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The First Quieter Megacity, Thanks to Electric Vehicles

Blake Schmidt

August 30, 2018 |

Bloomberg |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: China, Shenzhen

Massive investment in electric vehicles has reduced noise and air pollution in China. The megacity of Shenzhen, for example, is surprisingly quiet with its fleet of electric buses and ban on gas-powered motorcycles. However, the country’s reliance on coal means that EVs still plug into a dirty grid.

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A major US city will start drinking its own sewage. Others need to follow.

Zoë Schlanger

August 23, 2018 |

Quartz |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, El Paso, Texas

As water shortages continue to be on the rise, so are water expenses. El Paso, Texas is more familiar with this than many other cities due to it's serious lack of rainfall and historically rapid consumption of water. The city's newest approach, however, utilizes a closed-loop water system that cleans and recycles sewage water, making it ready for public consumption.

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Water scheme improves access to safe water

Bill Oketch

August 22, 2018 |

Daily Monitor |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Nebbi District

With little access to clean water, the community in the Nebbi District in Uganda were facing health issues. A new government initiative, however, has changed this reality by implementing a water scheme that utilizes technology to trap water and transport it closer to the community.

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Dams and reservoirs can't save us. This is the new future of water infrastructure.

Zoë Schlanger

August 22, 2018 |

Quartz |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, El Paso, Texas

El Paso, Texas only gets about 10 inches of rainfall per year, which doesn't help the water shortage the city is facing. Faced with no other choice but to seek solutions, the city has already implemented rainwater catchment systems, but is now looking to other countries as they turn their focus to toilet-to-tap practices.

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A Huge Win for Keeping Water Systems under Public Control

Dharna Noor

August 17, 2018 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

Voting to approve the prohibition of privatizing the city water system was just the most recent success in Baltimore's history of keeping the water system under public ownership. Through efforts pioneered by the city's various communities coming together, the city itself has turned into a model for others to learn from.

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How tech is putting the needs of impoverished Kenyans on the map

Fred de Sam Lazaro

August 06, 2018 |

Under-Told Stories Project |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Kenya

In Kenya, mapping technology is helping to raise the standard of living by ensuring that the location of urban slums are being recorded, along with locations of electric lines, water tanks, public toilets, and more. Residents are trained in how to enter locations in the map so that public and private entities can provide better services - and this is just one of many technological initiatives helping Kenyans living in poverty.

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'Uber For Poop' Aims To Break Up Senegal's Toilet Cartel

Robert Smith

July 27, 2018 |

NPR |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: Senegal, Dakar

In Senegal, emptying your septic taste is expensive business; the two options, hiring someone to shovel it onto the street or paying a high price to the "cartel of 'toilet suckers,'" are not sustainable for residents or public health. To force members of the raw sewage cartel to compete with each other and lower prices, a new call center "auctions" the service by text to individual sellers instead of forcing people to contend with a banded group, and "prices for toilet suckers have come down an average of 7 percent" since the program began.

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Wastewater treatment is a problem in the rural South. Who is working to fix it?

Melissa Brown

July 26, 2018 |

The Montgomery Advertiser |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Haynesville, Alabama

In the South's rural Black Belt, wastewater management is an issue, but local activists, government officials, and civil engineers are working together to create a new type of sanitation system that works for the geography. The approach also includes public information campaigns to educate people about proper maintenance and stop rumors that can prevent that maintenance.

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In the Black Belt, a template for fixing failing sewage infrastructure

Melissa Brown

July 25, 2018 |

Southerly |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Alabama

Improving sanitation and hygiene in rural communities requires coordinating experts and policy makers to find solutions that fit. In addition to coordinating research projects on alternative forms of sewage and wastewater management, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Alabama health department, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are working to educate residents about sanitation and public health.

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Conserve Energy on Summer's Hottest Days With a Text

Eben Bein

July 13, 2018 |

Yes! Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Providence, Rhode Island

Shave The Peak is an online tool that helps people cut their emissions use by informing them of peak energy times during the hottest days in the summer. The tool started as a mass email and a text sent out to 100 environmentally concerned citizens before expanding. “For now, we have to educate and involve citizen advocates using short-term projects so we can eventually create long-term change.”

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