

In India, clean and safe restrooms for women can be difficult to find. Now, in Pune, old buses are being refurbished into public restrooms which see an average of 100 to 150 women every day. The buses are WiFi-enabled, sun-powered, and also feature showers, a diaper changing station, health information, sanitary pads, and more.

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Cities without sewers

Chelsea Wald

February 28, 2019 |

Rethink |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Haiti, Cap-Haïtien

A nonprofit in Haiti called SOIL with a business arm called EkoLakay is bringing back the old-fashioned idea of a container-based sanitation system. Customers rent toilets with containers in them, use them, and return them to EkoLakay to then be converted into highly nutritious compost. Piloted in 2011, the program has been successful serving more than 1,000 households (growing by 40 every month) with a staff of 58 mostly local workers. They attribute their success to using "applied resilience thinking", having many actors at different levels, and constantly adapting to new solutions and knowledge.

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For a Warming World, A New Strategy for Protecting Watersheds

Jacques Leslie

February 19, 2019 |

Yale Environment 360 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Santa Fe, New Mexico

As climate change alters environments across the United States, it has become increasingly important to manage watersheds as a preventative measure to wildfires. Amid responses across the country, one private-public partnership, the Rio Grande Water Fund, is leading the way, demonstrating enough success that the model has become federal policy. The Fund brings together government agencies, NGOs, businesses, and residents to fund watershed restoration which, in turn, creates jobs and build more resilient ecosystems.

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