Current Search: Innovation

Is creative thinking the best way to improve our communities? Undoubtedly, yes! For proof, here’s how one man in India is helping ease the pollution of the Ganges by turning sacred flowers—formerly trash that was dumped into the river—into incense! 

How do we waste less food and less money? Meal planning can seem daunting, but these simple tips and tricks can make life easier, more delectable, and give us the freedom of mind to actually enjoy our food and leisure time.

You’re never too old to learn or try something new. Not ever. If you need proof, take a look at 81 year-old Masako Wakamiya, who after never touching a computer until she was 58, coded an entire app to help seniors in her community stay connected and live more fulfilling lives. 

Cooking meals over open fire has long been tradition worldwide. And now, backyard chef Derek Wolf is bringing us back to our roots by bringing it back to the mainstream. His work reminds us that when you take the time to care about what you’re doing—in this case, eating in the outdoors with carefully prepared food and good people—it makes everything better.

What one material could make placemats, rugs, and hair extensions? This miracle fiber is bananas! Learn about the non-profit transforming this popular plant’s waste into something that is wonderful—in more ways than one!

Wait! Before those food scraps in the garbage, here’s an easy way to make a positive impact as you go about your daily routine. Turn your food waste into a resource without having to make a compost pile in your own backyard by having it picked up and taken away, right from your front door!

Stop throwing away your junk mail! With a little water, that recycling could become your next notebook, card, or to-do list. Let’s rethink our conceptions of waste and think critically about recycling, all with a fun new activity: paper-making! 

Have you ever peered into a mirror made of troll dolls, penguins, or folding fans? Dive into this artist’s world to see yourself in entirely new ways!

You may know the American Lion by one of its 83 names, but whether you call it a puma, mountain lion, or catamount, it’s time to start protecting these important creatures. And that starts in—of all places—our highways!

Could a fridge on a curb change the lives of an entire community? In places where getting access to fresh healthy food is nearly impossible, neighbors, restaurants, and friends are teaming up to support and nourish each other. Here’s how it works and how you can get involved!

You will never look at your take-out chopsticks the same again. Now, they could become your dining room table or beautiful shelving unit! Here’s a company that is radically redefining the value of our waste items, and creating a new, sustainable path forward for all of us along the way.

Goats combating wildfires? In Australia, communities are teaming up with these hungry helpers to restore their forests. And we’re finding inspiration to solve problems in our own lives along the way!

Reds and yellows and blues, oh my! Remember when Dorothy opened the door to Oz? We’re traveling back in time to discover an amazing innovation that has quite literally changed the world we see today!

Do you like strawberries? You have a little red bug to thank for their safety! Each year, millions of crops (including strawberries) are under threat of being destroyed by spider mites. But farmers and scientists have once again teamed up with nature to solve the problem. Here’s the story of persimilis—a surprising hero on the agricultural stage!

What do you get when you combine resilient people, extreme weather conditions, and a former mining town?  In Coober Pedy, residents live, work, grocery shop, and do everything else… underground. This unique and fascinating lifestyle is a great look into how humans can learn to thrive, no matter the challenges we face. They give a whole new meaning to the term “down under”!

In our fight to bring clean, fresh water to billions of people around the world, innovators now have a new source of inspiration from the middle of the… desert? A beetle with a unique ability to capture water out of thin air is inspiring a new generation of life-saving technologies! 

Some of our best environmental engineers when it comes to winning the race to slow climate change have turned out to be these natural (and very cute) prairie-preserving specialists! Here’s how bison are restoring a previously destroyed landscape and keeping tons of carbon out of our atmosphere along the way.

New York Harbor is the cleanest it’s been in over a century and it’s thanks to a delicacy many of us love to slurp down…oysters! Using nature’s knowhow, table scraps, and a little ingenuity, oysters are bringing life back to polluted waters and protecting one of America’s most beloved cities!

Meet the people turning fruit waste into super-sustainable packaging! Their amazing innovations are opening a whole new world of possibility for us all. Prepare never to look at pineapples—or paper plates—the same again.

Can hackers really be saving lives?! This group of hackers is combining their unique skills to do good! They’ve developed an extraordinary partnership that is quite literally saving lives.