Solutions Story Tracker®
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Title
& Description
News Outlet
& Journalist
Date
& Location
MEDIA TYPE
& LENGTH
28 November 2020
Seattle, Washington, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
To help those experiencing homelessness, Seattle Public Utilities workers travel around the city knocking on RV doors and asking occupants if they need their sewage tank pumped. Some RVs are broken down and occupants ...
3 September 2020
Arizona, United States
Text
Under 800 Words
Wastewater-based epidemiology is helping scientists and public health experts track the prevalence of coronavirus in communities. Although this practice can be complicated by the size of cities and lacks a standardize...
2 September 2020
Bozeman, Montana, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
Scientists in Bozeman, Montana are tracking community spread of COVID-19 by studying samples from the city’s wastewater. Although this form of tracking is more tedious and not necessarily as effective as testing indiv...
20 August 2020
Camden, New Jersey, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
Once known for being dirty, the Delaware River is being cleaned up by nonprofits and government entities to the point where they’re encouraging people to swim in it again. The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authori...
14 August 2020
Staten Island, New York, United States
Multi-Media
1500-3000 Words
The former Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island is turning into a public park that will accept visitors in 2021. By capping the trash site with plastic, covering it with soil, and planting native grasses, city offici...
16 July 2020
Nairobi, Kenya
Text
1500-3000 Words
Kibra Green, a grassroots organization in Kenya, mobilizes the young people in the community to clean up their neighborhood. At times, the group has as many as 500 participants for a community-wide clean up. Yet, a la...
OZY
Nick Dall
22 May 2020
Cape Town, South Africa
Text
800-1500 Words
From Cape Town to Nairobi, innovations in waste processing are gaining increasing attention and adoption. Fresh Life toilets turn waste into fertilizer, while Safi Sana turns waste into electricity, giving new life to...
13 April 2020
Sudher, Himachal Pradesh, India
Text
1500-3000 Words
A group of women volunteers, known as the Mahila Mandal, from Sudher in India are fighting against the dumping of garbage in their village and the pollution and potential negative health effects that come with it. Des...
23 March 2020
West Linn, Oregon, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
After a paper mill in Oregon closed abruptly, a venture capitalist swooped in, bought the place, and reopened it as the first paper mill in the United States to produce paper using wheat pulp. Through a partnership be...
19 February 2020
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Broadcast TV News
3-5 Minutes
Food waste diverted from the landfill to anaerobic digesters can be used to create electricity. In Massachusetts, farmers and businesses participate in a waste-to-energy project in partnership with Vanguard Renewables...
NPR
Rachel Cramer
12 February 2020
Havre, Montana, United States
Radio
3-5 Minutes
Finding ways to reuse brewery waste can save water treatment plants money. In Havre, Montana, Triple Dog Brewing has entered into a partnership with the town’s wastewater treatment plant, supplying discarded barley to...
Yellowstone Public Radio
Rachel Cramer
10 February 2020
Havre, Montana, United States
Radio
5-15 Minutes
Upcycling spent barley helps to ease wastewater treatment. In Havre, Montana, the town’s wastewater treatment plant uses barley from a local brewery, Triple Dog Brewing, to feed bacteria. The nutrients from the barley...
The Huffington Post
Sophie Mbugua
23 January 2020
Kikuyu, Kenya
Text
1500-3000 Words
In 2017, Kenya implemented a plastic bag ban and to ensure it was followed, set hefty fines and even jail time for those who broke the law. The law has had an impact – streets are cleaner and the use of single-use pla...
23 January 2020
Philippines
Text
Under 800 Words
Discarded plastic can serve as construction material for major infrastructure and public works projects. In the Philippines, private companies like San Miguel are stepping in to participate in the government’s infrast...
21 November 2019
San Francisco, California, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
Reducing landfill waste takes a comprehensive approach. By implementing city-wide composting alongside trash collection and utilizing the sorting technology of Recology, the city’s municipal waste recovery company, Sa...
19 November 2019
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
Reducing the environmental footprint of travel and tourism requires curbing habits. Natural Habitat Adventures recently completed a “zero-waste” trip to Yellowstone National Park by implementing several strategies, in...
4 November 2019
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Eschewing packaging reduces waste. Cleenland, a store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, encourages low-waste shopping by selling household items like soap, cleaner, and detergent in bulk. Customers bring their own containe...
Grady Newsource
Talley Davidson
24 September 2019
Athens, Georgia, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
A coffee shop near the University of Georgia has joined the trend of eliminating straws from their beverages in an attempt to play their role in helping the environment. To address the criticism that this could negait...
16 September 2019
Denver, Colorado, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
At both the individual and corporate levels, action is being taken to eliminate the use of plastics. While many people have turned their attention to decreasing their own use of single-use plastics, many say that’s no...
30 August 2019
Palm Island, Lebanon
Text
800-1500 Words
In a stark juxtaposition to Lebanon’s polluted beaches, just 150 off the coast lies Palm Island – more commonly known as Rabbit Island – seeking to remain pristine and pollution-free. Promapir, an EU-funded collaborat...
27 August 2019
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Across the world, countries are reckoning with its astounding single-use plastic bag waste by instituting legislation that taxes or all-out bans them. Research has shown that taxing the bags has been a more effective ...
23 August 2019
United States
Text
800-1500 Words
The company, iFixit, is training college students to repair electronics and then create manuals so that others can do the same. The company has helped students make more than 30,000 guides and reaches 1.5 million user...
15 August 2019
Rhinebeck, New York, United States
Text
1500-3000 Words
A movement for "green burials" - burials that allow bodies to decompose naturally and without chemical preservatives - addresses climate change contributors in the funeral and burial realm. Green burials are a cost-ef...
The Guardian
Holly Dicker
14 August 2019
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Text
800-1500 Words
Abandoned buildings can become spaces for economic innovation and experimentation. An abandoned resort spa in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, now houses BlueCity, an ecosystem of sustainable enterprises. The initiative al...
The Mercury
Madison Kuklentz
Gabriella DeMelfi
Thomas Garlick
9 August 2019
Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, United States
Text
800-1500 Words
Pennsylvania’s Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy has built a grassroots base of volunteers that help clean up the local environment. Through education at schools and summer workshops, outreach projects, and asking volun...
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