Several D.C. schools are beginning to serve breakfast in the classroom, incorporating it into the first fifteen minutes of the day. While health experts and educators have long touted a good breakfast as being a crucial factor in academic performance, many qualifying students do not take advantage of breakfasts before school since doing so requires that they come to school early and also subjects them to the stigma that comes with government assistance. One school has noticed that since launching classroom breakfasts, participation rates have dramatically increased. Other schools are piloting "second-chance breakfasts,” in which students are given time to eat after their first-period classes.

In a new twist on an established prevention model, officials in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, are giving residents a ride to the bar before drinking begins, thus expanding its Safe Ride program which provides intoxicated drivers a free taxi ride home. The logic is that offering rides at the beginning of the night relieves bar-goers of the temptation to drive their car intoxicated rather than take the free taxi ride but leave their car in a remote location overnight. The program launched on the night before Thanksgiving, often a time of high alcohol consumption, and the County will soon be evaluating the results.

Several states are using the free labor of prison inmates to grow, harvest, and distribute food in order to meet increasing demands for food assistance on an ever tighter budget. In some states, inmates scavenge already harvested fields for leftover crops, while in others they plant and pick vegetables. Some inmates participate in food bank work-training programs, where they can learn food warehouse skills like forklift operation, inventory and sanitation, or receive culinary and hospitality training.

California has issued the first comprehensive state cap-and-trade plan, which should take effect in 2012. The program would cap emissions from over 600 power plants, refineries, and other facilities, and create a market within which companies can buy and sell emission allowances among themselves according to their needs. The goal is to reduce the release of greenhouse emissions 15% below today's levels by 2020.

To ensure that bag loads of leaves do not end up in a landfill or burned, Fort Collins, Colorado is encouraging neighbors who desire leaves for mulching and composting and those wanting to unload their leaves to meet through a leaf exchange program. The Natural Resources Department has set up a website wherein citizens can place “leaves wanted” or “leaves available” messages. Jackson County, Oregon, engages in a similar program.

The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology has developed an interactive map that can be used by emergency managers and residents alike to view homes, schools, or businesses in relation to mapped earthquake fault lines, and assess the probabilities and consequences of various magnitudes of earthquakes in 38 communities around the state.

While videogamers use the Sony PlayStation 3 for fun, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using the processing power of the console to break computer encryptions that may reveal evidence of cyber crime or child pornography. The agency has so far saved $8000 by employing 20 of these PS3 consoles instead of the computers they would have otherwise had to use. Their effectiveness has led agents to search the internet for units that may be on sale.

The North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance has created a new free online trading website for organic by-products such as used vegetable oil, grease, wood and food waste, manures, and other materials. Officials hope that the NC Biomass Trader will help to expand and develop the state’s markets for biomass, a growing source for alternative fuels and raw materials for manufacturing.

New Jersey Transit is the first passenger railroad to participate in the Close Call Project, a program whereby employees can anonymously and voluntarily report “close call” incidents without fear of retribution from the railroad or the government. Evidence from non-passenger railroads participating in this program has already demonstrated significant reductions in human-caused accidents.

The cell phone, traditionally prohibited in the classroom due to its potential as a tool for cheating or disruption, may slowly be evolving into a classroom learning tool. The reality that many schools are unable to afford a computer for every student is moving educators to appreciate how today’s cell phones can be used as mini-computers, for instance to perform simple math calculations, conduct research, or to complete assignments that include capturing photographs.