A group of farmers in the Chocó Rainforest in Ecuador is preserving trees from being felled for lumber and banana and palm oil production. Their association, Socio Escondido, is instead growing cacao, which is easy to grow and transport and collects a price premium for being grown organically. It can be grown alongside native trees […]
Solar Sister Empowers Women and Delivers Clean Energy in Africa
Solar Sister works to both empower women and bring solar energy to remote parts of Africa by recruiting, training, and supporting women in establishing their own clean energy businesses. The Solar Sister entrepreneurs sell and deliver solar lighting and clean cookstoves to their communities, which increases their income and business skills and gives them greater […]
Rainwater harvesting supplies water and income in Kenya
With guidance from the Africa Sand Dam Foundation, villages in Kenya’s Makueni County are creating rain catchment systems to take action against drought. People in the Kikumbulyu village built rock catchment systems for rainwater, which divert water into large concrete tanks. The catchment systems required community collaboration during the planning and building process, and they […]
Bringing Nature Into Schools Increases Student Learning and Well-Being
School facilities with natural features and eco-friendly designs are not just good for the environment, but also for educational outcomes. Classrooms that have plants and natural light show improved learning scores in math, science, and spelling. Natural features in classrooms also reduce stress levels and improve student concentration and behavior. Green roofs, school gardens, and […]
The Collective Leadership Institute Builds Capacity for Multisolving
The Collective Leadership Institute is a nonprofit based in Germany and South Africa whose work helps others build capacity for multisolving. Their goal is to foster collective leadership, in particular toward fulfilling the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. They work with leaders in the private sector, public sector, and civil society in Europe, Asia, Africa, […]
BlocPower Finances Energy Efficiency in Underserved Communities
A startup called BlocPower is providing financing for energy efficiency upgrades to small businesses and organizations in underserved communities with aging, inefficient buildings. Small businesses, especially those located in low income communities, typically find it difficult to gain financing for energy upgrades, so BlocPower bundles those businesses into a larger and more diversified group to […]
Conserving water also saves energy and carbon emissions
One silver lining to the ongoing drought in California is that the water conservation measures undertaken by the state have also saved energy and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Los Angeles Times, “During [Governor] Brown’s initial emergency conservation program that stretched from June 2015 through February, energy savings from water conservation totaled 922,543 megawatt-hours — […]
Clean Energy Education & Empowerment initiative boosts the role of women in clean energy
The Clean Energy Education & Empowerment initiative serves to increase the leadership and participation of women in the clean energy sector. Created by the Clean Energy Ministerial, the US initiative is led by the US Department of Energy, MIT Energy Initiative, and Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy. The initiative advances the role of women in […]
From Empty Homes to Green Space & Flood Prevention in Detroit
In Detroit, abandoned homes are being turned into “bioretention” rain gardens. These gardens soak up storm runoff, which reduces the flow of sewage into nearby rivers and lowers the risk of street flooding during storms. Each garden will reduce stormwater runoff by 300,000 gallons every year. The gardens also sequester carbon emissions, improve water quality, […]
Car sharing Creates Connections while Fostering Disaster Recovery
The 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan swept away 60,000 cars in the city of Ishinomaki. Residents had a difficult time replacing their cars due to car shortages, lack of parking, and lack of money. In response, the Japan Car Sharing Association was created, making donated cars, along with free maintenance by a local university, […]