Here’s some of the stories that have captured Life & Soul Magazine’s attention this week:

Solar power brings light to Michigan community where utility repossessed street lights – Ten years ago, the city of Highland Park, Michigan, was struggling to pay its utility bills. So as part of a debt settlement with the city, the local utility re-possessed more than 1,000 street lights, Yale Climate Connections reports. So some community members began crowdfunding for new solar-powered street lights. And they formed Soulardarity to advocate for utility rate limits and more transparency from the city. The organization has since installed 18 off-grid solar street lights in the city, including in a neighborhood called Avalon Village. 

Mercedes Makes The World’s Most Eco-Friendly Van – Mercedes-Benz’s latest foray into the world of sustainable motoring is the Sustaineer. These “last-mile” vans can produce their own green electricity and can actively improve the air quality around them by using a solar panel on the roof, a fine particle filter on the front module and underbody, a heating system which is close to the body, and component parts made of recycled material, according to Car Buzz.

North America’s First Whale Sanctuary Is Taking Shape in Rural Nova Scotia – The plan to build North America’s first wild refuge for whales retired from marine parks was poised to take a big step forward last month in a remote corner of northeastern Nova Scotia, according to The Globe and Mail.

Faces of COP26: Meet the Kenyan climate advocate urging the Global North to step up – Euronews meets environmentalist and climate advocate, Kaluki Paul Mutuku, who campaigns for Youth4Nature, a youth-led organisation actively engaging on nature-based solutions for the past three years in the region of Africa.

Project breathes life into rare wildflowers – Rare wildflowers are thriving in Denbighshire thanks to the results of a biodiversity project. Denbighshire’s biodiversity team behind the Wildflower Meadow project has revealed that a total of 268 different wildflower species have been recorded across the project sites over the last two years, according to Denbighshire Free Press.

Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living