All Change Agent
- To save a rare forest, farmers try a new crop 鈥 butterfliesPeople living in Zanzibar's Jozani forest are being trained to raise butterflies as a way to prevent deforestation by giving people a financial stake in keeping the forest intact.
- Iconic New York City hotels promise to go greenThe Waldorf Astoria, The Peninsula New York, and The Pierre are among 16 posh hotels pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2025.
- A World War II aircraft carrier's new mission: promote science educationNew York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum preserves history while inspiring young Americans to become bold, innovative, and daring explorers themselves.
- Forget 'Fairtrade' 鈥 just give cash to the poorest, philosopher saysWill MacAskill promotes 'effective altruism,' which advises people to give large chunks of their income to effective charities while downplaying 'Fairtrade' products.
- A small New England college goes 100 percent solarHampshire College in Amherst, Mass., will soon be home to a 'living building' and become the only residential college generating 100 percent of its electricity from solar panels.
- Soccer star goes home to build schoolsKei Kamara escaped civil war in Sierra Leone to become a top professional soccer player in England and the US. Now he's helping his home country through the nonprofit group Schools for Salone.
- She's paddling a kayak to help dump dwellers in GuatemalaDeb Walters is on a 2,500-mile odyssey to promote the nonprofit group Safe Passage.
- African nations aim to restore 386,000 square miles of land by 2030The new land restoration program builds on commitments made by African countries as part of a UN deal to tackle climate change agreed on in Paris.
- To store renewable electricity, utilities turn to pumped waterUtilities from Spain to China are increasingly relying on pumped storage hydroelectricity 鈥 first used in the 1890s 鈥 to overcome the intermittent nature of wind and solar power.
- A forgotten burying ground becomes a park that honors and remembersVernis Jackson led a coalition to create the Portsmouth African Burying Ground memorial park, which honors those buried there and educates visitors about the site's history.
- In a dry region, crowd-funding comes to a lake's rescueAn innovative citizen-led action in India has become a model for what's possible to protect water supplies, backers say.
- From hairdresser to hero, a Syrian woman forges a new path for womenOm Khaled has emerged as an inspirational leader, running five centers in northern Syria that provide education and hope to thousands of women.
- A lawyer leads a life on the wild side 鈥 rescuing those sold into slaveryVan Ngoc Ta rescues Vietnamese women and girls trafficked to China for the sex trade as well as victims of forced labor.
- A Better Chance gives city kids a suburban educationStudents from New York City live at the ABC House and attend Glastonbury (Conn.) High School. It's a learning experience for both the students and their host families.
- Website helpfulpeeps connects willing helpers with those in need'Our vision is to build a global community with millions of people helping each other every day' by doing good deeds, says the website's cofounder.
- Army staff sergeant leads a double life as a super volunteerLeo Gruba, who sees his 'duty' as a 24/7 commitment, volunteers with scouts, schools, fund-raisers 鈥 wherever he can help his community.
- A picture of pirouettes and pink at Gaza's only ballet schoolAmid the chaos and destruction that has shattered Gaza so often, with repeated wars between Israel and Hamas, the school is a haven of calm and order.
- Qatar slavery museum aims to address modern exploitationThe Bin Jelmood house is the first museum to focus on slavery in the Arab world amid concerns by rights groups that migrant workers are modern-day slaves.
- Truckers join a drive on US highways to tackle sex traffickingTruckers Against Trafficking has trained some 170,000 drivers and truck stop workers to look out for possible instances of sex trafficking.
- Fairphone answers the call for more ethical smartphonesThe Dutch company started in 2010 by raising awareness of the links between electronics and minerals mined in conflict zones, then decided to make an ethical smartphone of its own.