Scotland to provide free period products, pro-democracy rubber ducks, fighting wildlife trade via WhatsApp

Photo: Anna Shvetz/Pexels (CCO)

In today’s edition of Squirrel News, we’re looking at Scotland becoming the first country in the world to provide free and universal access to menstrual hygiene products, Thai pro-democracy rallies protecting protesters with giant rubber ducks, and a crime fighting NGO tackling Brazil’s illegal wildlife market via WhatsApp and Facebook.

Scotland becomes first nation to provide free period products for all

Scotland has become the first country in the world to provide free and universal access to period products following a four-year campaign that has fundamentally shifted the public discourse around menstruation.

Source: The Guardian

Giant rubber ducks become symbol of Thai pro-democracy rallies

The inflatables taken on marches to mock authorities were initially brought to the protest as a joke, but were promptly repurposed as shields and are now protecting protesters from police violence.

Source: The Guardian

A crime fighting NGO is tracking Brazil’s wildlife trade on WhatsApp and Facebook

The group’s pioneering strategy is to use social media to track the illegal sale and movement of animals out of Brazil, and turn over the data to law enforcement.

Source: Mongabay

Trackside solar panels are making the UK’s rail network greener

Solar farms plugged directly into the rail network is just one way that the railways are using solar energy to power trains.

Source: BBC

Amazon rainforest initiative pays farmers and ranchers to protect native vegetation

The non-profit organisation Conserv is paying farmers and ranchers in the Amazon to preserve more native species on their land than required by law.

Source: Mongabay

A new invention makes renewable energy from rotting veg

Carvey Maigue’s creation uses a substance made from crop waste to create a material that can absorb stray UV rays and transform it into useable energy.

Source: The Guardian

Second-hand lifestyles are on the rise in Berlin

Buying used goods is becoming increasingly popular in the German capital, with the city’s retailers responding by opening department stores only selling pre-loved goods.

Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful

US high school’s new grocery store accepts good deeds as payment

Linda Tutt High School in Sanger, Texas, has opened a points-based student-run grocery store to help provide food and other necessities to students, staff, and their families amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Upworthy

The Indian school where students pay for lessons with plastic waste

Villagers once burned the toxic waste as fuel, but a pioneering couple’s radical education model uses it much more creatively.

Source: The Guardian

A pet adoption scheme is helping older people keep pets amid the pandemic

The non-profit organisation Pets for the Elderly helps senior citizens pay for the adoption of a rescue animal, helping prevent loneliness amongst the elderly whilst giving pets a second chance.

Source: CNN

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