Solutions Journalism Network

When organic materials like wood chips and manure are heated in the absence of oxygen they create a black powdery substance called biochar. This material prevents the release of carbon into the atmosphere from the natural decaying process. And it has other beneficial uses like improving soil fertility, too.

Volunteers of the National Forest Foundation’s Colorado Rivershed project mimic beavers by foraging for materials to make dam-like structures that slow the flow of the waterways leading into the larger river. This strategy is a form of low-tech, process-based restoration meant to hold water in the upper basin for longer to reinvigorate the habitat and benefit the local ecosystem.

Local Meals on Wheels programs are known for delivering food to low-income seniors, but during climate disasters, they are in the position to check in on the most vulnerable. The programs’ volunteers and staff do just that, whether that means giving fans to clients during a heatwave, tarping roofs after a hurricane, or making check-up calls.

Members of the A’i Kofán de Sinangoe Indigenous guard keep watch over the part of the Amazon rainforest their community resides in. With the help of technological tools like drones and camera traps, they are able to prevent invasions and illegal activity on their land — which often goes hand-in-hand with preventing deforestation and pollution.

Because Massachusetts has few requirements around incorporating climate change into school curriculums, organizations such as Eastie Farm, Climate Action Through Education, and Spring Forward work to fill the gaps both in and out of the classroom. Through hands-on learning opportunities, ready-made lesson plans, and youth-led workshops, the organizations aim to improve students' climate literacy in a way that feels relevant to their daily lives.

Coffee growers in Oaxaca, Mexico, are renovating their plantations into agroforestry systems to adapt to the effects of climate change. The new growing style integrates native trees and shrubs to diversify the fields. This makes the plants more resistant to unpredictable weather, diseases, and pests.

The Nusantra Fund provides financial support directly to community-led projects in Indonesia. The aim is to improve the livelihoods of Indigenous and local people while tackling climate change impacts and protecting biodiversity.

Guatemala’s reforestation programs pay farmers to keep their lands forested instead of clearing them for farming. The annual $380 payment each participant receives for 5 to 10 years comes from the general taxes collected by the government.

A community-based, early-warning system for flooding in Durban, South Africa, gave community members an early enough evacuation order so that no lives were lost. The system uses information from Weather Service reports to know when and where to monitor real-time local conditions. When a community member or member of the disaster management unit sees the conditions are becoming dangerous, they use messaging apps to warn the community.

A junk removal service in Athens, Georgia, is slowing the growth of the local landfill by recycling, donating, and giving away the items it can before taking the rest to the landfill.

Generous Design Africa works to reduce plastic pollution through upcycling and recycling. The group recycles plastic and makes products like rulers, cups, and buttons, that are sold for profit. Generous Design Africa also holds two monthly trainings to teach locals about plastic recycling and the dangers of plastic pollution. So far, more than 100 people have attended the training.

Shredded coconut husk, known as Coir, is becoming a popular material for shoreline restoration projects. It’s typically used to trap sediment while protecting vegetation and wildlife from the force of waves. Once the vegetation has several years to flourish, the natural coconut fibers will have decomposed.

The Decolonizing Wealth Project is a network of people working together to create more equitable, capital opportunities for communities of color, with an emphasis on Indigenous land keepers. Through its work with other groups, the project offers a series of grant opportunities like the Indigenous Earth Fund to provide Indigenous-led organizations with the resources needed to target climate and conservation issues.

Empowering Indigenous peoples in Indonesia with land rights allows them to protect and manage rainforests and biodiversity. One tribe that’s doing so, the Kajang, relies on substance agriculture and does not allow practices like cutting down trees, hunting, or using technology on most of the land.

Philadelphia’s ban on businesses’ use of single-use plastic bags reduced plastic bag use by 94%. The ban also extended to paper bags not made of recycled content.

B Local Georgia helps local businesses become B Corp certified, which means the business is sustainably operated and works to promote sustainable economic processes. The program has helped 34 companies across the state become B Corp certified.

North Bay Jobs With Justice teaches immigrant and Indigenous farmworkers how to restore the land’s ecological health and mitigate impacts of climate change and disasters like wildfires through training efforts and ancestral knowledge. The group has also helped workers organize for respect, safer conditions and fair pay.

In Nigeria, the state-led Gombe Goes Green project raises tree seedlings in nurseries, plants them across the state, and ensures the trees’ survival through regular care. The trees help combat the effects of rampant deforestation like flooding and land degradation.

Gree Energy helps food processors in Indonesia overcome the financial barriers to installing anaerobic wastewater treatment plants. These plants turn methane emissions into biogas to be used as electricity or thermal energy. The company plans the builds, finds uses for the biogas, and establishes revenue to fund the projects.

New York City’s new curbside composting program collects food waste from residents in Queens to divert it from landfills. Microorganisms break down the food scraps in a process called anaerobic digestion that creates biogas used to heat 2,500 homes.

A small business in Puerto Morelos uses invasive seaweed that washes up on Mexico’s beaches to create construction blocks. The company, Sargassum, mixes the seaweed with organic materials, presses the mixture into block shapes, and lets them bake in the sun to harden. The owner sells some of the blocks and uses some to build affordable housing in his community.

The design firm Arup calculates cities' ability to retain water through nature and helps them implement other solutions to flooding, like building rain gardens or public messaging strategies, depending on individual needs.

The shelter-in-place approach is slowly becoming a more common way to survive wildfires that are too violent and fast to evacuate. People using this method congregate in “defensible” buildings created with wildfire resilience in mind that sit in an area clear of flammable vegetation and fuel.

A startup in Germany created an online platform, Cirplus, that connects recycling companies with manufacturers and distributors in the plastic industry. The site encourages the move towards a circular economy by improving transparency for buyers and sellers.

Farmers in California are taking advantage of recent heavy rainfall by intentionally flooding their fields to restore the underground aquifers after years of drought.