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

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  • How a Water Bill Can Help Cities Help Their Most Vulnerable Residents

    A pilot program may be able to alleviate the utility debts incurred by struggling customers who were affected by the pandemic-induced economic slowdown. A pre-pandemic program used missed utility payments as an opportunity to provide people with “financial empowerment services like individualized repayment plans and financial counseling.” The program not only cut down on municipal costs but also benefited residents in all five cities. Participants were less likely to experience water shutoffs and paid significantly fewer late fees.

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  • COVID goes to college

    Universities across the U.S. are looking to different testing techniques to decrease the likelihood of Covid-19 spreads on campuses. At the University of Arizona dorm wastewater is tested regularly to determine if students in a specific building need to be tested and isolated. The University of Illinois uses a saliva test to screen students and staff for the virus and either approves or denies access to school buildings via a smartphone app based on each person's test results, or denies access altogether if no test was taken.

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  • Why Copenhagen Has Almost Perfect Water

    Thanks to years of government intervention, the city of Copenhagen has almost perfectly clean water — even better than bottled water. Denmark utilizes overflow barriers, underground water storage, and rerouted wastewater to keep their public water sources clean. Public awareness and a water tax also contribute to the city's success so that residents conserve and value their water (using only 26 gallons a day as opposed to the 80-100 gallons that Americans use).

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  • Michigan group helping to keep justice on the state's environmental agenda

    The Michigan Advisory Council on Environmental Justice was created to advise Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on environmental justice issues related to pollution and energy access. In its first year, the 21-member council was influential in moratoriums on water shut-offs and provided input on the state’s latest climate plan. Some members would like the council to have “more teeth” in policy decisions, but other say they are poised to take up more issues, like injustices related to electric utilities, in their second year.

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  • How One Kid Stopped the Contamination of a River

    After discovering that raw sewage was flowing into Nova Scotia's LaHave River at alarming rates, an 11-year-old in the community decided study the issue for her science project. After testing the levels of the water and relating the cause of the issue to a certain type of sewage system, she publicized the results through social media, prompting the community to organize around change.

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  • Could Hawaii Be Paradise For Hydrogen-Powered Public Transit?

    Funded by federal grant money, the state, and the Office of Naval Research, Hawaii County public transit has developed its first hydrogen-powered shuttle bus. What’s been called the “fuel of the future,” hydrogen fuel cells create a power source that’s only emissions are clean water vapor. While a seemingly viable and scalable clean-energy source, such development and infrastructure requires large financial investments that many states have yet to prioritize.

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  • Hydroponics farming could help reduce Nigeria's spiraling youth unemployment rate

    By using an agricultural technique that doesn’t use soil to grow crops, a farmer is upending the traditional farming practices in Nigeria and offering job opportunities to those who might otherwise be unemployed. Hydroponics farming is a type of horticulture that grows plants without soil by using mineral nutrient solutions. BIC Farms utilizes the method, which can reduce crop water consumption, and has trained more than 12,000 people on the soilless farming technique. Hydroponics can also help farmers reduce food waste and post-harvest losses.

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  • Exploring Solutions: ‘Wildfire as a Fact of Life'

    Rural communities need a multi-pronged strategy to improve resilience to wildfires. A method that combines forest treatment projects, education of homeowners, and community-level strategizing at the neighborhood level is the best approach to reducing risk, according to Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit organization. Other organizations, like the Watershed Center and the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network, are working to spread awareness and implementation of such resilience-oriented wildfire management strategies.

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  • ‘Tons and tons of fishing equipment': B.C. tour operators clean up ocean debris during coronavirus pandemic

    Expeditions to clean up debris from the coastline are underway along the B.C. coast after an ecotourism company was forced to stop tours during the pandemic. The project is largely funded by the B.C. government’s Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative Fund, and involves five different companies. In just one expedition, 61 tonnes of garbage was collected and removed via volunteers, a helicopter, and a barge.

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  • Fish out of water: How B.C.'s salmon farmers fell behind the curve of sustainable, land-based aquaculture

    Dwindling numbers of wild salmon have been reported in British Columbia’s coastal waters, so many organizations, governments, and fishers have advocated for land-based salmon farming. The transition to more sustainable practices from open net pen farms, though, has not been easy. Some say the science behind land-based salmon farming has not been decided yet. However, Kuterra was the first commercial-sized land-based salmon farming facility in North America and it harvests about 90,000 Atlantic salmon a year that is sold in grocery stores and restaurants.

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