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

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  • How a laundry room revolutionized a New Jersey high school

    After high school principle Akbar Cook realized that students weren't coming to school because they were embarrassed about wearing dirty clothing, he created a school laundry room with 5 commercial-grade washers and dryers. He also started a program called Lights On that leaves the school open in the evenings on Friday's to offer a recreational space with warm meals for students who have working parents or have to take care of siblings. Grateful students say that Mr. Cook had a big impact on the school and the neighborhood.

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  • The Key to Nebraska's Water Conservation Success

    As the Ogallala Aquifer’s water level has declined in many states across the High Plains region of the U.S., Nebraska has almost fully maintained its water level by relying on National Resource Districts (NRDs). NRDs “develop integrated management plans for surface water and groundwater,” and its sustainable practices offer a model of how sustainable water management can thrive with local governance.

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  • Cities without sewers

    A nonprofit in Haiti called SOIL with a business arm called EkoLakay is bringing back the old-fashioned idea of a container-based sanitation system. Customers rent toilets with containers in them, use them, and return them to EkoLakay to then be converted into highly nutritious compost. Piloted in 2011, the program has been successful serving more than 1,000 households (growing by 40 every month) with a staff of 58 mostly local workers. They attribute their success to using "applied resilience thinking", having many actors at different levels, and constantly adapting to new solutions and knowledge.

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  • When public restrooms fail, rent them out as churches?

    On World Toilet Day in 2014, the Kenyan government promised to build 180 public toilets in an ambitious move to combat the issue of public sanitation. The program went well once the keys were handed off to the National Youth Service of Kenya as a means of income, but issues quickly arose that could not be resolved because of a lack of further funds. The youth has since transformed their toilets into a rental space for local churches, such as Christ Miracle Church for All Nations in Laini Saba.

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  • Western Water Managers Bet On Cloud Seeding, Despite Gaps In Science

    In the American Southwest, state water managers have been investing for decades in weather modification programs, otherwise known as "cloud seeding." Colorado River Basin states recently agreed to expand that effort, hoping to build crucial snowpack. But some scientists are skeptical that cloud seeding can produce reliable supplies, citing huge data gaps.

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  • How Poop-Eating Worms Could Help Save Thousands Of Lives Each Year

    The Bill Gates Foundation is currently funding a number of organizations that seek to solve the rate of open defecation by creating low-cost toilets that utilize the feces within them. One organization, called Sanergy, operates in 11 neighborhoods across Nairobi and uses a systems-based approach that takes into account financing and maintenance of the toilet as well as selling the waste as fertilizer. Another, called Tiger Toilets in India, uses a septic tank toilet that places worms within the drainage layer who then consume the feces and produce fertilizer to be used or sold.

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  • Toxic secrets: Pollution, evasion and fear in Wausau's River Street neighborhood

    A local citizens group called Citizens for a Clean Wausau in Wisconsin is calling for greater transparency from government officials on environmental records related to project zoning and properties. While the group has had some legal successes, project development projects have continued to move forward despite public health and environmental concerns from digging up contaminated soils.

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  • Alternative toilet facilities in schools attract more children in Kibera

    In a slum in Kiberia, Kenya, a new invention called Peepoople Kenya (or Peepoo for short) is addressing a mounting sanitation issue from open defecation and lack of clean facilities. The solution is a single-use, biodegradable toilet (via a bag that spreads across a small pot) in new and maintained facilities. Teachers and pupils testify to the cleanliness and usability of the toilets and have even found unexpected benefits as well, like the facilities in a safer location and less time lost from lessons by waiting in line for a latrine.

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  • Wastewater and public health in the rural South

    A wastewater infrastructure crisis in the southern United States is much like those found in far less-developed countries. Now researchers and nonprofits are looking to successes in Africa, in an effort to eradicate obscure diseases and improve quality of life.

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  • Berlin's mayor tries to wean Germans off the water bottle

    Although commonplace in many parts of the world, Berlin has recently adopted the practice of using water fountains to cut back on plastic bottle usage. Not everyone supports this environmental push, but the mayor is hopeful they will at least catch on with tourists who are accustomed to the invention already as well as act as a resource for refilling plastic bottles rather than throwing them away.

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