What. A. Week.
Hey fam,
If you've been on social media or read the news headlines you'll probably agree with me when I say: What. A. Week.
I spend several hours every day combing through the news and pulling out the best stories of progress, but also those that often go unnoticed.
Things that stir up anger, arguments, and fear are what usually gets reported.
Things that show progress, selflessness, and hope are what gets washed over.
So no matter how you're feeling right now, you can probably use a reminder of how many things are still going right.
Have a great and restful weekend, and let's keep at it 👊
Friday, January 17 (watch here)
🍒 Red dye no. 3 is being banned in food products by the US FDA starting in 2027 due to evidence that the coloring may be harmful to our health and potential cause cancer and behavioral issues, which is already banned in US cosmetics and in many other country’s foods (Stephanie Gravalese|Forbes)
📸 The largest digital camera ever with 3,200 megapixels is being finished on a mountain in Chile and producing a map of the entire night sky every three days, with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory generating 20 terabytes of data each night to help researchers understand the universe like never before (Adam Mann|MIT Technology Review)
🐻 Grizzly bears are retaining their Endangered Species Act protections thank to a proposed update by the US Fish and Wildlife Service which will help ensure these iconic bears can be protected from threats and recovery efforts can continue across the nation (Karen Lapizco|FWS)
🎓 And today’s community win comes from Bethany who just graduated with a degree in Conservation & Restoration Ecology and will now get to use their expertise to help the natural world.
Monday, January 20 (watch here)
🐑🌞 6,000 munching sheep have been hired to munch on the land beneath solar panels so vegetation doesn't grow out of control, and not only are they the cutest maintenance crew, but they also might be the best. Learn more in today's throwback episode.
Tuesday, January 21 (watch here)
🚌 College kids teamed up with a nonprofit to convert an old school bus into a mobile laundromat providing essential services for people experiencing homelessness like showers, clean clothing, and some love, helping over 4500 people so far and using their design and engineering skills to uplift their community (Kamrin Baker|GoodGoodGood)
🌍 Hundreds of community-run “conservancies” across Africa are protecting millions of acres of land and the wildlife within them by locals working together to drive off poachers and alert each other of dangers, which is seeing even more success than state and national parks in many cases (Fred Pearce|Yale e360)
🏆 The winner of the “World’s Ugliest Lawn” was awarded to Leisa Elliot in New Zealand, in an unusual global competition that rewards landowners for conserving water and prioritizing natural growth, with judges saying the competition was fierce since all the lawns were so terrible (Priya Bhardadia|The Guardian)
🐶 And today’s community win comes from tddy_b3ar who started making homemade dog food for their puppy to reduce waste.
Wednesday, January 22 (watch here)
🏡 Integrating nature into buildings known as biophilic design is gaining popularity amongst architects who are building homes around existing trees, planting greenery inside, and incorporating vegetation into urban buildings which gives off solarpunk vibes and could help remind people why nature is worth protecting (Kim Cook|AP)
🤫 Oslo, Norway is leading the push for quiet electric construction machines that replace noisy polluting counterparts to avoid toxic emissions, dangerous volumes, and noise complaints from locals while creating higher demand for electric equipment making costs come down (Ajit Niranjan|The Guardian)
🧑⚖️ Ecuador’s Constitutional Court just ruled that the nation’s marine ecosystems have legal rights to exist, live out their life cycles, and have their natural evolutionary functions, essentially meaning that they’ll need to better protect their piece of the ocean and restrict companies from harming it (Paige Bennett|Ecowatch)
🌞 And today’s community win comes from maxpowercosplay who’s getting a new roof that reflects the sun with a coating and absorbs it with panels to both cool the area and generate clean power.
Thursday, January 23 (watch here)
👀 Thousands of people are watching a livestream of an endangered “corpse flower” which is the world’s largest flower nicknamed Putricia for its horrible scent, blooms once every few years for about 24 hours, and is only found in the rainforests of Indonesia, while conservationists work to save this amazing plant (Tessa Wong|BBC)
📈 Data shows that France’s power grid in 2024 was almost completely free of fossil fuels, with 95% being generated by solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear power sources, which is helping keep their energy costs down and of course reduce pollution (Francois De Beaupuy|Bloomberg)
🇵🇭 Indigenous communities in the Philippines have worked for the past decade to restore native vegetation that was lost from commercial logging and agriculture which is known as rainforestation which is helping revive local ecosystems, control floods, and help their local coffee plants thrive to also boost their economy (Keith Anthony Fabro|Mongabay)
📚 And today’s community win comes from Bridget who rented a shelf at a local store to wrap secondhand books for a mystery read and is donating a third of their profits to charity.
Bonus stories
🏞️ The recently-signed EXPLORE act is increasing access to the outdoors across the US;
🌎 This man took a 12,000 kilometer journey across the world without using any fossil fuels;
💤 This 12-year-old girl invented a solar sleeping bag to help people experiencing homelessness;
🐑 Even more hungry sheep are munching beneath solar panels!
Spread this breath of fresh air🪴
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Support good news & independent publishingThis newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. 800,000+ people are in our community replacing dread & fear with hope & action across Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and now YouTube. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by emailing jacob@jacobsimonsays.com
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