Transcription
Hello and happy Wednesday. I'm Ky Wire. This is CNN 10.
It's also at your word Wednesday. So listen closely to see if the vocabulary word you submitted on my socials helped us write today's show. A lot of great stories for you today, including acknowledgement of today's date, March 18th, 2026.
Today is Global Recycling Day, a worldwide reminder that one person's trash can be another's resource. From plastic bottles to old electronics, experts say recycling helps conserve natural resources and cut pollution. But let's be honest, we still have millions of tons of waste ending up in landfills each year. The movement encourages us and governments and organizations to treat recyclables as a seventh resource alongside Earth's six natural ones: water, air, coal, oil, natural gas and minerals.
And in metro Atlanta, one program is taking recycling to the next level because not everything can fit into your curbside cans. The Centers for Hard to Recycle Materials or Charm gives things like old paint, electronics, batteries, and household chemicals a second life. Our Issa Cardona gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how they get it done.
"Global Recycling Day is an great day to remember that we all need to recycle every day. We have, you know, 3 to 400 visitors a day that separate all their plastics and all their other materials and bring it here so it can properly be recycled. We are planning for a move overseas, as a matter of fact, and we have some things that can't be used over there. So, we wanted to make sure it got into the right hands for people who could use it here. Hard to recycle just means that you can't put them in your curbside bin and they can be easily recycled. They are things that take a specialty recycler to remake them. For instance, styrofoam. Styrofoam is one of those things that if we send them to the landfill, eventually it gets covered up. We plant grass on it and move on. So what we do here is we take the the raw material and we put it into a machine that literally shreds it and blows it up, recompresses it and makes a material that looks like this. But all of it can be recycled and it's made into an material that is soft and smooth. What happens to this is it's taken and it's sent to a local company that makes ceiling tiles for insulation in your home. On the bottom of all plastic, there is a triangle which gives you a resin code. And what the resin code is is it tells you what type of plastic the plastic is made of. We have so many plastics in our world that we need to make sure we recycle them instead of using oil. They're all come from oil and petroleum is very expensive these days. So, we want to make sure we recycle to make new materials out of these. Just remember when you purchase something, what am I going to do with it when I'm done? Am I going to reuse it or do I find a way to recycle it?"
Now to Hawaii, where residents are dealing with the devastating aftermath of a powerful weather system known as a Kona storm. The seasonal storms form in colder months and get their names from the Hawaiian word for the leeward or western side of an island. But this storm shattered a 75-year rainfall record on the islands, spurring severe flooding, landslides, and power outages. And on the second largest island of Maui, torrential rain swallowed entire roads, even houses. One couple watched a small creek that's normally 75 ft from their home transform into a raging river, sweeping their dream home away.
"Never expected my whole house to disappear. But yeah, so everything's gone."
"Mother Nature wins and she watches. She takes you. She didn't take us. She just took the house. So, we're grateful for that. We have each other and we we're doing fine."
Now, to a turtly awesome story worthy of a celebration. In southern India, hundreds of olive ridley sea turtle hatchlings were making waves, literally and figuratively, as they were released into the sea in a bid to help the species recover. Normally, these teeny turtles go at it alone, but concerns over poaching and human disturbance led forestry officials to take matters into their own hands. Nests were moved to the safety of a hatchery, and the youngsters were escorted to the surf to ensure safe passage. Named for their bright green carrapases or shells, these turtles have been listed as endangered since 1986. And today's biggest threat, getting caught in commercial fishing nets as they make their way to shore during mating season. But thanks to conservation efforts, there's new hope that this species will keep swimming on forward.
Pop quiz hot shot. Actor Josh Gad plays Lefu in Beauty and the Beast. What's another Disney character he's voiced? Flounder in The Little Mermaid, Olaf in Frozen, Stitch in Lilo and Stitch, or Lightning McQueen in Cars? If you said Olaf, warm hugs. The Frozen filmmakers actually rewrote the character to match Gad's natural warmth, comedic improv style, and childlike delivery. He was originally written as a more mischievous snowman. "Do you want to build a snowman?"
The engineers at Disney said, "Already done." They created an incredibly realistic and interactive Robo Olaf. The scene stealing star of the Frozen franchise will make his public debut at Disneyland Paris later this month, ready to melt hearts. Our Julia Vargas Jones got to go one-on-one. Even got some warm hugs and the behind-the-scenes peek at the tech that brings this ebullant snowman to life.
"Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm greetings. So, here's a special one just for you. Hugs from everyone. Wow, you are tall."
"No, Olaf has not jumped out of a movie screen and into the real world. Although for a second there, I thought maybe he did. He is a robot created by Walt Disney Imagineers and will make his public debut at Disneyland Paris on March 29th."
"Oh my goodness, this is incredible."
"It's almost like uncanny, right?"
"Yes."
"We were able to work with the actual animators that worked on the film in order to bring this character to life."
"You're almost as tall as me, actually. So before we ever even build a robot, we create a virtual world where we bring a character into simulation and we teach Olaf how to walk, how to interact, um how to wave. Um and that allows us then to focus on these incredible details that allow us to bring Olaf to life in a way that no one's ever seen before. You see you later."
An update now on a story that's been appealing worldwide. The abandoned baby monkey known as Punch is finally finding his social circle at a zoo in Japan. If you've seen the viral videos, you know Punch and his stuffed toy have been pulling at heartstrings everywhere. Our Haneko Montgomery reports.
Amid a constant stream of unsettling news, this little monkey has brought comfort to millions, young and old. "We we need this warmth and love right now. You know, when you're scrolling through the feeds, you're just getting negative negative when you see something like an animal coming up and just hopefulness and just they have nothing but care and and love to give."
Japan's Punch is the internet's latest star. Videos of him dragging around a stuffed toy, his adopted mom, or getting bullied by bigger monkeys have tugged at heartstrings around the world. "As you can see, Punch has quite the fan base. Hundreds of people are here from all around the world just to see this baby monkey."
"Yeah, I think we all could relate to some sense. Being in an unfamiliar environment, um, not knowing the people around you and then just trying to fit in as much as we can."
These days, Punch may have found a friend. His keeper says he's relying on the toy less, mostly holding on to it when he sleeps, relaxes, or after getting scolded by older monkeys. "He's been doing his best to grow, learning from those early experiences. Now he's communicating with other monkeys, and it's great to see him reaching those milestones. Punch still spends a lot of time alone and isn't fully part of the group yet, but when things get tough, Punch still has someone to cling to."
Today's story getting a 10 out of 10. An afterchool club teaching young girls how to maintain their natural hair and grow their confidence between every twist, braid, and ponytail.
"I just remember how I felt about my hair at that age and I see it a lot in them. Kids used to make fun of me. They would be like, 'They can't see around me in class because my hair was so big.'"
Growing up with a single dad, fourth grade teacher Jade Lambert had to teach herself how to do her own hair. Now, as a teacher, she's passing down the skills she learned to her students. "That natural hair isn't some form of being uncapped. Actually, maintaining your natural hair is probably the most care you can take to do hair at all. I'mma show you and then I'm undo it so you can do it."
"I have a mannequin at home and sometimes I like to practice what we learned in school. Learning more about my hair so I can do it on me, too."
"I'm going to start adding pieces of the longer hair. We have a lesson coming up where they're going to make their own products based on like their hair texture and type and paracity. It's quite literally an act of protest to wear your natural hair out. So, I just feel proud that I can like give that information to them."
Way to grow, team. Big congrats to our your word Wednesday winners, Early College Academy High School in Los Angeles, submitting ebulliant, an adjective meaning very energetic, positive, and happy. Mr. Medina or Mr. Madina or aka Mr. Gucci, your students say you are a bulliant and quote, "The flyest history teacher in the game." Rise up. And I have a shout out going to my friends at Buford High School in Buford, Georgia. Mrs. Puit, Coach Jackson, Reese Carson, Hunter, Melody, Sebastian, Zeke, and the Alex's. Thank you for all the love. And this shout out goes to Mrs. Bagnal at the Horizon School in Indianapolis, Indiana. I'll be in your city soon to see and cover the final four. So, holler if you see me. Rise up and make it an awesome day, everyone. I'm Koi Wire and we are CNN 10.