Good news around the globe: How trash becomes treasure, and disrespect turns to grace

Points of Progress

Women embracing their neurodiversity are defending the rights of misunderstood individuals in Peru

Coined by now-prominent sociologist Judy Singer in her undergraduate thesis, neurodiversity is not a diagnosis but the idea that conditions such as autism and dyslexia are natural variations in brain function. In Peru, such conditions remain stigmatized. For the past year, the Peruvian Neurodivergent Coalition has organized picnics in a park in Lima: “We want everyone to feel comfortable. ... We want to take a break from the rules that are imposed on neurodivergent people every day to fit in,” said Díaz Pimentel, a co-founder of the coalition that began with five women members.

A recent picnic drew about 30 attendees. Participants used green and red tape to indicate their “social batteries,” or whether they wanted to participate in events or only listen. The coalition has also been influential in government. It has offered feedback on two bills in Congress to protect the rights of people with autism, consulted with officials on appropriate language for neurodevelopmental conditions, and helped the government’s ombudsperson produce a video about gender bias in early detection of autism.  

The coalition seeks especially to challenge therapies that aim only to modify or control behavior, such as forcing people with autism to make eye contact, instead of understanding neurodiverse ways of adapting. The coalition currently reaches around 12,000 people and has 15 groups on WhatsApp.
Source: Positive News

Denmark’s second-largest city is taking reuse seriously, reusing everything from couches to appliances to reduce waste

Denmark is well known for its green policies; the country ranked first on Yale’s Environmental Performance Index in 2022, and about 74% of waste from businesses and homes was collected for recycling in 2021. In the city of Aarhus, the municipal-owned company Kredsløb is seeing brisk business at material exchange centers, where people can donate and collect used goods for free.

The project was inspired by a book-savers project in Hungary, where “book rescuers” sold spare books for low prices. In Aarhus, the Reuse center attracts a crowd of visitors every morning, with residents lining up to get first pick. Over 2 metric tons of materials pass through the center each day. Kredsløb is building similar facilities inside its recycling centers throughout the city to create hyperlocal circular economies.

Part of the centers’ success comes from a willingness to reuse: The Aarhus Facebook group for giving away items is over 82,000 people strong. The main center holds weekly workshops for adults and children in activities such as sewing recyclables and writing snail mail letters.
Sources: Reasons to be Cheerful, Statistics Denmark

Women in Senegal are donning beekeeping gear to protect mangroves

Mangroves are a haven of biodiversity and, like wetlands and seagrass meadows, store more carbon than terrestrial ecosystems. But Senegal has lost about 30% of its mangrove cover since 1950 due to climate change. Women have struggled to collect enough shellfish in a country where seafood makes up 30% to 40% of protein intake.

To allow the mangroves “to rest,” a cooperative of 67 women is tending hives, whose bees help pollinate the mangroves. Along with honey, the cooperative sells shellfish products such as ready-to-eat sauces, producing an extra stream of income.

The cooperative benefits the mangroves by enforcing the resting periods, and balances the needs of individuals with the group. Some 25 women in the co-op are the sole breadwinners for their families. Members divide the income after their children’s school fees are paid and microloans are made to those wanting to start other small businesses.

Local nongovernmental organization Nebeday started the cooperative with the villagers in Joal-Fadiouth. Farther south down the coast of Senegal, international groups combined beekeeping with oyster farming to benefit mangroves and nearby communities.
Sources: Al Jazeera, International Fund for Agricultural Development

India’s communities are reviving age-old farming practices to combat water scarcity

The northern Bundelkhand region receives as much as 1,300 millimeters (51 inches) of rainfall per year, higher than the national average. But most of this runs off the land, owing to a dearth of aquifers and impermeable bedrock, leading to crop failures and lack of drinking water. Uma Shankar Pandey, a resident of the region’s Jakhni village in Banda district, returned from a conservation seminar with an idea: building bunds to catch rainfall and prevent runoff.

Without government funding, farmers covered 300 hectares (741 acres) with embankments within two years. They planted trees and lentils on top to reduce erosion and ensure that the bunds would remain in place. Locals began to meet to discuss water budgeting, keeping track of water use and the amount they were able to replenish. Residents took on smaller projects: building soak pits and trenches, harvesting rainwater from roofs, and opening up old ponds to collect water. By 2020, the Banda district had raised the water table by 1.4 meters (4.6 feet).

In 2016 and 2017, the Indian government recreated Jakhni’s efforts and developed 1,050 “water villages,” and at least four Indian states have started building bunds.
Sources: Reasons to be Cheerful

Tuvalu’s effort to create a digital nation is preserving heritage amid the sea levels that threaten it

Scientists say rising tides could render the small country of nine inhabited islands, located roughly halfway between Australia and Hawaii, uninhabitable by 2100. But a project that includes 3D scans of all 124 islands and islets is now complete. The scans, plus virtual archives of traditions and cultural artifacts, will form the basis of the country’s “digital twin.” Parliament recently enshrined in Tuvalu’s Constitution a new definition of statehood that declares Tuvalu “shall remain in perpetuity in the future, notwithstanding the impacts of climate change.”

Digitized elements could include everything from sentimental artifacts to family stories. Officials also seek to create an electronic identity system to link Tuvaluans around the world. Digital passports would allow citizens to register births, deaths, and marriages, as well as vote in elections.

Though some Tuvaluans are excited by the prospect of preserving their culture, others emphasize that digital replicas cannot replace firsthand experiences. Cabinet Minister Simon Kofe called on other nations to embrace Tuvaluan principles such as “kaitasi, a sense of oneness and interconnectedness, sharing both your bounty and your burdens with those around you,” to help save his country and the rest of the world.

Tuvalu is not the only island nation digitizing: Vanuatu is preserving its endangered languages, and Singapore constructed a virtual replica of itself to aid in urban planning and disaster preparedness.
Sources: Context, The Guardian, Simon Kofe’s YouTube channel