Good News Tuesday for Feb. 16, 2021: Successful Program Responds to Non-Violent Police Calls, Repair Don’t Waste, Wardrobe Donation, and Plastic Bricks

February 16, 2021 by JoAnna 4 Comments

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

Successful Colorado Program Relieves Police from Non-Violent Calls

Sending health care specialists to non-violent calls frees up police to focus on fighting crime. Since June 1, a program in Colorado has been sending a paramedic and a mental health professional out to handle low level incidents like trespassing and mental health episodes that would have fallen to police. These STAR teams focus on assessment and connecting people with services.

“In its first six months, the Support Team Assisted Response program, or STAR, has responded to 748 (nonviolent) incidents. None required police or led to arrests or jail time.” Here are the details from Denver.

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Europe’s Movement toward Repair instead of Waste

The EU’s eco-design regulations are moving forward in March with a regulation that will “define standards for repair and useful life making it easier to repair washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators and monitors. France is introducing an anti-waste law with a repair index for a wider variety of appliances and devices and aims to make 60% of devices repairable by 2026. You can read more from Next City here.

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Alex Trebek’s Family Donates Wardrobe

Alex Trebek’s Jeopardy wardrobe is being donated to The Doe Fund, a charity that provides, “work, housing, vocational training, continuing education and comprehensive social services to underserved Americans with histories of addiction, homelessness and incarceration.” Good Morning America has more on the story.

Or this could be for WATWB? Look for the CBS News video of the Atlanta school counselor who runs a food pantry. His name is Anthony at Carver Elementary in Atlanta

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Bricks from Plastic

Yes, we need to reduce our use of plastics, but we can also recycle and repurpose. Nzambi Matee of Kenya is a materials engineer and head of Gjenge Makers, which produces sustainable low-cost construction bricks made of recycled plastic and sand. They are winners of the Young Champions of the Earth Award. Ms. Matee will tell you more about their work in this video:

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