Taking Out the Space Trash

Undergoing surgery is a stress-inducing prospect for anyone, but children are especially vulnerable to anxiety prior to operations. To avoid using risky anti-anxiety medications on young patients, two anesthesiologists at the Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford have developed creative techniques to distract children from their forthcoming surgeries. They use toys and a unique low-cost video projection system called BERT-Bedside Entertainment Theater.

The Flint crisis displayed the deficiency of knowledge by medical doctors to environmental health concerns. In response, the national medical community is bringing more awarenesses and education to current and future doctors about the importance of long-term effects of the environment on health. More research in this area is necessary as well as more classes in medical schools. Universities across the U.S. are now developing such courses to change the future of patient care and crisis prevention.

The Brownfields Program, funded through the EPA, helps towns across Montana redevelop contaminated buildings into new areas for economic development. Since 2016, when Anaconda and several nearby towns became eligible for this funding, they have used federal funds to clean up petroleum spills and other leaks and create new locations for community life to flourish.

Prompted by parents concerned about chemicals in car seats a Massachusetts company created an infant seat that is naturally flame-resistant. It's something that most manufacturers have said they cannot do and still comply with federal regulations. Advocates and manufacturers say that for such solutions to become more widespread there must be changes in regulations and federal officials are conducting a study to evaluate potential improvements to the flammability standard for car seats.  

Across the country, projects that mine landfills for reusable metals and soils are underway. Can such mining prove profitable enough to spur similar efforts on a grand scale? So far, some projects have seen profits while others have not. But as society increasingly values pollution and greenhouse gas reduction, incentives for refuse mining can only grow.

Innovative mine reclamation projects across five states in the Appalachian region allow local organizations, schools, and businesses to clean up and utilize abandoned mine land. From a school that's transforming abandoned mine land into a field of solar panels to a housing development project that uses abandoned mine federal grant money to build affordable and energy efficient housing, the Appalachian region is using a comprehensive approach to renew blighted mines.

To enhance air travel, the F.A.A. rolled out a system that enables airplanes to fly closer together using GPS, rather than the traditional radar locators. But residents near these new flight paths have risen up to contest the air pollution created by the lower, more frequent flight patterns. With impending lawsuits, the F.A.A. has to work with local officials to create a joint solution.

In Indonesia, there are 27 “Guardian” sensors eavesdropping on forests as a way to monitor them for cases of illegal logging. The organization Rainforest Connection uses artificial intelligence to analyze the audio from these sensors and if the system picks up the sound of a chainsaw, it sends a mobile alert to community patrols in the area. This technology can be scaled for other parts of the world and habitats. “We're basically building a nervous system for the natural world," says Topher White, founder of the nonprofit.

In 2020, a devastating explosion in Beirut that came from a warehouse released 800,000 and one million tons of construction and demolition waste and 20,000 tons of shattered glass into the city. The waste was being thrown into landfills. However, landfills are notoriously bad for the environment. Out of that rubble an idea was created; disposing waste sustainably. Rubble Mountains was created specifically to do this. They've been able to restore four quarries, use materials to create public amenities, and diverting up to 50 tons of demolition waste from landfills.

Residents of North Cove, Washington, are rebuilding their eroded coastal beaches with a form of dynamic revetments in which long cobble berms are deposited along the beach. The rocks cause waves to slow and drop sand instead of crashing into the coastline and eroding it.