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Oregon Is Turning Sewage into an Endless Supply of Green Energy

Britany Robinson

March 17, 2022 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Clackamas county, Oregon

A wastewater treatment plant in Oregon not only cleans water that is released into the local river, but it also creates fertilizer that is sent to farmers to use on non-food crops and it produces renewable power from methane. The green energy created at the plant heats five buildings on the site and produces half of the energy the facility uses. This kind of co-generation system is growing in other places in the United States, China, Brazil, and Norway.

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Could modular housing be a quick fix for the affordability crisis?

Josh Sherman

February 22, 2022 |

TVO |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Cambridge, Ontario

Ontario’s lack of housing supply has inspired the construction of modular housing: repurposed shipping containers that people now call home. Shipping containers can be converted into homes faster than traditional homes can be built. The approach is saving time and is meant to eventually bring down the soaring cost of housing.

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

Marc Lefkowitz

February 01, 2022 |

The Land |

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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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How Cleveland is salvaging old buildings to create a new circular economy

Marc Lefkowitz

February 01, 2022 |

The Land |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

Developers in Cleveland are salvaging building parts that can be reused in other construction projects. The sustainable initiative known as deconstructing helps reduce carbon footprints and helps avoid the “high social and environmental costs of dumping demolition material in landfills.”

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Maryland Town Turns Flood Zone into a Tourist Attraction

David Kidd

January 20, 2022 |

Governing |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Frederick, Maryland

When algae overgrowth began to plague the Carroll Creek flood control project, a group of volunteers cultivated 1,000 floating canopies of plants to block the sunlight that algae need to grow, allowing the community to maintain the effective underground concrete conduits that move storm water. 250 volunteers maintain the plants throughout the year and the creek, previously made unusable by the algae, now draws tourists to see various attractions.

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CROSS RIVER TODAY SPECIAL REPORT

Ukamaka Richards

January 03, 2022 |

Sparkling 92.3 FM |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Nigeria, Igbo

The River Basin Authority, which selects a few locations each year to provide potable water and sanitation interventions, completed development projects in Igbo that improved the community’s quality of life. To facilitate agricultural use of the vast land in the community, the authority constructed an access road to help farmers take their produce from their farms to local markets, where they can sell them to make a sustainable living. They also provided irrigation access and solar-powered boreholes to provide potable water, reducing the risk of water-borne diseases like cholera.

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Community Rebuilds

Justin Higginbottom

November 01, 2021 |

KZMU Community Radio |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Moab, Utah

Community Rebuilds is a nonprofit that builds affordable and efficient housing – suitable for Moab’s very hot summers and very cold winters - while educating natural builders in the process. Anyone who is interested in construction, regardless of their previous experience, is welcome to intern at their sites to learn about natural building processes. The organization has built 52 strawbale homes since they started, a healthy and natural material that costs about half of what other new construction is per square foot. The program requires homeowners to volunteer about 20 hours a week building homes.

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KVNF Regional Newscast: October 28, 2021

Stephanie Maltarich

October 28, 2021 |

Mountain Grown Community Radio (KVNF) |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Basalt, Colorado

Basalt Vista is the first net-zero affordable housing project in Colorado, based in Basalt. The homes are constructed in partnership with the county, the school district, and Habitat for Humanity. The homes are lined with solar panels and operate using only electricity. They produce, on average, all the energy that they consume and the utility costs to the residents are basically zero once the production begins to generate credits. Rather than prioritizing keeping building costs as cheap as possible, net-zero homes prioritize keeping the costs to maintain the home low.

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How Zurich Blazed a Trail for Recycled Concrete

Corinne Gretler

September 26, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Switzerland, Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, is paving the way for sustainable building. Concrete is a major contributor of climate change due to the process it requires to make it. Zurich is making steps to reduce its use. A school building was constructed in 2002 with 80 percent recycled concrete. Three years later city officials passed a requirement that required all publicly-owned buildings to be made with recycled concrete and in 2013 ordered the use of CO2 reduced cement. According to a study the effort has saved 17,000 cubic meters of virgin materials.

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Pour Flush Toilets Eradicate Typhoid in Katunguru Village

Fatuma Nalwanga

September 19, 2021 |

The Community Agenda |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Katunguru

Katunguru village reduced Cholera and Typhoid outbreaks by building and transitioning to pour flush toilets rather than pit latrines. Pour flush toilets require just a five-foot pit, so waste water doesn’t mix with drinking water and are inexpensive to maintain. A user pours in water to flush the toilet through an S-shaped pipe. In addition to stopping disease outbreaks, residues from filled pits are used as manure and ash from kitchens are sprinkled inside after each use to prevent odors and dry up waste residues. Pour flush toilets are not constructed with wood, so they also minimize local deforestation.

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