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CNN 5 Good Things
Saturdays are for sunshine — especially for your ears. With another election, ongoing wars and natural disasters, we know the news can be a lot to take in and we’re determined to share the bright side of humanity. Every Saturday, take a breather from the headlines and hear all the uplifting happenings across the world with 5 Good Things from CNN.
A Woman Bikes 700 Miles to Honor Her Late Brother’s Memory
CNN 5 Good Things
Sep 14, 2024
A woman went on a 700-mile bike ride to raise awareness about substance abuse after her brother died from fentanyl poisoning. Scientists have figured out a way to turn banana waste into denim and clean energy for rural communities in Pakistan. A stay-at-home mom in Michigan dresses up like a clown to pick up trash and her neighbors love her message. The San Diego Zoo is celebrating the birth of an endangered tiger cub. Plus, a Chicago man takes a more scenic route to work downtown.
Episode Transcript
Krista Bo
00:00:00
'Hey there. Here is your weekly dose of feelgood stories. Scientists and specialists in the UK and Pakistan have found a way to turn banana waste into green textiles and clean energy. Plus -
Dan Schreiner
00:00:13
You immerse yourself in nature, which is nice and nice and relaxing. No traffic on the river ever.
Krista Bo
00:00:18
How a New Year's resolution and a love for the outdoors inspired a Chicago resident to try a more peaceful work commute. From CNN, I'm Krista Bo and this is Five Good Things.
Jeanette Krupp
00:00:33
Every mile I ride is for someone we've lost.
Krista Bo
00:00:35
Jeanette Krupp just completed a 700 mile bike ride from Texas to Missouri to raise awareness about substance abuse and to distribute opioid overdose antidotes. A lifelong athlete, she has found a way to turn pain into purpose. Her cousin, Brandon Krupp, died of fentanyl poisoning when he was a senior in high school.
Jeanette Krupp
00:00:56
And at the same time, my brother was struggling, going in and out of rehabs, prison, jail, sober homes. And I just thought, why is no one doing anything about this? And then I realized, well, I'm that somebody. And so I decided to take off on a bicycle.
Krista Bo
00:01:12
She had gone on three 450 mile bike rides before this most recent one.
Jeanette Krupp
00:01:17
I have gone from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois. Missouri. Stopping and speaking at sober homes, rehab facilities, high schools, colleges, anywhere that we could to just get the word out and be a voice.
Krista Bo
00:01:29
She started her nonprofit, Stay Strong Krupp, in 2019 after her cousin died to bring hope and comfort to individuals and families impacted by drug addiction. Along her ten day, 700 mile journey, she passed out almost 150 boxes of Narcan, which is a nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose and possibly save lives.
Jeanette Krupp
00:01:51
I stopped at every gas station that I could and left them a box and I had some cry and tell me thank you.
Krista Bo
00:01:57
Her brother Karl died in 2021 from fentanyl poisoning. That's why she named this trip Karl's last ride to honor his memory. She took off on her bike at the end of August in Amarillo, Texas, the place where they found his body. Mind you, she did this all while needing a hip replacement.
Jeanette Krupp
00:02:15
So when I was about 300 miles in, I was like, I just don't know if my legs are going to keep going. They were hurting so bad and I would just say, "I think I'm riding with the strength of two." He's with me.
Krista Bo
00:02:27
Karl left behind three daughters who rode the last stretch with their aunt. They crossed the finish line together in the Krupp's hometown of Owensville, Missouri. A parade of about 50 motorcycles also joined her on the last leg of her ride because Karl used to ride his Harley all the time. That's when she got emotional.
Jeanette Krupp
00:02:53
Every ride that I did when he was alive, he came through with his motorcycle and he followed me in every ride. And he was the first person I gave a hug to.
Krista Bo
00:03:01
Jeanette says she plans to keep shining a light on the issue.
Jeanette Krupp
00:03:05
One voice can make a difference.
Dr. Jibran Khaliq
00:03:14
We can create money from your garbage can.
Krista Bo
00:03:18
That's Dr. Jibran Khaliq. He's a materials engineer and an associate professor at Northumbria University in Newcastle, England. He and his colleagues have found a way to turn banana waste into green textiles and clean energy.
Dr. Jibran Khaliq
00:03:32
I'm originally from Pakistan and growing up, we have faced blackouts during summers and long hours without electricity.
Krista Bo
00:03:41
'His experience drove him to find alternative energy solutions. And bananas are a major cash crop in Pakistan. So reducing waste in the country from the beloved fruit was the driving factor behind creating this technology too. Partnering with the National Textile University in Pakistan, he and his team created a two-step system to tackle both problems. The first is to refine the fibers from banana stems, to create textiles.
Dr. Jibran Khaliq
00:04:06
And with textiles, we can create shirt, denim, socks and other wearable products.
Krista Bo
00:04:12
The second step is to use the waste from that process to generate electricity.
Dr. Jibran Khaliq
00:04:17
We are not using any fossil fuel. We are using agricultural waste or food waste to generate syngas that runs the turbine, which runs our generator to create power.
Krista Bo
00:04:29
He said a textile manufacturer in Pakistan is currently creating denim from this new technology and they're working on implementing it in other low income countries like Africa and hopefully worldwide.
Krista Bo
00:04:47
Scientists aren't the only ones thinking about how to deal with garbage differently. A woman in Port Huron, Michigan, spends time cleaning up her neighborhood dressed as a clown, and her neighbors are taking note.
Trash the Clown
00:04:59
Like, really they're driving down the road and sometimes see a clown picking up trash. That's absurd. It's fun. It's weird and it's interesting. And and it's positive.
Krista Bo
00:05:10
'That's Trash the Clown. She keeps her real name private, but the mother of two wears her values on her colorful sleeves, along with clown face paint and sometimes a 32-gallon trashcan named Jack on her back. You might be asking, why dress up like a clown?
Trash the Clown
00:05:26
Like you have a preconceived idea of what a clown is, but here's a clown presenting differently or being different. Acting different. So if you can, you know, look at this character differently, then we can look at each other differently.
Krista Bo
00:05:37
She picks up trash about once a week and she describes Trash the Clown as performance art and a reminder to be kind.
Trash the Clown
00:05:44
It's just getting people to talk about something positive rather than negative, which is really all I had hoped for, because everything is so gross and noisy right now. And everything is telling us to hate. And I'm just I'm tired of it. The hate's the real trash.
Krista Bo
00:06:02
She also organizes what she calls "trash bashes," where people come together, listen to music, create art and clean up. Leah Tyrrell has been working with her for a few months.
Leah Tyrrell
00:06:13
It's more than cleaning up our town. It's spreading kindness and joy. And we're looking in places now that we wouldn't typically look for it.
Krista Bo
00:06:25
Switching gears from waste to wildlife. The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park has some good news.
Lori Hieber
00:06:33
There's not much out there cuter than a tiger cub, in my opinion.
Krista Bo
00:06:36
Lori Heber is the lead wildlife care specialist for mammals at the zoo. She says the male Sumatran cub was born at the end of August to first time mom named Jillian. Aside from being super cute, the new cub is a big deal for a few reasons.
Lori Hieber
00:06:51
They are a critically endangered subspecies. So at the park we have a lovely, newer facility that enables us to house multiple cats and contribute as much as we can to the breeding population.
Krista Bo
00:07:04
Right now, there are only about 400 to 600 Sumatran tigers left in the wild. Lori says global conservation efforts from zoos might help prevent these cats from going extinct.
Lori Hieber
00:07:16
By having that genetic diversity, it just helps them to stay strong and and keep their genes going, you know, for throughout the generations to come.
Krista Bo
00:07:33
Sometimes the best journeys are the ones less traveled. Up next, a unique work commute that might inspire you to get out in nature.
Krista Bo
00:07:47
I'm sure plenty of you can relate. Highway traffic can be brutal on the way to work. Well, Dan Schreiner from the north Side of Chicago trades his khakis for a paddle and kayaks down the Chicago River to get to work.
Dan Schreiner
00:08:00
You immerse yourself in nature, which is nice and nice and relaxing. No traffic on the river ever.
Krista Bo
00:08:05
For his unique work commute all started with a New Year's resolution.
Dan Schreiner
00:08:09
A lot of people say quit smoking and lose weight. So mine was really to kind of give back to the community, give back to Mother Nature and take care of myself.
Krista Bo
00:08:18
It takes Dan three hours, one way to paddle downtown to work. But he doesn't mind taking the scenic route a few times a month.
Dan Schreiner
00:08:26
When I'm cruising in, I'll see raccoons, deer, great blue herons. The ecosystem is flourishing right now.
Krista Bo
00:08:33
The Chicago River has gone through quite the transformation over the years to try to clean it up. Did you know that over 100 years ago the water was so polluted and prone to disease that engineers actually reversed the river's flow?
Dan Schreiner
00:08:47
A lot of people think it's pretty gross. And yeah, I wouldn't drink out of the river. But in the last decade, there's been just absolutely incredible changes, so I'm taking advantage of it.
Krista Bo
00:08:57
He and his kids also volunteer with nature focused nonprofits in the city to keep rivers and forests clean. He hopes his work commute inspires others to get out into nature more often and reconsider how they get around in general.
Dan Schreiner
00:09:11
You know, one time a month, walk to the grocery store with your backpack instead of, you know, drive the five minutes and it'll add up in terms of, you know, health for your body and you're not putting out the emissions. So I've always said if everybody did 1%, that would add up to just a mind boggling number of of goodness.
Krista Bo
00:09:37
All right. That's all for now. Join us tomorrow for the next edition of One Thing. Several states have passed laws recently that either ban or restrict cell phone use at school. Indiana is one of them. Host David Brown speaks to a school superintendent there to check in on how the ban is impacting students in the classroom so far.
00:09:55
Five Good Things is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Eryn Mathewson and me, Krista Bo. Our senior producers are Felicia Patinkin and Faiz Jamil. Matt Dempsey is our production manager. Dan Dzula is our technical director. And Steve Lickteig is the executive producer of CNN Audio. We got support from Joey Salvia, Haley Thomas, Alex Masserri, Robert Mathers, Jon Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, James Andrest, Nichole Pesaru and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Katie Hamann. And thank you for listening. Take care. Till next time.