OLYMPIC TORCH, MEET NUCLEAR WASTE | | |
The 2026 Winter Olympics just concluded in Italy — dazzling performances on ice and snow, punctuated by the occasional over-confessional athlete and embarrassing U.S. official (here and here). But taken together, the Games once again captured the global imagination, reminding us how powerfully a single flame can unite us and hold the world’s attention.
In two years, that flame will be lit in Los Angeles.
The 2028 Summer Olympics promise spectacle and pageantry, with representatives from nearly every nation on earth (at least the ones whose governments have yet to be toppled to distract us from the Epstein Files).
Unlike the 2024 Paris Games, which sent surfers halfway across the globe to Tahiti, Los Angeles will keep its surfing competition closer to home: San Onofre Beach, one of Southern California’s most iconic breaks.
San Onofre is also home to the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).
Buried there are 3.6 million pounds of radioactive waste. Stored in aging casks. On a beach vulnerable to destructive king tides. In a region so seismically active it has earned the nickname “Earthquake Bay.”
Roughly nine million people live within a 50-mile radius.
What could possibly go wrong?
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$200K TO REDUCE METHANE: ARE YOU IN?
* A cattle rancher adding seaweed to feed to cut enteric emissions.
* A city turning food scraps into biogas instead of sending them to landfill.
* A startup capturing methane from dairy lagoons and converting it into usable energy.
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These hypothetical examples show different approaches to a shared goal: reducing methane from food and waste systems — the fastest way we can slow climate change.
Methane from food and waste systems is a major driver of warming, yet some of the most promising solutions are being built quietly, without much visibility or support. The inaugural Climate Curve Prize: Methane (CCP:M) was created to change that — and to reward your idea.
Overseen by Climate Curve with support from Global Methane Hub (and with Brooklyn Story Lab serving in an advisory role), the prize will award $200,000 to eight winners — $25,000 each — across four categories. But the real value goes beyond funding. It’s about accelerating practical solutions and elevating the innovators behind them.
If you’re working on methane-mitigation solutions in food and waste systems, this is your moment to step forward!
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BROOKLYN LOCUS — GLOBAL FOCUS
Brooklyn Story Lab is an internationally focused media and strategy consultancy that creates content solutions for purpose-driven organizations. Our work is aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals — a blueprint for making sure no one on the planet is left behind.
See our updated website, with case studies for each one of the UN's 17 SDGs.
If you would like your purpose-driven project to reach new audiences and deliver more impact, let us help you tell that story: info@brooklynstorylab.net.
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A DECADE OF UNLEASH-ING IDEAS
Almost 10 years ago, Brooklyn Story Lab started a partnership with a nonprofit that has been game-changing — for the planet, and for our organization.
UNLEASH annually convenes between a few hundred and 1,000 next-gen talents and social entrepreneurs, and helps them develop and then disseminate entrepreneurial ideas that have the power to tackle the world's most pressing problems. The gathering takes place in a different host country every year, and Brooklyn Story Lab was there to help facilitate past editions in Denmark, Singapore, China, India, and Rwanda.
Now, the program is coming full circle, returning to Denmark for UNLEASH Europe, to be held this summer. If you're a young entrepreneur with bold ideas and are looking for a way to make the planet more sustainable, with a particular focus on cities, apply for this transformative opportunity.
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TURNING PLASTIC INTO PAVEMENT
What does the future of recycling look like — not in theory, but on the ground?
Recently, Brooklyn Story Lab teamed up with nonprofit Pyxera Global and the UN Mission of Antigua and Barbuda for a site visit to CRDC Materials in York, Pennsylvania. The goal: to see firsthand how low-value plastic waste can be redirected into new uses.
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CRDC has developed a process that incorporates recovered plastics — including materials typically excluded from traditional recycling streams, like even styrofoam — into building products used in concrete and asphalt. Rather than ending up in landfills or incinerators, these plastics are processed into an additive called RESIN8, which can be used in construction and later recycled again at end of life.
For Antigua and Barbuda — the island nation that hosted the 2024 SIDS Conference and has ambitions to become a recycling hub for the Caribbean — the visit offered a practical look at how policy goals and industrial innovation might align. Seeing the machinery, materials, and operations up close grounded the conversation in real-world application.
It was a reminder that circular economy solutions are not just conceptual. In places like York, they’re already in motion.
| | LEADERSHIP RETREAT IN KENYA | |
The Convergence Residency is an exclusive retreat (May 20-24, 2026) in Kenya for leaders from both the corporate and nonprofit sectors who want to elevate their impact.
Hosted at Kenya’s Lake Elmentaita — renowned for its flamingo phenomenon — attendees will spend five days forging powerful alliances with peers from across the corporate and nonprofit divide, and translating shared knowledge into actionable strategy.
The International NGO Film and Knowledge Forum — founded by UNLEASH alum Taye Balogun — will be the host organization, one that Brooklyn Story Lab has worked with for close to a decade. And BSL will be leading one track of participants.
Space is intentionally limited. This is for leaders ready to write the next chapter — together. Register here.
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FRIENDS OF BROOKLYN STORY LAB
This month, we highlight four new books from the extended Brooklyn Story Lab community: a practical climate roadmap, a fearless food newsletter, a candid memoir of reinvention, and a sweeping look at the fight to save endangered species.
Note: Whenever we include a link to a book or other project, we always aim to showcase independent bookstores — and not Amazon.
"Still No Miracles Needed"
Do we really need breakthrough “miracle technologies” to solve the climate crisis? In this revised and updated edition of his award-winning bestseller, Stanford professor Mark Jacobson argues that we don’t. Drawing on decades of research and new case studies, he lays out how existing wind, water, and solar technologies can deliver reliable energy, eliminate air pollution, and strengthen energy security.
"The Promiscuous Palate"
Writer Tara Cox’s Substack, "The Promiscuous Palate," is for the classy, the trashy, and the hungry. With no food snobbery and no guilt about guilty pleasures, Cox celebrates good taste in its broadest form. From high-end indulgences to lowbrow delights, the guiding principle is simple: eat with curiosity and pleasure. It’s a joyful antidote that enthusiasm belongs at the center of the table.
"I'll Try Anything Twice"
In this darkly funny, propulsive memoir, journalist Carly Schwartz peels back the glossy surface of her high-achieving life to confront the depression and addiction beneath it. Equal parts hilarious and heart-wrenching, the book traces one woman’s search for relief, reinvention, and a version of success that doesn’t require self-destruction.
"Nature's Last Dance"
As mass extinction accelerates, author Natalie Kyriacou takes readers to the strange and urgent front lines of conservation. From Colombia’s drug-lord hippos to a flightless bird that courts rocks — and even the economic promise of whale waste — Nature’s Last Dance moves across jungles, oceans, and courtrooms to show what’s at stake. Kyriacou makes the case that protecting biodiversity demands creativity, resolve, and a willingness to rethink our relationship with the natural world.
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Though the Trump Administration has banned references to many, there are social-awareness days or tentpole events every month that can help organizations like yours connect to a larger, purpose-driven audience. By creating content connected to these key dates, you have the potential to create viral experiences. Here are the global dates that stand out to us in March.
ALL March (U.S.): Women's History Month
TBD MARCH: World Health Summit (Berlin, Germany)
3/1: World Seagrass Day
3/1: Zero Discrimination Day
3/2-3/4: The Economist Sustainability Week (London, UK)
3/2-3/5: World Mobile Congress (WMC): (Barcelona, Spain)
3/3: World Wildlife Day
3/3-3/4: Bloomberg Invest: (New York, USA)
3/4-3/5: Sustainability LIVE: (London, UK)
3/4-3/5: World Ocean Summit and Expo: (Montreal, Canada)
3/8: International Women's Day
3/9-3/20: 70th Session: Commission on the Status of Women (New York, USA)
3/10-3/11: Chatham House Climate and Energy Summit 2026: (London, UK)
3/11-3/12: 2026 REMADE Circular Economy Tech Summit (Washington, USA)
3/12-3/18: SXSW: (Austin, USA)
3/14: International Day of Action for Rivers
3/14: Pi Day (3.14 — get it?)
3/15: Oscars Ceremony: (Los Angeles, USA)
3/15-3/18: 35th Intl Conference: Soil, Water, Energy & Air 2026 (San Diego, USA)
3/20: International Day of Happiness
3/21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
3/21: International Day of Forests
3/22: World Water Day
3/23: World Meteorological Day
3/23-3/29: Conservation of Migratory Species COP15 (Campo Grande, Brazil)
3/23-4/2: BBNJ Prepcom (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) (NY, USA)
3/24: World Tuberculosis Day
3/24-3/25: 43rd UN-Water Meeting (Rome, Italy)
3/24-3/26: Go Circular 2026 Summit (Frankfurt, Germany)
3/24-3/27: Intl. Union of Forest Research Organizations (Patagonia, Chile)
3/26-3/28: The Mountain Partnership (Andorra La Vella, Andorra)
3/26-3/29: WTO's Ministerial Conference (Yaounde, Cameroon)
3/28: Earth Hour
3/29: World Piano Day (held on the 88th day of every year)
3/30: International Day of Zero Waste
3/30-4/1: Change Now: World Expo of Solutions for the Planet (Paris, France)
Ask us how to create noteworthy content that connects with these dates for your purpose-driven organization or brand — or how to get more attention for your social media, digital media, or feature stories.
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