Earth Beats

The latest reports leave no doubt about the devastating consequences of overexploitation of resources, both on human beings and on the planet. Species are rapidly disappearing, a waste vortex equivalent to a 7th plastic continent emerges in oceans and the planet’s available freshwater has decreased by 83%. The air we breathe, the land that feeds us, and the water that we drink are permanently contaminated. Fortunately, women and men are not giving up when facing this reality. Let’s celebrate the inventiveness of these entrepreneurs from all over the world who provide local solutions to these global challenges.

In order to mobilize and inspire as many people as possible, Ademe, UNESCO‘s Man and the Biosphere Programme, Jour de La Terre (Earth Day), Impact Hub and CDC Biodiversité have joined us. With them and the 18 internationally renowned media outlets of the alliance, we were able to highlight more than 30 social entrepreneur projects that offer solutions to the major challenges of pollution and waste.

Earth Beats is the first media operation of the Impact Journalism Movement. With a network of more than 100 media in various fields, from the press to web and TV newsrooms, we have developed our expertise in finding the best positive initiatives to solve the most urgent problems. Over the past 5 years, Impact Journalism Day has brought together 50 major news media for one day, including El Pais, Le Figaro, Asahi Shimbun, SRF, Corriere della Sera, The Hindu, The Philippine Star, Al Masry Al-Youm, and The CS Monitor. The Impact Journalism Movement is following this tradition by proposing 4 major events this year to mobilize newsrooms and citizens on more specific themes: local initiatives against waste, pollution, exclusion and climate change.

2 major projects to be found in Earth Beats

One of the projects highlighted during Earth Beats is Chakr. During a soccer match, Kushagra Srivastava and Arpit Dhupar were short of breath. They then realized that their poor breathing was due to air pollution. This is a global issue: according to the World Health Organization, nine out of ten people in the world breathe polluted air. The two engineers chose to capture this pollution from its source. With the help of Prateek Sachan, they designed an ingenious device that recovers the pollution particles emitted by diesel generators and transforms them into ink. The Hindu looked into this solution to dismiss a major polluter: diesel generators contribute between 15 to 20% to air pollution in India.

In the peri-urban areas of Morocco, plastic bags have long been considered an integral part of the landscape. Faïza Hajji decided to change this in 2006 by founding Ifassen with two other women. This cooperative in northeastern Morocco uses traditional know-how and a flexible and resistant local plant, the alfa, to give new life to plastic. To date, Ifassen has transformed more than 51,000 plastic bags into sturdy baskets and shopping bags for the markets. L’Economiste investigated the work of these 60 craftswomen and 7 associate designers.