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In a boon for the climate, philanthropists are making it rain for cleantech innovators

Adrienne Day

October 30, 2020 |

Grist |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Prime Coalition is financing clean tech startups and climate-focused technologies that often don’t get a lot of funding. These technologies can be expensive to build and don’t generate profits immediately. So far, the public charity has secured $89 million that it has given into 18 energy ventures. “What’s important here is that the climate crisis is such a large-scale problem that we need lots of different types of solutions,” says Sarah Kearney, founder of Prime Coalition, “and so we need to match up right-fit capital to each kind of solution.”

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Cold Hard Cash for Your Greenhouse Gas

Sarah Gonzalez Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Alex Blumberg

October 22, 2020 |

Gimlet Media |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Illinois

Refrigerants being used in old air conditioners or grocery story cooling systems leak into the atmosphere contributing to global warming. Tradewater, a company in Illinois, picks up these containers, destroys the refrigerants, gives them cash, and then sells them as carbon offset credits. They collect up to 250,000 pounds of refrigerants per year, but there is still more out there. Supermarkets in the United States could switch to more natural refrigerants, but barely 1 percent are known to have done that. Getting rid of these refrigerants can be an important solution to combating climate change.

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Local tech company thrives with business model that invests in employee happiness and community work

Courtney Duchene

October 21, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Promptworks is a tech company seeking to create a nurturing environment for its own employees as well as help the local community. When the pandemic shut down the city, Promptworks created a mutual-aid platform connecting people in need with local residents who wanted to help. The company also hosted an event bringing together 80 leaders across several sectors to discuss and develop concrete plans to make Philadelphia more equitable.

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Philanthropies flow funds to climate technologies

Katherine Ellison

October 14, 2020 |

The Washington Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Philanthropies are funding “tough tech” startups that are developing technologies to cut greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change. Since 2014, the nonprofit Prime Coalition has channeled more than $24 million from wealthy donors and foundations to 10 ventures focused on that goal. Not all of their investments, though, have paid off. Yet, some of these initial investments could lead to widespread solutions to the world’s climate crisis.

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Reclaiming Indigenous Legacy One Beer at a Time

Bailey Berg

October 12, 2020 |

Life & Thyme |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oklahoma

A coalition of Native American–owned breweries is using lagers and ales to educate the public about their heritage and to correct the racist narrative about Indigenous peoples’ relationship to alcohol. For example, Skydance Brewing Co. in Oklahoma labels its beers with names that pay homage to the experiences of Native Americans. “It’s important that we have Native American entrepreneurs tell our story for ourselves,” says Jake Keyes, the brewery founder. “For us to reclaim it.”

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Harnessing Food Waste to Empower Communities in Brazil

Agostino Petroni

October 09, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

Favela Organica is a social enterprise that address food insecurity, increases access to healthy foods, and reduces waste. The founder, Tchelly, has provided free courses to around 30,000 people in Rio’s favelas, mostly women, who learn how to repurpose food waste from local markets and grow produce at home. The premise relies on an integrated food cycle of growing food, utilizing all of it, and creating compost with what is left to fertilize the garden to grow the food. Students use the lessons to lower food costs and, for some, to increase the amount of food they can sell, which adds to monthly incomes.

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Beekeeping empowers women, brings in honey and lush kitchen gardens

Monica Pelliccia

October 09, 2020 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India

Almost 1000 women across remote and rural areas of India are caring for beehives as a part of the Under The Mango Tree (UTMT) network. The beekeepers have been employed through a social enterprise that aims to provide an extra source of income for farmers while working towards environmental conservation efforts. Beekeeping not only provided crucial income during the coronavirus shutdown, but it also helped pollinate home gardens, increasing produce output and enabling families to avoid markets during a time of social distancing.

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Pee fanatics want to feed the world with your liquid gold

Katy Lee

October 07, 2020 |

Wired |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: France, Bordeaux

A French startup is turning urine into an environmentally-friendly fertilizer that could replace chemical products. Early tests suggest that the urine mixture created by Toopi Organics can compete with synthetic fertilizers, which end up in waterways and can alter lake and river ecosystems. While the organic fertilizer requires a significant amount of urine to make, it could be a viable alternative to grow crops.

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Soap on tap? A startup arrives in NYC with a plan to take the plastic out of cleaning products.

Claire Elise Thompson

September 21, 2020 |

Grist |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

To make food and cleaning products more accessible to those experiencing economic hardship, the startup Algramo has installed more than 2,500 automated bulk-dispensing systems throughout Chile where people can purchase an item and come back to refill it using the same container. Instead of competing against other consumer good companies, Algramo works with them to help change their packaging practices to reduce their plastic waste. Algramo is scaling the service to New York City and Indonesia to help cash-strapped and eco-friendly shoppers.

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Preserving forests while emptying trash cans? The story of a Burkinese green charcoal

Morgane le Cam

August 24, 2020 |

Heidi.news |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou

To preserve the millions of trees that are cut down just to produce coal in Burkina Faso, a Burkinese engineer created "green charcoal that would not only protect forests but also help fight against the proliferation of garbage." This ecological fuel is made from carbonized collected garbage and coconut husks, which in turn has reduced the amount of garbage that has to be managed by the authorities in charge of sanitation.

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