Watery Bangladesh Works to Prevent Child Drowning Deaths

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 like a multi-agency approach that supports bipartisan buy-in, while Minnesota saw success by holding the state’s largest manufacturer accountable for the contamination and clean-up.

Even though natural parks are in close proximity to New York City’s metropolitan hub, many are inaccessible and overlooked areas for recreation and sport. Conservation groups, including the Natural Areas Conservancy and the Bronx River Alliance, have worked to restore trails, offer tour opportunities, and protect parks' natural geography, benefitting millions of New Yorkers’ mental and physical health.

Healthy Beginnings At Home provides rental assistance and housing support to pregnant women in unstable housing situations. The program originally started as a research study and proved that providing adequate housing support led to reduced infant mortality. The program helps connect those in need with affordable housing and even covers rent for several months while the moms get adjusted.

Ice rinks in Canada are swapping ice resurfacers that run on fossil fuels and propane for electric models. The electric resurfacers don’t emit pollutants like nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, so they improve air quality inside the arena and reduce environment-harming emissions.

A community-based water testing and lead-education pilot program aimed to rebuild confidence and trust among Flint residents, who are skeptical of state-affiliated testing. Trained students collected water samples that were tested by University of Michigan labs. Educational materials provided with results included how to install, maintain, and use filters. While most samples didn't show issues, households with dangerous lead levels were given bottled water, filters, and other services. Once the pilot ended, the Mckenzie Patrice-Croom Water Lab secured funding to continue free community-based water testing.

Cities throughout Connecticut have long struggled to enact a successful response to the statewide lead-poisoning problem, but the city of Bridgeport stands out as a model for how to get results by taking proactive action. Unlike other cities where investigations aren't triggered unless a child tests positive for lead poisoning, officials in Bridgeport focus on regularly conducting building inspections and utilizing Connecticut’s Uniform Relocation Assistance Act.

The Maid of the Mist has given tours of Niagara Falls for 174 years, and recently replaced its fleet with electric catamarans, the first of their kind in North America. The boats are zero-emission and run on dual banks of lithium-ion batteries that are recharged between each tour by plugging two high-voltage lines into a charging station for seven minutes. The charging station is powered by a nearby hydroelectric facility. Two joysticks, like those on an arcade game, allow captains to steer the boats and dual monitors in the wheelhouse provide detailed battery status reports for constant monitoring.

In an effort to create more effective helmets, developers and consumers have come up against both cost and technological concerns. Building helmets that protect against concussions is challenging, and those that have been promising come with the additional concern of working so well that players aren’t able to recognize when they’ve been hit too hard. Furthermore, safer helmets cost more – as much as $200 per helmet – making it hard to afford for schools with limited budgets.

To better serve all communities and increase safety for families, the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation is offering free swim lessons at community pools. Building off of the success of University of Pennsylvania's We Can Swim summer program which offers lessons to "Philadelphia children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn," the idea has already been deemed a success given the enrollment numbers.

Oregon school districts are looking to Hawaii school districts to learn the best ways to implement athletic trainers into high school athletics programs across the state. Although there are many obstacles to overcome that primarily center on funding strategies, Hawaii provides a model of how to increase safety from the sidelines.