Stubborn problems overcome: Where hunger is dropping and weeds build homes

How a contest for cargo ships is saving whales

A contest for cargo ships is protecting whales by encouraging traffic to slow down. Fatal collisions with whales have ticked upward as maritime shipping has grown globally and warming waters have changed animals’ patterns of movement. Off the U.S. west coast, some 80 endangered whales are killed in ship strikes annually.

In the Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies contest run by the federal government since 2014, companies are rewarded for reducing ship speed along the coast of California. Last year, 81% of the distance ships traveled was at the recommended speed of 10 knots per hour or less, and fatal collisions fell by 58%. Firms used to receive cash prizes – but bragging rights have become reward enough.

This spring, whale scientists launched a real-time tool that tracks whales and ships’ compliance with speed limits, detailed data that is helping companies improve their performance.

In addition to causing fewer collisions, slower ships generate fewer air pollutants and less noise. In 2023, there were more contest participants – 33 companies – than ever before.

Sources: The New York Times, Inside Climate News

Latin America takes big strides in reducing hunger

Hunger and food insecurity declined in South America, according to the latest United Nations reports. Ending poverty, hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition are among the U.N.’s top Sustainable Development Goals to achieve by 2030.

Healthy food in Latin America and the Caribbean costs more than elsewhere in the world. But in comparison with Africa and Asia, Latin America has the lowest percentage of its population experiencing hunger, 6.5%. Conditions varied among nations, and progress was largely limited to South America. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s chief economist partly attributes improvements after the pandemic to the region’s effective fiscal institutions, central banks, and social safety nets.

Sources: Financial Times, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 

Germany makes it easier for consumers to reuse containers

Germany is encouraging its reuse culture beyond beverage containers. For decades, the country has run a highly successful “deposit return scheme,” in which consumers get money back for their returned bottles and cans, and some manufacturers cooperate to reuse standardized glass containers.

As members of the Mach Mehrweg Pool (Make Reusable Pool), companies are now using shared glass containers for everything from yogurt to coffee beans. The pool estimates each container is cleaned and reused up to 50 times.

Critics point out that the number of single-use plastic bottles has actually increased since the system’s inception, due to lower manufacturing and handling costs for giant discount stores. Three-quarters of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles are recycled into other products, not bottles, or incinerated. But return rates for all types of beverage containers in Germany exceed 96%.

Sources: The Guardian, Bloomberg

In Namibia, an invasive weed is helping solve a housing shortage

Mushrooms and invasive weeds are one new solution to a housing crisis in Namibia. The country must build at least half a million homes to address its shortage. Additionally, more than half the country is affected by encroachment from Acacia mellifera, invasive bushes that push out native species and compromise groundwater. A national program will make wood dust out of 330 million tons of bushes over 15 years.  

At MycoHab Namibia, the wood dust becomes a growing medium for oyster mushrooms. As the mushrooms grow on top of the substrate, their rootlike mycelium network expands in the medium to become a material that can be compressed and heated into building blocks. The mushrooms are sold as food.

Researchers say cost is an issue, as the bricks are heavy and expensive to transport. But the blocks are insulating and fireproof, and sequester carbon. MycoHab Namibia opened its first home to the public earlier this year.

Sources: The Guardian, Architizer

Same-sex couples in South Korea gain new rights

The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples qualify for health insurance benefits, a landmark decision that could lead to further legal recognition. Under South Korean law, married couples and those in common-law marriages can extend the health insurance benefits of one partner to the other.

The justices upheld the decision of a lower court, which found that though So Seong-wook and Kim Yong-min’s relationship could not be considered a common-law marriage, denying them insurance privileges available to straight couples is discriminatory and unconstitutional. The ruling is final and cannot be appealed.

Though same-sex marriage remains illegal in South Korea, public opinion has become more accepting. Some 40% of South Koreans support gay marriage as of last year, up from 17% in 2000.

Source: The New York Times