Cada año, el Maratón de Londres TCS reúne a decenas de miles de participantes, pero en su edición más reciente, un proyecto de innovación sostenible captó una atención especial: la recolección de orina femenina para convertirla en fertilizante agrícola. Esta iniciativa, impulsada por la startup PEEQUAL en colaboración con NPK Recovery, propone una forma inédita de reutilizar un recurso que tradicionalmente se desperdicia, reduciendo así la huella de carbono del evento deportivo más popular del Reino Unido.

La idea surgió originalmente de un problema frecuente en eventos multitudinarios: las filas eternas para acceder a los baños femeninos. En respuesta, PEEQUAL diseñó urinarios portátiles exclusivos para mujeres, una solución que, según sus creadores, permite reducir en un 270 % el tiempo promedio que tarda una mujer en usar el baño. Estos urinarios no solo mejoran la experiencia de las corredoras, sino que también aprovechan un momento clave: el nerviosismo y la hidratación previos a la carrera hacen que cientos de mujeres necesiten utilizar el baño poco antes del disparo de largada. En su tercer año consecutivo en el Maratón de Londres, los dispositivos de PEEQUAL no solo optimizan los tiempos, sino que también se transformaron en una fuente inesperada de materia prima para fertilizantes.

La empresa NPK Recovery estimó que recolectando 1.000 litros de orina de los urinarios instalados en la salida amarilla del maratón, se podría fertilizar suficiente trigo como para producir aproximadamente 195 barras de pan. Este año, estos litros servirán para pruebas de campo, donde se evaluará la eficacia del fertilizante generado a partir de la orina. Sin embargo, si se lograra escalar el sistema y capturar toda la orina generada durante el evento —cerca de 53.700 participantes el año pasado—, el potencial de producción crecería exponencialmente: hasta 3.142 hogazas de pan podrían ser horneadas gracias al trigo cultivado con este abono natural.

“La orina no tiene por qué ser un producto de desecho”, explicó Hannah Vandenbergh, fundadora de NPK Recovery. Para la empresa, la materia que muchos consideran residual puede convertirse en un recurso valioso, alimentando de forma sostenible los sistemas agrícolas y cerrando el ciclo de los nutrientes.

El proceso de NPK Recovery implica el tratamiento y desinfección de la orina mediante el uso de bacterias. Estas bacterias actúan sobre los componentes químicos del líquido, especialmente urea, nitrógeno y amoníaco, sustancias clave en los fertilizantes tradicionales. De esta forma, el sistema no solo purifica el desecho, sino que también recupera sus nutrientes esenciales para transformarlos en un fertilizante líquido efectivo y seguro para cultivos como el trigo, que demanda altos niveles de nitrógeno para su desarrollo.

El objetivo a largo plazo es aún más ambicioso: tanto PEEQUAL como NPK Recovery aspiran a expandir este modelo a otros eventos masivos alrededor del mundo, fomentando una nueva manera de gestionar los residuos humanos y contribuir al desarrollo agrícola sostenible.

La incorporación del reciclaje de orina en el Maratón de Londres se inscribe dentro de una estrategia ambiental más amplia impulsada por London Marathon Events. Según Kate Chapman, directora de sostenibilidad de la organización, uno de los pilares de su política medioambiental es encontrar “usos posteriores” para todos los residuos generados en el evento. Entre sus iniciativas se incluyen el compostaje, la reutilización y el suprarreciclaje de los materiales.

“Estamos encantados de que la orina de los urinarios PEEQUAL pueda utilizarse para algo tan positivo en lugar de desperdiciarse”, expresó Chapman. Este proyecto representa una forma concreta de avanzar hacia una reducción significativa del impacto ambiental del maratón.

El éxito de los urinarios femeninos también se refleja en las opiniones de las participantes. Susan Farrell, quien corrió en apoyo de la NSPCC, compartió su entusiasmo al respecto: “Utilicé los novedosos urinarios de PEEQUAL en Glastonbury: su diseño significa que no sacrifican la privacidad y, honestamente, sentí que estábamos haciendo trampa al saltearnos las colas”.

Farrell también subrayó una sensación de justicia largamente esperada: “Solía ver a los chicos pasar rápidamente y pensar: ‘¿Por qué no podemos tener eso?’ Ahora lo hacemos”. Esta percepción refuerza la importancia de iniciativas que no solo buscan reducir el impacto ambiental, sino también mejorar la experiencia y la equidad de género en los eventos deportivos.

La cofundadora de PEEQUAL, Amber Probyn, reafirmó esta visión: “Nos encanta venir al Maratón de Londres TCS porque creemos firmemente que las mujeres no deberían tener que elegir entre comenzar su carrera a tiempo o esperar para ir al baño”.

Con este tipo de iniciativas, el Maratón de Londres no solo se posiciona como una competencia de alto nivel deportivo, sino también como un laboratorio vivo de innovación en sostenibilidad y equidad. De la nerviosa espera de las corredoras en los baños portátiles surgió una idea que, literalmente, puede hacer crecer los campos de trigo del mañana.

A leaked budget proposal sent on April 10 from the White House Office of Management and Budget to the U.S. State Department highlighted the Trump administration’s posture toward Afghan allies, particularly those awaiting transportation to the U.S. through the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) as part of Enduring Welcome.

The OMB budget proposes ceasing additional funds to CARE and using the program’s $600 million balance «for the orderly shutdown of the CARE program by end of [fiscal year] 2025.»

The National Security Council and State Department did not answer Fox News Digital’s questions about whether these funds would be used to transport additional Afghans in the Special Immigrant Visa and the suspended U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) pipelines to the U.S., or simply to disassemble processing platforms in the Philippines, Qatar and Albania. 

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But a State Department spokesperson did tell Fox News Digital, «The Department is actively considering the future of our Afghan relocation program and the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE).  At this time, no final decisions have been made. CARE continues to provide support to Afghan allies and partners previously relocated to our overseas case processing platforms.»

Veteran experts told Fox News Digital that the shutdown of CARE would be a problem for America’s reputation and for the allies who believed in U.S. promises of safety.

U.S. Navy veteran Shawn VanDiver, founder and president of the #AfghanEvac, told Fox News Digital that Operation Enduring Welcome is «the safest, most secure legal immigration pathway our country has ever seen» and allows well-vetted Afghans «to show up in our communities and start businesses and become job creators… in a time when we have a labor shortage.»

VanDiver noted areas where Trump could improve on the Biden administration operation, which was carried out «so slowly that people have been left behind in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in 90 countries around the world… for three and a half years.» Particularly in Pakistan, the Biden administration promised the Pakistani government «that it would process Afghans quickly,» VanDiver said. «We haven’t been keeping up our end of the deal; 10,000 people are stuck in Pakistan right now because President Biden couldn’t house them fast enough.»

Josh Habib, left, a U.S. Marine translator, speaks with Afghan villagers and two Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, July 2, 2009. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

VanDiver emphasized that «President Trump has an opportunity to be a hero to veterans and our wartime allies, and demonstrate that when the United States makes a deal, it keeps its promise.»

In an open letter sent on April 23 to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and national security advisor Michael Waltz, #AfghanEvac states that «over 250,000 Afghans remain in the relocation pipelines.»

Andrew Sullivan, executive director of the nonprofit No One Left Behind, told Fox News Digital that his organization supported congressional authorization in 2024 for the three-year appointment of a Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, which had «wide bipartisan» and «wide bicameral support.» 

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«Our belief is that Congress spoke for a reason and CARE should exist,» Sullivan said. «We have a moral obligation and a national security imperative to ensure that we’re continuing the facilitation of movement and safe refuge for our wartime allies.» 

Ending Operation Enduring Welcome and the CARE program «just spits in the face of veterans like myself, who’ve been working to try and keep our promise to the Afghans who fought with us for 20 years,» Sullivan said. 

In addition to two Iraq deployments, Sullivan deployed to Zabul, Afghanistan, as a U.S. Army infantry company commander in 2013. In February, he «deployed forward» with No One Left Behind to processing platforms in Tirana, Albania, and Doha, Qatar, after a Jan. 20 executive order reassessing foreign funding, thus ending government-funded flights for SIV applicants. 

Newly graduated personnel march during their graduation ceremony after a three-month training program at the Afghan Military Academy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in November 2020. (AP/Rahmat Gul)

Thanks to «robust American support that comes from across the political spectrum,» No One Left Behind received sufficient donations to fund travel for more than 1,000 Afghans.

«In Albania, I met someone that had been paralyzed by the Taliban after being shot twice,» Sullivan said. «I met someone that had been tortured and shackled, hands and ankles together, for over a week before his release was secured by village elders.» Both individuals were moved from Afghanistan in December 2024, which Sullivan says proves Afghans are still «facing brutality, absolutely facing death, if they remain in the clutches of the Taliban.»

Sullivan says that «those same things could happen» to tens of thousands of Afghans left behind by the Biden administration. This includes «10,000 principal [SIV] applicants and their families,» who, according to State Department quarterly reports, have already received Chief of Mission approval, the SIV program’s first hurdle.

With no word about the fate of allies, many worry about Taliban retribution. So do numerous Afghans in the U.S. who learned in April that their parole has been revoked or their temporary protected status (TPS) was terminated by Secretary Noem. Questions sent to the Homeland Security were not immediately returned.

Taliban fighters celebrate the second anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan, in Kandahar, south of Kabul, on Aug. 15, 2023. (AP/Abdul Khaliq)

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Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that sending allies to Afghanistan «would be a death sentence for many.» 

«The Taliban have demonstrated that they have – and continue to – ruthlessly hunted down Afghans who worked with the U.S. and former Afghan government,» Roggio said. «Thousands have been murdered or tortured. The Taliban cannot be trusted in any way, shape or form. Their past actions, such as openly flaunting the failed Doha agreement and allowing al Qaeda safe have, or refusing to negotiate with the now defunct Afghan government, demonstrate this.»

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., did not rule out 2028 presidential aspirations when asked by Fox News Digital about the viral video that had pundits guessing if she was soft-launching her campaign. 

«I think what people should be most concerned about is the fact that Republicans are trying to cut Medicaid right now, and people’s healthcare is in danger. That’s really what my central focus is,» the New York Democrat said when asked if she was considering a run for president, despite President Donald Trump’s assurances that he wouldn’t cut Medicaid. 

«This moment isn’t about campaigns, or elections, or about politics. It’s about making sure people are protected, and we’ve got people that are getting locked up for exercising their First Amendment rights. We’re getting 2-year-olds that are getting deported into cells in Honduras. We’re getting people that are about to get kicked off of Medicaid. That, to me, is most important,» Ocasio-Cortez said on Capitol Hill on Trump’s 100th day in office. 

Ocasio-Cortez has crisscrossed the United States with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on the «Fighting Oligarchy» tour, and Americans have been speculating about whether the New York Democrat is launching a shadow campaign for president.

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Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign account posted a video on X last week that invigorated those rumors as the four-term Democrat from New York City and a progressive leader proclaimed, «We are one.»

‘WE ARE ONE’: AOC CAMPAIGN VIDEO SWIRLS 2028 PRESIDENTIAL RUMORS

«I’m a girl from the Bronx,» Ocasio-Cortez said on a campaign-style stage in Idaho. «To be welcomed here in this state, all of us together, seeing our common cause, this is what this country is all about.»

FiveThirtyEight founder and prominent pollster Nate Silver signaled earlier this month that Ocasio-Cortez is the leading Democrat to pick up the party’s presidential nomination in 2028. In a draft 2028 pick with FiveThirtyEight’s Galen Druke, Silver chose Ocasio-Cortez as his top choice to lead the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket.

POLLSTER NATE SILVER CALLS OCASIO-CORTEZ MOST LIKELY TO BE 2028 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., arrives to speak during a «Fighting Oligarchy» tour event at Arizona State University, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Tempe, Ariz. (Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo)

«I think there’s a lot of points in her favor at this very moment,» Druke said, adding, «Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has broad appeal across the Democratic Party.»

Americans have been reposting Ocasio-Cortez’s video across X, pointing to the video as proof of her 2028 presidential ambitions. «Get ready America. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will almost undoubtedly run for president in 2028,» political reporter Eric Daugherty said in response to the video. 

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As rumors swirl over Ocasio-Cortez’s ambition for higher office, back at home in New York, a Siena College poll found Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s favorability is down, at 39% among New York state voters questioned in the poll, which was conducted April 14-16. Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez’s favorability soared to 47%.

The longtime senator from New York faced pushback from the Democratic Party in March for supporting the Republican budget bill backed by Trump that averted a government shutdown and stirred up outrage among congressional Democrats who planned to boycott the bill.

That growing disapproval among Democrats was reflected in the poll, and the shifting perception comes as DNC vice chair David Hogg, through his political arm, Leaders We Deserve, faced blowback from the DNC this week for investing $20 million into electing younger Democrats to safe House Democrat seats.

Gun violence survivor and activist David Hogg speaks at the March for our Lives rally against gun violence at the National Mall in Washington on June 11, 2022.  (Getty Images)

Ocasio-Cortez raked in a massive $9.6 million over the past three months. The record-breaking fundraising haul was one of the biggest ever for any House lawmaker. Ocasio-Cortez’s team highlighted that the fundraising came from 266,000 individual donors, with an average contribution of just $21.

«I cannot convey enough how grateful I am to the millions of people supporting us with your time, resources, & energy. Your support has allowed us to rally people together at record scale to organize their communities,» Ocasio-Cortez emphasized in a social media post.

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Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, said that Ocasio-Cortez appears to be one of a small group of politicians in his party who «are test ballooning a potential 2028 run for the presidency» as Democrats search «for a path out of the wilderness.»

«We’re not really sure who or what it will be, but one of the pathways there is to drill down on economic populism. There are many people that occupy that lane and she is one of them. And there’s clearly energy behind what her and Bernie Sanders did criss-crossing the country.»

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Aug. 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Colin Reed, a Republican strategist, said Ocasio-Cortez «shouldn’t be discounted» by Democrats «who are standing in her way» of running for whichever office she decides to seek — whether as a U.S. senator or president of the United States.

While Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders garnered plenty of national attention as they jetsetted across the country, Reed said their passion and energy might invigorate the progressive portion of the Democratic Party, but «her ideas are way too outside the mainstream to ever be electable at a nationwide level.»

«Ultimately, in a Democratic base there’s always going to be a percentage of voters who are drawn to that message. The issue they run to is it’s just not the majority of Americans. The majority of Americans don’t want to transform our country into some sort of ‘European-style government rules all’ vision. That’s why America was founded in the first place — to get away from oppression, from an overbearing, overreaching government,» Reed said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders participate in a stop on the ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour at the Dignity Health Arena, Theater in Bakersfield, California on April 15, 2025. (Aude Guerrucci/Reuters)

As Democrats struggle to land on a consistent message and search for a clear party leader following Republicans’ November wins, there is an opportunity within the party to dominate the national Democratic narrative, Reed explained. 

«Chaos loves a vacuum, and right now, there is a vacuum in leadership in the Democratic Party, and thus chaos is ruling the roost,» Reed said. 

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«As long as those two are out there, they’re going to get attention because nobody else is doing anything. The house of cards will come crumbling down, especially when you’ve got two folks out there, Sen. Sanders and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, holding themselves out as climate warriors as they jet around the country on private jets spewing untold carbon emissions into the air. That hypocrisy is one that’s tough for a lot of folks’ stomachs,» Reed added.