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Citizen engagement is helping Costa Rica fight climate change

Amelia Axelsen

April 11, 2019 |

Apolitical |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Costa Rica

With its pledge to become the first zero-emission country in the world by 2050, Costa Rica's ambitious climate goals cannot be achieved by the government alone. That's why Costa Rica Limpia (Clean Costa Rica) is sparking citizen engagement to help in the fight. Grassroots efforts by the organization has already helped to create new charging infrastructure for electric cars, and citizen review bodies are local communities access important climate data.

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Energy Equity: Bringing Solar Power to Low-Income Communities

Maria Gallucci

April 04, 2019 |

Yale Environment 360 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado

Dozens of states across the US are adopting programs that offer solar power for low-income communities in order to cut down on their utility costs and provide renewable energy that they previously would not have had access to. Some of these programs also incorporate other social goals into their programs, such as offering job training or developing sites of backup energy should there an outage. Solar development is currently one of the fastest growing industries in the US, and analysts predict that the nation will be able to hold over 2,000 megawatts of solar capacity this year alone.

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Resorts, desperate to stem crushing traffic, bet on a new ridesharing app that splits lifts to the lifts

Jason Blevins

March 27, 2019 |

The Colorado Sun |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Sandy, Utah

RIDE, shorthand for Reduce Individual Driving for the Environment, is an app that incentivizes skiers to carpool. Beyond just the convenience, the easy-to-use phone application provides material incentives such as ski themed water bottles and discounted lift tickets. It also tracks carpool miles and the decrease in carbon dioxide as a result.

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Why Germans Are Buying Batteries With Their Solar Panels

Paul Hockenos

March 26, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Germany, Berlin

Advances in lithium batteries as well as the plunging price of solar energy have spurred an increase in home solar energy batteries across Germany. While it used to be difficult to store solar energy, home solar systems can now save energy for rainy days, reduce the electricity bill, and even earn money for extra energy they feed to the city. Over 120,00 German homes and small businesses have invested in solar batteries in the last 5 years.

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MPHS Entrepreneurship Club tackles energy efficiency with light replacement project at high school

Lance Maggart

March 24, 2019 |

Sky-Hi News |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Grand County, Colorado

The Entrepreneurship Club at a high school in Grand County, Colorado took the initiative— and a $2,000 grant from the Grand Foundation— to replace all of the lights in their school with energy-efficient LED lights. Tristan Schwab initiated the project after learning about the divide in energy efficiency between urban and rural areas. The students reinstalled 200 lights in their building and, once the school has improved its efficiency and saved 40% on electric bills, plan on installing solar panels to further their work.

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Waste to Wealth: How Kenyan farmers are bringing life back to degraded Lake Victoria swamps

Annika McGinnis

March 22, 2019 |

InfoNILE |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kisumu, Kisumu County

Families living in the wetlands of Lake Victoria in Kisumu, Kenya are working together with a nonprofit called Ecofinder Kenya to protect and conserve the wetlands they live on. The crux of the incentive centers around the Eocfinder toilet, which converts human and animal waste to biogas, but they also work with solar lamps, water pumps, and a "farmer-to-farmer" program in which farmers share environmentally-friendly expertise. The program has been going on for 3 years now, and the wetlands have since seen a return of wildlife and growth, particularly with fish and birds.

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Pittsburgh's ‘living building' focuses on eco-friendly construction

Karen Hao

March 20, 2019 |

Quartz |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Creating sustainable buildings requires rethinking many of the norms in construction and city planning. The Center for Sustainable Landscapes, part of the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received the first Living Building Challenge (LBC) certification. To achieve this, CSL advocated for changes to Pittsburgh’s laws on the use of public water utilities. CSL also had to seek out construction materials that avoided the use of harmful chemicals-a task easier said than done.

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This new recycling innovation could help fix our broken trash system

Adele Peters

March 08, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Haverhill, Ohio

A common type of plastic, Polypropylene, is usually “downcycled” - meaning it makes lower quality materials when recycled. A new innovation in recycling will allow it to be recycled into “virgin” material that is cost- and energy-effective and will have a broader range of uses, increasing the likelihood that plastic will end up in new material and not in a landfill. PureCycle Technologies has had such successful pre-sales that the first plant has 20 years worth of pre-orders.

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Ikea's innovation lab unveils a plan to help people cash in on solar energy

Katharine Schwab

March 07, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Ikea's innovation lab, Space10, piloted a block-chain powered solar energy grid as a way to creatively save money on electricity and create a sustainable energy alternative. Other microgrids around the world have seen success in allowing people who are part of the system to sell their excess energy and only use what they need.

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These shipping container farms will soon be in grocery store lots across the U.S.

Eillie Anzilotti

March 06, 2019 |

FastCompany |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

A direct line from local producer to consumer reduces carbon emissions and strengthens community food systems. A partnership between farming tech company Square Roots and Gordon Food Services aims to create local food supply chains by placing cargo-container hydroponic farms directly at store sites and distribution centers. The plan is inspired by the success of Square Roots’ container farms in Brooklyn, NY.

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