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How to Start (and Run) a Bank That Puts People and Planet Over Profits

Oscar Perry Abello

May 17, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

San Francisco-based New Resource Bank was launched with environmental sustainability lending as its niche. But it pursued easier profits for a time, risking its survival and mission until a new CEO turned its fortunes around with a laser focus on the original mission, bolstered by learning its borrowers' businesses intimately. The bank doubled in size and merged with a larger bank, making itself a model for mission-driven lending in such businesses as solar, wind energy, and organic foods – and by attracting institutional depositors and investors as interested in social change as they are in profits.

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The Gila River Indian Community innovates for a drought-ridden future

Sharon Udasin

May 13, 2021 |

High Country News |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Arizona

Through settlements, the Gila River Indian community was able to regain rights to its river and tributaries. Aside, from that the community created partnerships with other water projects. The community also decided to keep a network of managed aquifer sites and to rehabilitate existing wells. One other effect of the settlement was the revival of a small segment of the Gila river. The strategic moves the community made could provide a model for other indigenous communities who lack access to their own water supply.

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The world's first 'infinite' plastic

Katherine Latham

May 11, 2021 |

BBC |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

There are several chemical recycling methods being tested throughout the world, including one of the latest ones in the United Kingdom. Mura Technology is building the world’s first commercial-scale plant that can recycle all kinds of plastic and turn them into oil. Their method aims to process 80,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year once the plant opens in 2022. While some criticize that the chemical recycling process is very energy intensive and is not always profitable, the new Mura plant already has partnerships lined up with some plastic manufacturers.

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What to Do With Piles of Plastic Waste?

Breanna Draxler Tonderayi Mukeredzi Madalitso Wills Kateta Natasha Chassagne

May 10, 2021 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Malawi, Lilongwe

From collecting plastic to transforming it into infrastructure, communities all over the world are implementing solutions to tackle the growing amount of plastic waste. In Malawi, women are separating garbage from plastic and creating new products like fire briquettes, doormats, and organic compost that they can sell to others. A town in Tasmania turned their plastic waste into a road made of recycled asphalt that is expected to last 15 percent longer than regular asphalt. And Zimbabwe is employing youth to recycle plastic into eco-friendly construction materials.

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Bridges to understanding: Linkaut is an Italian dad's project to help his son with Autism

Francesco Ciampa

April 22, 2021 |

News48 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Italy, Rimini

An organization in Italy, spearheaded by a father who has a child with autism, is working to train local businesses how to recognize, react, and serve families who may have a member in their party with autism. Although not all companies have expressed interest in the program, 120 businesses and services across Italy have signed up to participate in the training so far. The Covid-19 pandemic has halted some of the training aspects, but the organization has found additional opportunities to educate partner businesses in the meantime.

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In a first for the region, Hannaford says its grocery stores have achieved zero food waste

Janelle Nanos

April 20, 2021 |

The Boston Globe |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Scarborough, Maine

The Hannaford supermarket chain has achieved their goal of creating zero food waste. Over the past year, they diverted 65 million pounds of unsellable products to food banks, de-packing facilities, and anaerobic digestion facilities where it’s converted to energy. The grocery store is also making adjustments to how it purchases and sources food and how it’s displayed with the hopes of extending the food’s shelf life.

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Pedal power: How bicycles can change lives

Richard Kenny

April 20, 2021 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Zambia

Onyx Connect sprang from the imagination of one entrepreneur who saw how poor roads and poverty made bicycles the only practical alternative to walking great distances in southern Zambia. Onyx sells sturdy bikes with a monthly payment plan that makes them affordable but also gives bike owners a personal stake in maintaining their own investment, instead of just having it donated to them. Bikes have given girls greater access to education and farmers more income because they can deliver fresh milk or other goods more often, more quickly, at greater distances than before.

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Child care benefits at work: This app helps your employer pay your family and friends for babysitting

Chabeli Carrazana

April 18, 2021 |

The 19th |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Arkansas

Employer-subsidized childcare is helping parents find backup babysitters with a service called Helpr. Parents can search through pre-vetted sitters or add friends and family to the app, allowing them to be paid for the last-minute services. Dozens of big employers, such as Vice and Snapchat, have partnered with Helpr. Legislation in California is underway to mandate subsidized childcare for employees of big companies.

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Is Seaweed The Key To Carbon Offsets?

Teresa Carey

April 17, 2021 |

Freethink |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Maine

Running Tide Technologies, a shellfish hatchery in Maine, is betting on kelp forests as a way to store carbon deep in the ocean and sell that carbon to corporations looking to combat climate change and offset their own emissions. The startup is growing mini-farms of kelp on biodegradable floats and after a few months, they sink to the seafloor. More research is needed to see if it works, but they already have about 1,600 floats adrift in the ocean and the e-commerce company Shopify is the first to buy carbon offsets from them.

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Trolley Times newsletter gives voice to protesting farmers in India

Annie Philip

April 15, 2021 |

IJNet |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Delhi

India's protesting farmers objected to the news media's coverage of their protests, seeing it as too pro-government. Trolley Times became the grassroots response: a startup newsletter about the protests, often written by the protesters themselves, along with articles by academics and economists. To appeal to its older audience, who have rural traditions of sharing the news in their communities, the newsletter is printed and distributed at four protest sites in three languages. It also has a global audience online, which has offered the protesters and the newsletter support.

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