Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Liberian women leading the way in tackling plastic pollution

    A recycling initiative in Liberia turns plastic waste into tiles and provides income for the women who collect it. From picking up plastics, some women can earn up to $40 a week. While it’s not always easy, picking up the waste has also unblocked drains which has reduced flooding.

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  • Wildflower revolution would lead to investment in our community, environmental future

    In order to attract and sustain pollinators, communities in Ohio and Wisconsin are resorting to a more "unkempt" approach. In Mansfield, Ohio the community started planting "butterfly and pollinator gardens" in various areas of the city, as well introduced new mowing patterns which include mowing less areas and letting some areas overgrow. In Appleton, Wisconsin, the city council has instituted "No Mow May" during which "communities suspend the enforcement of their long-grass rules for the month, allowing property owners to delay lawn care as a way to promote pollinator-friendly habitats."

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  • Charlottesville's 10th & Page has fewer trees and higher temperatures than other residential neighborhoods — and it's not by accident

    Residents are working together to plant trees in order to boost the urban tree canopy in Charlottesville. With increasing global temperatures, a city’s tree canopy impacts how high the temperatures can go. An ambassador program sends teens from door to door to educate residents and convince them to allow trees to be planted on their properties.

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  • Cleveland's reforesting efforts take root in once-redlined neighborhoods

    Activists in Cleveland, Ohio are reforesting the city's vacant lots one community garden at a time. Gwen Garth, a local activist in the city, partnered up with churches, in order to create a long-term plan to plant gardens to also increase tree canopy in the city in a more equitable approach by focusing on historically redlined neighborhoods. The plan includes reaching 30% tree canopy by 2040, which means planting 361,000 new trees.

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  • Growing Community in Vacant Chicago Lots

    On average, community gardens don't last longer than a decade, but Harambee Garden in Chicago is defying the odds during its 12th year in operation. A large part of its success lies in the involvement of local churches, library, firehouse, and multiple youth volunteer organizations, one which even paired local high school students with adult mentors.

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  • Turkey Bets on Green Card

    A program in Turkey allows residents to recycle its waste, and in return, receive points that can be used to pay for goods or be withdrawn as cash from an ATM. When the Green Neighbor Card program launched in 2016, the first month saw residents turning in over 8,700 kilograms of waste. By 2020, it has grown to 200,000 kilograms a month. Some say the program has some flaws, but residents have earned 5.3 million liras since the program began.

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  • Maryland Town Turns Flood Zone into a Tourist Attraction

    When algae overgrowth began to plague the Carroll Creek flood control project, a group of volunteers cultivated 1,000 floating canopies of plants to block the sunlight that algae need to grow, allowing the community to maintain the effective underground concrete conduits that move storm water. 250 volunteers maintain the plants throughout the year and the creek, previously made unusable by the algae, now draws tourists to see various attractions.

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  • The Biggest Crop in Prison Gardens: Hope

    A gardening program for correctional facilities is introducing incarcerees to vocational gardening and landscaping, but also provides much more than a chance to get their hands dirty. Insight Garden Program provided a “safe space” for introspection and growth, reduced anxiety and depression, and then eventually helped formerly incarcerated people adjust to life after prison with services that include housing.

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  • Can green spaces help curb Philly's gun violence problem?

    Philadelphia's LandCare program has cleaned and greened 12,000 vacant lots, removing trash and other signs of blight. A study showed that the program led to a large drop in violent crime in the cleaned-up areas. A U Penn researcher who led that study and a community leader whose Philly Peace Parks in west and north Philadelphia have developed a more welcoming, healthy environment talk about the emotional impact such programs have on residents when they see that their neighbors care about the neighborhood. Says organizer Pili X, "It does something to the heart and soul of people."

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  • Could Greater Investment in Greening Help Reduce Gun Violence?

    The city lot where Sanctuary Farm now grows vegetables that it distributes free to the community once was strewn with trash and drug paraphernalia, hardly a hospitable place for the neighborhood kids who played in it. Now it's a lush garden and safe hangout for kids who help with the gardening, do art projects, or just play. It's similar to a broader Philadelphia program that "cleaned and greened" thousands of lots and made a measurable decline in violence. Sanctuary's impact on crime isn't known for sure, but some neighbors say the farm is a positive influence.

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