Chapter 1 : Giving hope

Re-cycling polluted air

Cycling prevents enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, as bicycles generate about 10 times fewer greenhouse gases than individual motorized transport. But what if we could do even better, and ride smog-cleaning bicycles that sucks up polluted air?

0R. Adam

Giving hope

These five initiatives want to beat plastic pollution in Southeast Asia

To solve our plastic problem, we have to clean up the oceans, minimize production and recycle as much as we can. But until we get there, we need to keep the madness under control. These five initiatives from Vietnam and Cambodia are trying just that.

0P.Hellier

Stay the fuck home bar

St Petersburg firm creates online bar for self-isolating extroverts.

0M. Edwards

AWA Bike: Kickstarting Nigeria’s cycling revolution

In traffic-ridden Nigeria, people are still reluctant to use bicycles, due to the lack of infrastructure and the shame of using a poor man’s mode of transport. AWA Bikes is planning to change these attitudes – and start a cycling revolution.

0L. Unah

Apple leather handbags

It looks like leather, and feels like leather - but it's actually made out of apples! A Swiss company is breaking new ground in the fashion industry with a unique, vegan handbag collection. Made of fruit waste.

0N. Berghausen

Self-healing display glass

Thanks to a new polymer compound, broken displays could soon be a thing of the past

1Tea Team

Sexual violence stinks

A bracelet that emits a repellent smell in an emergency, protecting the wearer from attack.

0Empowering people.Network

BIO-LUTIONS: a biodegradable alternative to single-use plastic

What are the alternatives for single-use platic? A German company stands out for a particularly environmentally friendly solution – as cheap and available as plastic, but entirely biodegradable.

0R. Pardikar

Former drug addicts growing healthy, local food

When Steve Glover, a former addict and recovery counsellor decided to support fellow addicts and ex-offenders after treatment, he ended up creating one of the UK’s leading sustainable urban food businesses.

0D. Pyndiah

An artsy dialog between places affected by Climate Change

What do the inhabitants of the Amazonian basin have in common with the Inuit of Greenland? In addition to being directly affected by climate change, both are also participating in a spectacular art project.

0B. Dombrowski/Tea Team

Poly-fuel and paving roads: turning non-recyclable plastic into a resource

A lot of our attention is focused on reducing plastic waste, but what can we do with the huge amount of plastic waste we already have? Two innovative Indian companies have come up with creative solutions: they are transforming plastic waste into fuel or using it to build roads.

0R. Pardikar

Paint Thicker than Blood

Graffiti has become a medium for change in Colombia’s capitol. Street artist Mos Ku takes us on a walk through his city.

0J. Zeller / Mos Ku

How Baghdad’s youth movement is re-uniting a divided society.

A carnival defies the bombs: Tens of thousands of people party for peace in downtown Baghdad.

0Q. Alwardii/Tea Team

Coffee to go with a green conscience

Freiburg is the first German city to introduce a deposit on reusable coffee cups. The Freiburg Cup not only reduces waste; it also saves coffee lovers the trouble of rinsing out returnable cups.

0Tea Team

How Moroccans made their dream city come true

European Elections: Romanian Granny Goes Viral

This is a Romanian grandmother’s video message in the run-up to the European elections. Within 24 hours of going live, it already had more than 3 million views on Facebook.

0R. Adam

Memory in Cardboard

In Bogotá, a group of people displaced by violence describe their experiences through drawings and prints. In this way, they attempt to heal their wounds and prevent the past from repeating itself.

0Goethe-Institut

Recycle Beirut - Effecting change from a warehouse

Though the city is known for its elegance, Beirut has one unfortunate blemish: piles of waste on the streets that aren’t picked up. “Recycle Beirut” is now taking the waste problem literally into its own hands and at the same time helping to tackle Lebanon’s refugee problem.

0S. Kazak/A. Kohn