Triple Pundit

This article is part of our series on responsible mining solutions. The push for clean energy is fueled by a growing demand for minerals, but conventional mining has a track record of harmful social and environmental impacts. Rethinking international investment agreements is another potential solution to that problem. Public outrage and mass protests shut down Central America’s largest copper mine two years ago.

This story originally appeared on Global Voices. At 9:00 a.m. in Lagos, Nigeria, when traffic starts easing from its daily rush-hour gridlock, Vivian opens her laptop. Her commute is just twelve steps from her bedroom to the adjoining room that doubles as her office. Inside, a large desk anchors the space, paired with an ergonomic chair, a gaming computer, a wide monitor and two compact laptops. She does not clock in, and there is no supervisor waiting behind a glass partition.

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. Flowing almost 4,000 miles from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea, the Yangtze is China’s “Mother River.” From the emerald-green rice paddies of Hunan to the industrial hubs of Wuhan and Shanghai, the river basin generates 40 percent of the nation’s economic output.

(Image: Aaron Burden/Unsplash) By converting homes and small-scale commercial spaces into turnkey sites for family childcare providers, small towns across the country are creating new childcare slots, good jobs, and communities where young families actually want to stay. This story was originally published in The Daily Yonder. For more rural reporting and small-town stories visit dailyyonder.com.

A quiet ecological disaster struck along the West Coast of North America in 2013. The region’s iconic sunflower sea stars were hit with a bacterial disease that made them fall apart and die. Without these predators, populations of once-rare purple urchins exploded. The grazing invertebrates ate vast coastal kelp forests down to nothing, and other species that depended on the forests vanished, too. What was left behind are known as urchin barrens: masses of urchins, and not much else.

Washington state’s Puget Sound is known for scenic views of blue-gray seas, evergreen trees and snow-tipped mountains. On certain days, if you’re lucky, that view includes orcas swimming at the surface or leaping playfully from the water. One group often spotted is the Southern Residents: An orca population that lives in coastal Pacific Northwest waters. Despite fairly frequent sightings, the Southern Resident orcas are critically endangered.

As millions of Americans struggle to put food on the table, over a third of the country’s food supply goes uneaten. Researchers have tracked these metrics for decades, but the numbers remain stagnant despite growing efforts in public awareness. Food waste costs the United States an estimated $218 billion annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Yet, nearly one in eight households experiences food insecurity.

Exokinetics’ mobility device, the Zeen, can replace wheelchairs and walkers — and fill in the gaps they leave for users. (Image courtesy of Exokinetics.) Many of the over 5.5 million people who rely on mobility devices in the U.S. need multiple pieces of equipment to address their daily needs. The creators of the Zeen want to change that. Wheelchairs can be fantastic tools opening up a world of possibility for those with limited mobility. But they are not the best option in some circumstances.

Oregon-based Revino makes refillable glass wine bottles, partnering with wineries to collect them, clean them and send them back out for reuse. (Image courtesy of Revino.) The familiar glass bottle has dominated wine packaging for years, with little change and a hefty carbon footprint. Two Oregon companies are switching things up by going reusable.

Electricity is reaching more people in Africa than ever before. Governments and utilities are investing heavily, and new connections are reaching communities long excluded from power systems, leading to a more than 100 percent increase in total electricity production over the last two decades. But improving access alone has not delivered the economic gains many hoped for. Utilities are running into debt partly due to consumption not matching expectations.