Today on Squirrel News, we learn about how the rising trend in global consumption of natural resources seems to be turning around, an app that encourages Kenyans to plant millions of trees, and drones that will soon keep Mount Everest clean from trash.
“Many indications that the overconsumption will soon decrease”
Earth Overshoot Day – the day when humanity has reached its yearly sustainable consumption limit – came slightly earlier in 2024 than 2023. Even though much more needs to be done, there are encouraging signs of a trend reversal in global overconsumption.
Citizens plant over 240 million trees in Kenya thanks to government app
Jazamiti promotes citizen engagement in tree planting efforts by providing information about appropriate species to plant in their region and where to get tree seedlings.
A Chinese drone company has teamed up with local government to tackle the trash accumulation problem caused by overtourism in the Himalayas. 1 drone can ferry as much trash in 1 hour as 14 people in 6 hours.
Loophole that allows prison slavery in US to be challenged via ballot initiatives
Voters in California and Nevada will be able to vote to override old legislation that still allows prisoners to earn less than 1 dollar an hour for their work, and ban what amounts to modern slavery. The cost of paying inmates a decent wage has been shown to be more than offset by the increased financial independence of former prisoners after release.
Citizen-led solutions financed by collaborative public-private fund
The Kensington Community Resilience Fund, a partnership between citizens, municipal authorities and multiple foundations, uses “participatory grantmaking” to involve community members in a collaborative bottom-up funding process for neighborhood-based programmes.
Uniforms that grow’ help keep girls in Togo in school
Families in Togo can struggle to afford sending girls to school due to expensive mandatory school uniforms. An NGO has developed a school uniform that is easily modifiable by local seamstresses, so that parents don’t need to buy new ones as girls grow.
How a monk and a Hippo joined forces to tackle Bangkok’s plastic pollution
Desperate to restore the Chao Praya River to a pristine state, an abbot in the Thai capital began recycling in his temple. Now he has a floating ally in his efforts to clean up the river.
Agroforestry offers Thai rubber farmers a pathway to profit and sustainability
Rubber farmers in Thailand are increasingly adopting agroforestry as a more climate-friendly and sustainable way of cultivating the commodity, which ranks among the world’s largest drivers of tropical deforestation.
From tidal power in Northern Ireland to floating solar panels in Albania
In this show, the journalists behind the BBC’s People Fixing the World and The Climate Question podcasts come together to discuss innovative climate solutions from around the world, including tidal power, floating solar panels and community sustainable forestry initiatives.
