Good news stories...worth spreading

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/16/regreening-niger-how-magical-gaos-transformed-land


Kia ora Ehoa

*Steve Hart*
*Ecology Architect*

Designer, Teacher, Builder of Ecologically Sustainable Resilient
Environments, through Urban Design, Architecture, Landscape Architecture
and Systems Ecology via Ecological Agriculture..


*Skype: tipenemanawaPhone: +64 220 75 62 11*



The Permaculture International College
https://permacultureeducation.com/
https://permaculturecollege.academia.edu/SteveHart
In association with www.organicag.co.nz & bdmax.co.nz
*I*



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: The Big Fix <[email protected]>
Date: 24 August 2018 at 00:21
Subject: Magical ‘gao’ trees, toothpaste tablets, and shifting to millet as
a staple in the face of climate change
To: [email protected]


View this email in your browser
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Hi,

readers of The Big Fix will identify with the cartoon above as we continue
to* celebrate the stories of those taking action to make the world a better
place, and those spreading love not hate.* There were so many stories
about individuals making a stand this week that I had to include more in
this introduction.

Like the story of *11-year old Stella Bowles who helped to halt the illegal
flow of raw sewage into Nova Scotia’s LaHave River* by taking water samples
and alerting her community on social media about the contaminated water.
Read more at CityLab
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=6162b591d4&e=7d31f512d2>

Or *artist Willie Baronet who bought 1,500 signs from homeless people which
he's now exhibiting.* He believes people can look directly at a sign in a
way they might not look directly at a homeless person, and he's hoping the
signs will help open people's hearts to their stories. View at Brut
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=41dc29c4b7&e=7d31f512d2>

*Or Christian Picciolini, a former skinhead and white supremacist, who
founded Life After Hate,* and has helped more than 200 individuals exit a
life of hate by giving them a new sense of identity, community, and
purpose. Read more at CSMonitor
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=3a90d36327&e=7d31f512d2>

And even businesses are making a stand. Like *Greyston's Bakery whose
slogan reads "we don't hire people to bake brownies, we bake brownies to
hire people."* It hires anyone who applies. Read more at Fast Company
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=fb3704d5b6&e=7d31f512d2>

You can read other stories about people in every sector working to solve
our many challenges below.

Please help us share this widely so we can #OccupyTheMedia
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with
the stories we need to hear!

If you’d like more stories between weekly digests, you can follow *The Big
Fix* on *Facebook
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Twitter
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or
*LinkedIn
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*or
visit our *website
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for our *Daily* *Solutions Digest*.



Lis Bastian
Editor


The Big Fix is supported by the
NSW Government through:

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Individuals

Photo: Karleen Minney

*Braidwood farmer Martin Royds moved from what he now calls "the moron
approach" to farming,* in which he sprayed and killed everything, to his
holistic approach that now works with nature and encourages it to grow.
Read more at Canberra Times
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=ce4b058388&e=7d31f512d2>

*Graham Long has helped Wayside Chapel create a true community, creating a
place of no "us and them" *instead of an intensive care unit for the
disadvantaged. Everyone is treated wth dignity and respect. Read more at
ABCNews
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=2f8eba46ab&e=7d31f512d2>

*VIDEO: Ron Finley, the Gangsta Gardener, fought to keep his garden and, in
the process, helped change the law,* which now makes it legal to grow food
on footpaths or parkways throughout the whole of the City of Los Angeles.
View at ABC TV
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=dd3eef944b&e=7d31f512d2>


Community Groups

Photo by Steven Depolo

*A group of Indian school girls, prompted by city council, collected all
food wrappers that they generated during a two-week period (over 20,244)
and sent them back to the manufacturers.* Read more at Treehugger
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=1cdca73df0&e=7d31f512d2>

*The Men's Sheds movement, which started in Australia in 1998, has now
spread globallty across the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Canada and the US as
well.* A new study reveals the success it's having in enabling men to live
happier and healthier lives and how it's an important part of creating a
"well-stocked community". Read more at The Conversation
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=3de807ea8d&e=7d31f512d2>

* VIDEO: In its first year the Geelong Repair Cafe - Highton fixed 251
items weighing 576 kilos and saved them from entering landfill.* View here
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=4246a8c773&e=7d31f512d2>

Organisations


Photo by Kiley Price

*'Ecology Monks' are using their influential position in Thai Society to
add a unique moral dimension to the environmental movement.* Read more at
Mongabay
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*Risky playgrounds are making a comeback and in Taiwan, parents are the
ones leading the change. They've started a non-profit collective called
Park and Playgrounds for Children by Children* and have been invited to be
part of the government's design process. Read more at CityLab
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=82d5c9a205&e=7d31f512d2>

*VIDEO: Aged care residents of Uniting Springwood are preparing meals for
the homeless *and in some cases serving them as well - a win/win for
everyone. View at 7.30
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Businesses



* The largest-scale positive transformation of the environment in the whole
of Africa has been happening in Niger where small-scale farmers are using
'magical' gao trees to regreen Niger and increase crop yields. *Read more
at The Guardian
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*VIDEO: A company called Bite has created toothpaste tablets to reduce the
production of plastic toothpaste tubes.* View here
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*French water and waste group Veolia has opened what it says is Europe’s
first recycling plant for solar panels* and aims to build more as thousands
of tonnes of ageing solar panels are set to reach the end of their life in
coming years. Read more at Reuters
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Educators & Researchers



* Australian researcher Joanna Kaneo-Potaka, deputy director general of
international crop research centre ICRISAT, believes millet and sorghum
should be grown as mainstream staples* because of their ability to survive
in hot temperatures and with minimum water. Read more at ABCNews
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*VIDEO: The New York University School of Medicine announced on Thursday
that it would cover the tuition costs of all its students,* regardless of
merit or need, citing concerns about the "overhwelming financial debt"
facing graduates. View at World Economic Forum
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*Researchers are using rubber from scrap tyres to create cheap building
foundations that can prevent structures from collapsing during an
earthquake.* Read more at The Conversation
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=2bbe673880&e=7d31f512d2>


Governments


*Kenya's National Environment Management Authority is planning to demolish
4000 buildings in Nairobi to protect its riparian zone *(ie. the land
around its river) after years of corruption failed to do so. Read more at The
Conversation
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=4f30d3747c&e=7d31f512d2>

*VIDEO: France plans to ban stores from throwing away unsold clothing.*
View at World Economic Forum
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*VIDEO: London is planting 40,000 trees in a bid to become a 'national park
city'.* View here
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and
read more at World Economic Forum
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=04ab1ab254&e=7d31f512d2>


Collaborations



* A new wildlife sanctuary to be built via a partnership between the
Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) and the State Government,* will
reintroduce ten native animals that have been extinct in New South Wales
for more than a century. Read more at ABCNews
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=b2628277e9&e=7d31f512d2>

*There is a growing movement worldwide — called “One Water” in the United
States — to manage water more holistically.* It’s a shift from the standard
separate management of drinking water, wastewater, stormwater and water for
the environment. Read more at Ensia
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=c82cc1a656&e=7d31f512d2>

*Nesterly and other home-sharing programs are successfully matching seniors
with large houses and millenials looking for housing and connection.* Read
more at The Globe and Mail
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=ba24659349&e=7d31f512d2>


Art for a Change


*Katoomba's Street Art Walk reflects a philosophy of building on the
strengths of young people, rather than focusing on what they’re doing wrong*.
Read more at The Big Fix
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*VIDEO: The film Toad People is helping to change the story about our need
to protect habitat for all species. *It has been nominated in the Impact
category at the Wildscreen Panda Awards. View at Vimeo
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=f88c1f307b&e=7d31f512d2>
and
read more at The Columbia Valley Pioneer
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*The Blue Mountains Conservation Society is using art to help grow
understanding of why we need to protect a plateau at the top of the
Megalong Valley.* They're sharing a new video featuring Blue Mountains poet
and botanist Wyn Jones reciting Elphinstone - Leave Alone, his poignant
poem about the history of the Plateau, which is accompanied by dramatic
aerial footage. View here
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Events




* Blackheath Choir Festival from 24-26 August.* Purchase tickets here
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=e60b8e83cb&e=7d31f512d2>


*Wild Village Experience - Nature Connection Through Learning Ancient Bush
Skills in a Village Setting. *Monday, September 3 – Friday, September 7.
Wangat Lodge, Barrington Tops. Read more here
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=64fd6e66ae&e=7d31f512d2>




*On World CleanUp Day (15 September), Surfrider South Coast is
collaborating with Plastic Free Wollongong, Fair Food Forager, Green
Connect, Illawarra Intrepid Landcare and JCI Illawarra to get the rubbish
off our beaches.* Read more here
<https://thebigfix.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9d8b7f8f48a886af953cea347&id=70038ea8de&e=7d31f512d2>





* Wentworth Community Housing will be holding an Expo on November 10 to
encourage Mountains homeowners to build "granny flats" to increase the
supply of low cost housing for people at risk of homelessness.* They
estimate these 20 – 25 square metre homes would cost about $65,000 to build
and Wentworth could guarantee the rental income. Read more at Blue
Mountains Gazette
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