Photo: Getty Images / Unsplash+
In this edition of Squirrel News, rammed earth blocks are attracting interest as an eco-friendly building material, a study found the absorbed lead in hair samples dropped sharply after EPA lead restrictions, and a group of youth from the tribes displaced by Klamath River dams triumphantly kayak the whole river in the wake of dam removal.
Rammed earth blocks made from compacted earth have been used in construction for millennia. Lately, their sustainability and natural insulating and cooling properties are attracting the attention of architects. The blocks can be made with minimal carbon impact and can simply return to the soil at demolition
Source: The Guardian
A University of Utah study of local resident hair samples dating back to 1916 shows a dramatic fall in lead contamination in the years following the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and its lead restrictions, especially on gasoline.
Source: Good News Network
Sargent Ranch near Gilroy, California, has been the proposed site for a commercial corridor and the subject of a 10-year controversy. Now a non-profit trust has bought the land in a conservation win, preserving land significant to the Amah Mutsun Tribe and a key wildlife corridor between two mountain ranges.
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
The Brown Hairstreak butterfly, once common in the UK, has become increasingly rare. Conservationists attribute that to yearly hedge trimming that cuts too many blackthorn shoots where they lay eggs. This year, in one area of Wales that cut back on hedge trimming, a record number of eggs have been laid.
Source: BBC
Formed in 2019 to harness the political power of suburban women, the group named itself to lean into the ‘wine mom’ stereotype used to belittle women’s political work for democracy and justice. Their 600,000 members are now working to protect the Cleveland community from overzealous immigration enforcement.
Source: The 19th*
Childbirth and child rearing tend to lower wages and work hours for women but not men. Government support can address that. A recent study shows the parental leave and child benefits programmes of the Danish government offset 80% of the money mothers otherwise would lose.
Source: The Conversation
A house where imprisoned mothers could have child visits became home to a new programme where moms babies can live with their infants. Prison officers say that in the 5 years it has been open, no released mothers have returned to jail, although recidivism is 40% in South Dakota overall.
Source: South Dakota Searchlight
Colombia’s capital launched its first clean air zone in one of its poorest neighbourhoods and has plans for green spaces, too. The city now has 350 miles of cycling trails, the largest cycle lane network in Latin America. Once one of Latin America’s most polluted cities, air pollution dropped 24% between 2018 and 2024.
Source: The Guardian
Addis Ababa has made families a priority with more playgrounds, green spaces, and 100 streets closed to traffic on Sundays, so children can safely play outdoors. In Bogatá, ‘Care Blocks’ support unpaid caregivers with courses and tools for independence, while their dependents are cared for on site to give them time to build their futures.
Source: BBC
After the Klamath River dam removal project, salmon started to return and the river to heal. The following summer, Oregon Field Guide documented in video how 25 indigenous teens did what their people have not done since forcible removal of the tribes for dam construction: kayaked 30 miles from the mouth of the river to the sea.
Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting
