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Dirt floors can kill you. This graduate might have a solution.

Marc Gunther

December 05, 2019 |

National Geographic |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Rwanda

Stanford University graduate Gayatri Datar founded a nonprofit called EarthEnable that aims to rid the world of dirt floors. EarthEnable sells an earthen floor covered with an environmentally friendly varnish at a cost less than a concrete floor. To date the organization has installed more than 4,400 floors, and customers and the Rwandan government love them.

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Planning to Donate? Know What Your Dollar Buys

Tina Rosenberg

December 04, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Evaluating evidence of an organization’s impact informs charitable giving. Ratings organizations like ImpactMatters and Charity Navigator provide transparency to donors by reporting on the effectiveness of charities and social programs. The organizations make comparisons by analyzing the tax forms of nonprofits. Some, like GiveWell conduct further investigations and provide in-depth evaluations.

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A New Kind of Cooperative in Oakland Fights Against Speculative Development

Oscar Perry Abello

December 03, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Real estate cooperatives are able to raise capital from their members, ensuring re-investment in the communitie they serve. In Oakland, California, the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EB PREC) finances real estate acquisitions through California’s cooperative ownership model. EB PREC also works with partners from the Sustainable Economies Law Center and the People of Color Housing Network, which provide additional resources and expertise.

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Turning kids into entrepreneurs

Reha Kansara

December 03, 2019 |

BBC |

Video |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Uganda

In Uganda, which has high youth unemployment rates, schools are starting to incorporate entrepreneurship lessons into traditional curricula to prepare students for life and an unstable job market after school.

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Turning Farm Workers Into Farmers

Johnny Magdaleno

November 27, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Salinas, California

Farm incubators provide aspiring farmers with training, land, and access to business networks. Across the United States, organizations like California’s Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) are working to support small farmers by serving as small farm incubators. Following a ten-month training course for aspiring farmers, ALBA allows the fledgling entrepreneurs to rent land at below-market rates while they expand their businesses.

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America trashes 40% of its food. A Colorado startup is connecting the discards to dinner tables.

Tamara Chuang

November 26, 2019 |

The Colorado Sun |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Finding alternatives for uneaten or imperfect food reduces waste. In Denver, multiple initiatives, ranging from the city’s Certifiably Green Denver program to tech startups and nonprofits, are working to tackle the problem of excess and wasted food. The nonprofit organization, We Don’t Waste, redistributes unused food from large venues at food banks and farmers markets. The tech startup, FoodMaven, similarly aims to reroute food from the landfill to consumers.

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Revolutionary recycling? A new technology turns everyday trash into plastic treasure.

Jim Morrison Shoshana Kordova

November 18, 2019 |

The Washington Post |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Israel, Tze'elim

A company in Israel is setting its sights on reducing plastic waste by converting garbage into pellets that can then be used in manufacturing plastic to create "everyday items like trays and packing crates." Although the approach has been met with some skepticism, the company has already shown promise due to the creation of "a radical technology that transforms garbage into the raw materials for plastics manufacturers and earns them a profit in the end."

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How a new grain could help combat climate change

Megan Thompson Mark Bittman Melanie Saltzman

November 16, 2019 |

PBS NewsHour |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, St. Paul, Minnesota

Planting perennial grains for human consumption retains more nutrients in the soil, prevents soil erosion, and traps carbon. Farmers and researchers have been working to develop a commercially viable perennial grain, known as Kernza. Today, business pioneers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area are finding ways to introduce Kernza into consumer markets, including Kernza beer.

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One Woman's $5 Vegan Meals Are Served in an Unexpected Place: The Bodega

Monica Humphries

November 13, 2019 |

NationSwell |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Westlake, California

Improving community nutrition requires making healthy food accessible and affordable. In Westlake, California, LaRayia’s Bodega provides healthy food at a convenience store price point of five dollars or less. Donations of misshapen fruit help to reduce costs. The bodega operates as part of the Love Without Reason nonprofit, which operates a meal program.

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In Borneo, healthy people equals healthy forests

Adam Wernick

November 12, 2019 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Indonesia, Borneo

Those who live on the island of Borneo understand that their well-being comes from the Gunung Palung National Park, but logging remained rampant because it was the only way to make money to pay for healthcare. Thus, an organization named "Health in Harmony" was borne through "radically listening" to locals to find out what they needed. This organization accepts creative forms of payment for healthcare and offers incentives to cease logging, including a chainsaw buyback program. As a result, ten years later they saw a 90% drop in logging households and a re-growth of 52,000 acres of forest.

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