Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • The chewing gum you don't mind stuck to your shoe Audio icon

    March 06, 2018 |

    BBC |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Winchester, Greater London

    Did you know that the main ingredient in most chewing gum is a synthetic rubber, which resembles a close relationship to plastic? "It's called polyisobutylene," explains Anna Bullus, a British designer, "the same stuff you find in the inner tube of bicycle wheels." After realizing this, Anna decided to embark on a mission to recycle used chewing gum as a means of cleaning up the streets. What resulted was a way to create everyday products that include at least 20% gum, while simultaneously saving institutions money on what otherwise would have gone toward cleanup efforts.

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  • Dutch Supermarket Introduces Plastic-Free Aisle

    February 28, 2018 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: Netherlands, Amsterdam

    As part of a global initiative to reduce the use of plastic, a supermarket in Amsterdam has implemented a plastic-free aisle that houses approximately 700 items packaged in compostable materials, glass, metal or cardboard. “There is absolutely no logic in wrapping something as fleeting as food in something as indestructible as plastic," explains Sian Sutherland, the co-founder of advocacy group A Plastic Planet. Although the first of its kind in Amsterdam, similar efforts are simultaneously underway in other parts of the world.

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  • It turns out vodka and icy roads can be a good mix

    January 30, 2018 |

    The Boston Globe |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States

    Although alcohol and driving don't typically go hand-in-hand, researchers found one way to successfully and safely combine the two. By taking the by-products of the distilling process and combining them with the typical road salt that is used to help melt snow during winter conditions, these researchers created a super mixture which enhances the capabilities of melting the ice.

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  • P Is For Phosphorus

    January 26, 2018 |

    NPR |

    Radio |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Vermont

    Phosphate is used for fertilizer on many farms. However, once the phosphorus washes away, it is next to impossible to recover, thus creating a phosphorus depletion. Using a very on the ground, grassroots approach, a small group of local citizens started asking other citizens to donate their urine to be recycled for the phosphate. After just a year, the group had 600 gallons of urine and after filtering it, it's being used on a local Vermont farm to fertilize hay on a dairy.

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  • Bioeconomy: A global trend?

    January 22, 2018 |

    Deutsche Welle (DW) |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Finland

    Bioeconomy is the practice of using biological processes and organic materials to reduce waste, and it's gaining traction as a means of business. Finland is home to one of the largest bioproduct mills, where "a whole ecosystem of companies" work together on projects such as converting sustainably logged wood into pulp before selling it to Europe and Asia and producing solid biofuels which will eventually create electricity.

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  • These women in the Philippines scour a dump site for trash to turn into 'something beautiful'

    December 11, 2017 |

    Public Radio International (PRI) |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Philippines

    After a typhoon hit Dumaguete City in the Philippines’ Central Visayas region, Whitney Fleming began to work with local women “ to create jewelry from materials found in the local dump site.” Eventually their collaboration led to the creation of Lumago Designs, a social enterprise. The jewelry is made from found reusable items and the local women are paid fair wages.

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  • An Argentine startup that makes shoes from discarded tire scraps and employs single mothers

    December 08, 2017 |

    Public Radio International (PRI) |

    Multi-Media |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Argentina

    In Argentina, a trio of friends wanted to curb tire pollution, while simultaneously create financial opportunities for single mothers. That’s exactly what they did. Xinca, is a shoe company that uses rubber from old tires. So far 20,000 kilograms of tires have been recycled, and 25 women from rural areas have been hired. “This opportunity is very good because you are not just learning, you are meeting incredible people in the job and earning money at the same time.”

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  • In Cremona, ideas to make the ‘circular economy' real for cities

    November 29, 2017 |

    Citiscope |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Italy, Cremona

    Cremona is dedicated to decreasing the amount of waste it produces and educating its residents in the process. It intends on creating a 'circular economy' where products are recycled, waste is costly, training programs educate the public on decreasing waste and other methods that are now also reaching all around Europe as well.

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  • Public Shaming and Even Prison for Plastic Bag Use in Rwanda

    October 28, 2017 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Rwanda, Gisenyi

    Plastic bag litter is a serious problem across Africa and around the world, choking waterways, killing livestock and wildlife when ingested, and causing environmental damage. Rwanda is one of the few nations in the world to completely ban single-use plastic bags, but they take enforcement of the ban to a sometimes controversial extreme, with punishments that can even include jail time. The measures do appear to be working, however, where the clean streets and countrysides of Rwanda stand in stark contrast to the heavily-littered land of neighboring countries.

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  • Abandoned at Burning Man, bicycles now head for Houston and the Caribbean

    September 25, 2017 |

    BBC |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Black Rock City, Nevada

    Many argue that the Burning Man festival has become an exclusive and wasteful indulgence for the wealthy - an opinion that was exacerbated this year when thousands of perfectly good bicycles were left among the debris in the desert. But a few enterprising individuals and organizations saw an opportunity to aid the victims of hurricanes Irma and Maria by rescuing, fixing, and transporting the abandoned bikes to communities where many people had lost all other forms of transportation, stifling their recovery efforts. Now hope is being restored for some, two wheels at a time.

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