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Water pollution ×
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Cities Are Cutting the Salt from their Winter Road Diets

Next City

Valerie Vande Panne

HUB MEMBER

3 February 2020

Lake George, New York, United States

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Over 3000 Words

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Brining roads before a snowstorm makes clearing roads easier and reducing the amount of salt runoff into the surrounding environment. In cities like Lake George, NY, and Cambridge, MA, municipal departments of transpo...

The Lady of Rabindra Sarovar lake

Mongabay

Mou Chakraborty

17 December 2019

Kolkata, West Bengal, India

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1500-3000 Words

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For decades, Sumita Banerjee has mobilized her community to save the Rabindra Sarovar lake. The lake preserves floral species, generates oxygen, and offers green space for locals to enjoy, but it’s threatened by gover...

In Peoria, Green Infrastructure As a Path to Social Equity

Next City

Emily Nonko

HUB MEMBER

20 November 2019

Peoria, Illinois, United States

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800-1500 Words

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Green infrastructure provides a return on investment and improves the quality of life in a community. In Peoria, Illinois, the city’s Public Works Department has piloted several green infrastructure initiatives with t...

Lake Erie's green monster: Climate change adds pressure to prevent toxic algal blooms

Cleveland.com (The Plain Dealer)

Brian Albrecht

10 November 2019

Ohio, United States

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1500-3000 Words

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Toxic green algae has become a prominent threat in Lake Erie, but local farmers are trying to reduce their footprint by limiting agricultural nutrient runoff from manure and fertilizer that is spread on their farm fie...

Battle to restore Chesapeake Bay provides lessons for Great Lakes

Cleveland.com (The Plain Dealer)

Brian Albrecht

10 November 2019

Chesapeake, Ohio, United States

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Under 800 Words

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The Great Lakes region is becoming overtaken by algal blooms, but reduction efforts from past projects are helping to create a guide for a way forward. The Chesapeake Bay Program – a multi-state and multi-agency effor...

Drinking water safety: Lessons Ohio and Dayton can learn from other states

Dayton Daily News

Will Garbe

13 October 2019

Minnesota, United States

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800-1500 Words

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Ohio’s drinking water has tested positive for PFAS chemicals, so state officials are looking at what has worked in other states to fund the process of restoring a clean drinking water supply. In Michigan, this looks l...

Can tourists coexist with nature on Lebanon's Rabbit Island?

Deutsche Welle (DW)

Olivia Cuthbert

HUB MEMBER

30 August 2019

Palm Island, Lebanon

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800-1500 Words

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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, a EU-funded collaborati...

Do plastic bag taxes or bans curb waste? 400 cities and states tried it out.

Vox

Matthew Zeitlin

27 August 2019

Chicago, Illinois, United States

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800-1500 Words

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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 ...

Watershed moment: How Chesapeake Bay turned its H2O around

The Christian Science Monitor

David Karas

15 August 2019

Annapolis, Maryland, United States

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Under 800 Words

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After decades of conservation and cleanup, the 42% of the entire Chesapeake Bay meets water quality standards. The Chesapeake Bay Program organized a regional collaboration between nonprofits, the government, and educ...

Living without plastic: One family's journey

Los Angeles Times

Susan Spillman

19 July 2019

Los Angeles, California, United States

Multi-Media

1500-3000 Words

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For one family, living plastic-free was a lifestyle decision made after they learned more about the harm that plastic waste causes. The Watt family lives as plastic-free as possible – carrying their own utensils, buyi...

Are bioplastics better for the environment than conventional plastics?

Ensia

Anja Krieger

HUB MEMBER

16 July 2019

Berlin, Germany

Multi-Media

1500-3000 Words

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As people around the world become increasingly aware of the harmful nature of plastic use, bioplastics have risen in popularity. But the term “bioplastic” actually means different things and the type of bioplastics ou...

What Can We Do About Our Water?

Gulfshore Life

Jennifer Reed

HUB MEMBER

1 July 2019

Sanibel, Florida, United States

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Over 3000 Words

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On Sanibel Island, Florida, residents know all too well the intensive steps necessary to clean up polluted water. Like many other bodies of water in Florida and across the country, the city has suffered from "nutritio...

What are nature-based solutions?

Apolitical

Amelia Axelsen

HUB MEMBER

21 June 2019

Portland, Oregon, United States

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800-1500 Words

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Nature-based solutions to climate change involve strategic use of greenery to staunch the negative impacts of climate change broadly, but these solutions also have been proven to increase jobs and contribute to the ov...

‘Some river!' The Cuyahoga River, 1969—present

The Devil Strip

Rosalie Murphy

3 June 2019

Akron, Ohio, United States

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800-1500 Words

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Fifty years ago, Ohio's Cuyahoga River was filthy, so much so that an infamous fire had to help spark the conversation around water pollution and cleanliness. Now, the river is making a comeback after the introduction...

The London Marathon's method for reducing plastic bottles: Edible seaweed pouches

Washington Post

Peter Holley

29 April 2019

London, United Kingdom

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Under 800 Words

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The London Marathon debuted a new, environmentally conscious way of keeping runners hydrated: edible seaweed pouches filled with sports drink. The pouches, or “Ooho,” created by Skipping Rocks Labs, can be eaten along...

Straws Made of Seaweed Could Replace Their Plastic Nemesis

EcoWatch

Madison Dapcevich

14 March 2019

New York City, New York, United States

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Under 800 Words

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An innovative solution to the massive amount of plastic in our oceans is a new startup called Loliware. It produces 100% biodegradable straws "that look, feel, and act like plastic" but are actually made of seaweed. N...

Vanuatu Has One Of The World's Strictest Plastic Bans. It's About To Get Tougher.

The Huffington Post

Nick Visser

23 February 2019

Port Vila, Vanuatu

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1500-3000 Words

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What started as a Facebook campaign to ban plastic bags has become legislation in the island country of Vanuatu. The country has banned many single-use plastics, including bags, drinking straws, and containers, and ho...

What a project in Wisconsin can teach others about working with farmers to reduce phosphorus runoff

Ensia

Stephanie Hemphill

23 January 2019

Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States

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In Green Bay, Wisconsin, farmers are experimenting with BMPs, or best management practices, to farm their land in a way that protects the environment and decrease algae in the water. Five years into the pilot program,...

Guardian to be first national newspaper with biodegradable wrapping

The Guardian

Jim Waterson

11 January 2019

London, United Kingdom

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Under 800 Words

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National newspapers and mailers could do a lot to reduce plastic waste. Take a look at the UK's Guardian. In response to reader comments, the newspaper has stopped wrapping its deliveries in plastic, switching instead...

As Disease Ravages Coral Reefs, Scientists Scramble for Solutions

Yale E360

Ret Talbot

10 January 2019

Miami, Florida, United States

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1500-3000 Words

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As corals die-off globally, research groups around the world are working on a suite of remedies. From Australia to Florida, scientists are breeding resilient corals strains, transplanting healthy corals to new areas, ...

Scientists are using bacteria to remove harmful contaminants from our water. Here's how.

Ensia

Hannah Thomasy

8 January 2019

Rialto, California, United States

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1500-3000 Words

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It turns out that bacteria can do a lot more than contaminate water--some species break down toxic chemicals and remove heavy metals. Active sites already clean water in states like Kansas, Utah, Texas, and California...

Precycle Is a New Bushwick Grocery Store With a Mission

New York Magazine

Emma Orlow

7 January 2019

Brooklyn, New York, United States

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Under 800 Words

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In Bushwick, the grocery store Precycle is on the front lines of the battle against plastic pollution. Selling food in bulk, while inviting customers to bring their own containers, reduces not only plastic waste but f...

Three promising new technologies could help send stormwater to taps in thirsty cities

Ensia

Lindsey Konkel

4 January 2019

Cape Town, South Africa

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800-1500 Words

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With water scarcity becoming a reality for many cities, people are looking towards the premise of recycling stormwater into drinkable water collected from urban runoff. One major limitation of this is that the water o...

How a Guatemalan Town Tackled Its Plastic Problem

Atlas Obscura

Lola Mendez

3 January 2019

San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala

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Under 800 Words

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San Pedro La Laguna, a town in Guatemala, has banned single use plastics including plastic bags and straws after realizing that plastic pollution was ruining the ecosystem of Lake Atitlan and that a new waste facility...

How a Yemen Water Plant Helped Cut Cholera by 92 Percent

OZY

Sophia Akram

2 January 2019

Yemen

Multi-Media

Under 800 Words

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In Yemen, the cholera epidemic has impacted over a million people during less than a one-year timespan. However, after investing in the revitalization of a water treatment restoration plant and implementing educationa...

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Photos Credits

Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:

Fondriest Environmental, David De Wit / Community Eye Health, Linda Steil / Herald Post, John Amis / UGA College of Ag & Environmental Sciences – OCCS, Andy B, Peter Garnhum, Thomas Hawk, 7ty9, Isriya Paireepairit, David Berger, UnLtd The Foundation For Social Entrepreneurs, Michael Dunne, Burak Kebapci, and Forrest Berkshire / U.S. Army Cadet Command public affairs

Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license, and are credited to the following photographers:

Ra'ed Qutena, 段 文慶, Fabio Campo, City Clock Magazine, Justin Norman, scarlatti2004, Gary Simmons, Kathryn McCallum, and Nearsoft Inc

Photos are licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:

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Photos are licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) and are credited to the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Conference attendee listening to speaker, Jenifer Daniels / Colorstock getcolorstock.com.

Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian via Getty Images

Photo Credit: Sonia Narang