Grist
20 November 2020
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United States
“In 2015, nearly 21 million U.S. residents relied on water systems that violate the standards set by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.” Meena Sankaran is helping to reverse the trend. Her startup, KETOS, uses analytics and sensors that provide real-time data that can be sent through a mobile app. Instead of having to wait for people to monitor and process the data, or for people to get sick, data can be delivered instantaneously. “So far, the company has compiled 13 million data points from municipalities across all 50 states, spanning the last 18 years.”
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/31/indias-independent-farmers-embrace-organic.html
Bibek Bhandari
Ankita Rao
Al Jazeera
31 May 2015
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As India's government promotes organic exports, farmers in Punjab have non-economic reasons for avoiding pesticides: Their health.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/141124/delhi-worlds-most-polluted-city-environmentalism
Ankita Rao
Global Post
12 December 2014
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Fed up with living in the world's most polluted city, some residents are fighting back, on their rooftops and backyards. In 2010, India launched the Jawarharlal Nehru Solar Mission, a government program to deploy 20,000 megawatts of grid-connected solar power in the country, but much of this push for renewable energy has only been focused on rural areas, leading urban residents to take up local control of their energy supplies.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a51754/how-three-simple-words-are-changing-an-indian-town
Jill Filipovic
Cosmopolitan
6 January 2016
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Daughter, water, trees: A simple strategy to address ecological and gender concerns. Since 2007, villagers in Piplantri have embraced Paliwal's the ethos by planting 111 saplings every time a girl is born.
https://www.hcn.org/issues/46.20/can-biomimicry-tackle-our-toughest-water-problems
Benjamin Goldfarb
High Country News
24 November 2014
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Clean water and healthy ecosystems are becoming increasingly difficult to come by. With floating islands and other inventions, eco-entrepreneur Bruce Kania thinks that biomimicry - such as reconstructing wetlands and growing biofilms - can tackle the toughest of water problems.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/in-urban-jungles-green-roofs-bring-relief-from-above
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
23 May 2012
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New York City black tar roofs cause a number of environmental problems, including air pollution, heat absorption that raises energy consumption, and storm water runoff in the sewer system. Efforts to turn these old roofs into green spaces cool the buildings, enable the containment of more rainfall, reduce sewer discharge, generate energy, and absorb carbon emissions. New York City has a pilot program offering financial help for green roofs.
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/for_us_tribes_a_movement_to_revive_native_foods_and_lands/2915
Cheryl Katz
Yale Environment 360
28 September 2015
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Property rights, circumscribed jurisdictions, and conflicts with neighbors exacerbate Native American efforts to restore tribal land and resources. Some tribes have found success by tapping into a trend of support from the government and conservationists.
http://ensia.com/features/what-to-do-about-the-antidepressants-antibiotics-and-other-drugs-in-our-water
Elizabeth Grossman
Ensia
11 August 2015
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Prescription drugs are greatly polluting the national water supply, causing researchers to begin looking for a method to better filter water and dispose of unused medicine.
http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-08-26/aleppo-cell-phones-are-helping-some-desperate-syrians-find-clean-water
Joyce Hackel
Public Radio International (PRI)
26 August 2015
Radio / 5-15 Minutes
In war zones, people have a difficult time finding clean water and safe areas to inhabit. Social media, smart phones, and technology applications are aiding in people’s survival. In Aleppo, Syria, the International Committee of the Red Cross posted a map on Facebook to show alternative sources of clean drinking water that reached approximately 140,000 people.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/in-india-latrines-are-truly-lifesavers
Vivekananda Nemana
Ankita Rao
The New York Times
13 November 2014
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India has had a problem in which 620 million people openly defecate outdoors, causing harm to hygiene, sanitation, food, and water resources. The president of India funded an initiative to build public toilets for the people in his country, but the people did not use them because of old traditions and behaviors. The Total Sanitation Campaign is slowly changing villagers’ minds by having local leadership persuade those who resist the toilets by holding community activities and creating special committees to maintain the sanitation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/11/02/reinvent-the-toilet-save-the-world-ecuador-is-betting-on-it
Vanessa Hua
The Washington Post
2 November 2015
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Billions of people around the world lack access to safe sanitation, causing disease and deaths. In Ecuador a foundation developed a cheap, dry, composting toilet for poor rural families.
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