Every day the Good Good Good team collects the best good news in the world and shares it with our community. Here are the highlights for this week!
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The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —
Japan created a plastic that both dissolves in the ocean within hours and enhances soil health
Addressing the global issues of both plastic pollution and soil degradation in a single innovation, researchers in Japan have developed an advanced biodegradable plastic that dissolves in seawater and breaks down in soil, while improving its health.
Even more impressively, the unconventional plastic dissolves in seawater within a few hours and breaks down in soil within 10 days.
It’s also made from food-safe ingredients, is completely non-toxic, and does not release harmful byproducts. Furthermore, it does not release any carbon dioxide emissions while it decomposes, and can be easily recycled.
Why is this good news? Plastic waste and marine pollution have been massive, urgent environmental issues for decades, harming marine ecosystems and marine life, and contributing to the climate crisis. Plus: Other “biodegradable” plastic alternatives mostly break down into smaller pieces or require access to industrial composting, which many communities don’t have.
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Colombia created a first-of-its-kind territory specifically designed to protect a group of Indigenous people living in isolation
For the first time in the country’s history, Colombia has created a territory specifically designed to protect a group of Indigenous people living away from regular contact with the rest of the world.
Spanning 2.7 million acres, the territory is home to the uncontacted Indigenous Yuri-Passé people and reaffirms the country’s “commitment to their autonomy and survival.”
The result of years of advocacy by human rights and conservation groups to both recognize their rights and protect their lands, the territory’s special designation prohibits economic development and forced human contact.
Why is this good news? The Yuri-Passé people have faced increasing pressure from illegal mining and organized crime groups, which has led neighboring Indigenous communities to reach out to the government on their behalf. This new territory will proactively ensure their land and rights are protected.
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Florida sisters donated over 100 custom “Anna the Appalachian” American Girl dolls to young girls impacted by Hurricane Helene
Two transgender teens in New Hampshire are fighting state and federal bans on participating in girls’ sports
Sixteen-year-old Parker Tirrell plays on her high school soccer team, and 15-year-old Iris Turmelle just tried out for — and made — the tennis team.
Following their own state of New Hampshire’s ban as well as President Trump’s executive order banning transgender girls in girls’ sports, the two transgender girls became the first to challenge that executive order, six months after they sued the state.
They’ve since received a court order allowing them to play, but their fight isn’t over — and they’re continuing to balance their activism with school, sports, and just being a teen. As Tirrell said, “I’m not going to stop existing just because they don’t want me to.”
Thanks to AI sound analysis, a rare, endangered bird was located for the first time in 30 years
A small, quail-like bird species called the plains-wanderer hasn’t been seen in West Melbourne, Australia for decades — since 1989 — a symptom of the species’ larger decline across the country due to long-term drought and its ever-shrinking natural habitat.
In an effort to catalog data on local bird calls, a zoo-based conservation organization installed audio recorders throughout the wilds of Australia.
Across tens of thousands of hours of recordings, an AI-powered tool pinpointed the plains-wanderer by identifying its soft, low “ooming” call at two sites in western Melbourne.
Why is this good news? While the bird technically still hasn’t been “seen,” one expert said this discovery was “like finding gold.” That’s because, among other things, the plains-wanderer is a “flagship” species, indicating healthy grasslands throughout southeastern Australia and playing a crucial role in insect control and seed dispersal.
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Community members, donors, and companies came together to give homeless foster youth customized tiny houses in an ‘adopt-a-cabin’ campaign
After living “life in a trash bag” himself, a man has donated 250K backpacks to restore dignity for foster youth
When Rob Scheer was a 12-year-old walking into the foster care system in the 1970s, he carried everything he owned in a trash bag. And when he aged out of the system at 18, he packed a trash bag for the final time.
His five adopted children each had similar stories, navigating the system with just a trash bag full of items to their names — Scheer was shocked at how little the experience had changed.
This is what spurred him to create Comfort Cases, a nonprofit that provides foster youth with their very own backpacks and luggage. Since its founding in 2013, the organization has donated more than 250,000 cases — filled with essentials like new pajamas, personal care items, a book, and more.
England approved — then doubled — new funding for 300 school-based childcare projects
Opening up as many as 6,000 new spaces for children in the country, England’s Department for Education more than doubled its £37 million funding to help roll out 300 new school-based childcare programs.
Working parents of children older than nine months old can immediately access 15 hours of funded childcare a week — increasing to 30 hours for eligible families starting in September.
The Conservative government originally began expanding funded childcare a year ago for working parents of two-year-olds — this new round of funding builds on those efforts.
Why is this good news? In addition to lowering the cost burden for families, adding spots to improve access, and investing in critical early childhood education, the program uniquely focuses on expanding access in existing primary schools, which the government says will help with continuity for children and families, and save working parents from making multiple trips in the morning and afternoon.
A couple’s ‘fully regenerative’ tiny home includes secondhand building materials and a lush food forest — and they pay in “land hours” instead of rent
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India has achieved a 70% reduction in under-5 child mortality since 2000, earning praise from the UN
Hailed as “exemplar” by the United Nations, India’s efforts to reduce preventable child deaths have saved millions of lives through strategic investments in its health system.
The country has achieved a 70% reduction in child mortality among children under five years old, and a 61% reduction in neonatal mortality.
In addition to providing every pregnant woman free delivery and free infant support care, the UN specifically highlighted Ayushman Bharat, which is the world’s largest health insurance program, providing annual coverage of almost $5,500 per family per year.
The UN said India’s example proves that with “political will, evidence-based strategies, and sustained investments,” these results can be achieved around the world.
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After 900,000 meals were canceled due to USDA cuts, volunteers flooded a Delaware food bank with donations
Cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture have impacted food banks, farmers, schools, and students across the country — and in Delaware, volunteers are assembling to fill those gaps.
Organized by elected officials and the Food Bank of Delaware, an emergency donation drive was held at various food bank locations, with one drop-off event collecting more than 5,000 pounds of food donations.
The USDA cuts eliminated around 750,000 pounds of food for the food bank, which would have amounted to 900,000 total meals for people in need.
Why is this good news? Food Bank of Delaware feeds thousands of Delawareans annually — and their services were especially critical right now, with increasing demand due to higher grocery prices and stagnant wages.
While seemingly small, seeing the community come together to take good action is inspiring and will make an incredible impact, ensuring people who need food can access it.
Realtors, organizations, and government officials collaborated to create a ‘homelessness dashboard’ to make it easy to help those in need
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Volunteers in the Bay Area are building DIY benches for bus stops that don’t have anywhere for people to sit
Software engineer Mingwei Samuel saw a post from Darrell Owens on social media: it was a photo of Owens’ neighbor, who’d just had surgery, sitting on a curb at a bus stop because there was nowhere for him to sit.
Samuel got to work building a bench of his own, and posted a photo of it at the bus stop — and the post went viral, gaining more than 100,000 likes.
Samuel and Owens then teamed up to create a guerrilla bus bench-building movement called the SFBA Bench Collective in the East Bay area, installing benches of their own at bus stops lacking the essential infrastructure.
More good news of the week —
Illinois returned nearly 1,500 acres of stolen land to the state’s first federally recognized tribe. Correcting a “historic injustice,” the land once belonged to Chief Shab-eh-nay of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation but was seized and sold by the U.S. when the chief was visiting relatives.
The WNBA Golden State Valkyries became the first in the league to surpass 10,000 season tickets sold. The expansion team is the first to join the league since 2008, and in 2024, the WNBA had its highest total attendance in 22 years with 2.35 million fans — a 48% increase over 2023 and included 54 sellout games.
A major home builder revealed its first “wildfire-resilient” community located in Southern California. The development will have 64 single-family homes that all meet the wildfire resilience standards designed to protect the homes against the three major sources of ignition during a wildfire: Flying embers, flames, and radiant heat.
Two new buoys are helping researchers listen for critically endangered right whales off the coast of Massachusetts. They are part of a larger East Coast network of buoys that will “listen for, detect, classify, and report vocalizations of large whales in near real-time” and help develop fishing restrictions, speed limits for boats, and other conservation measures.
Towns in Belgium and France have been successfully giving away free chickens for ten years to reduce food waste. To date, 5,282 hens have been distributed to residents, and not only have the residents received a plentiful supply of free eggs, but food waste has also been averted from landfill as chickens are fed kitchen scraps which would otherwise be thrown away.
The U.S. FDA approved the first new antibiotic treatment for UTIs in 30 years. Urinary tract infections are among the most common medical issues women experience, especially among older, who have lower estrogen levels that can lead to decreased levels of beneficial bacteria that suppress infection-causing bacteria.
In the 2025 NCAA women’s hockey championship, ESPN had a double-digit rise in viewership. Viewership was up 22 percent compared to last year for the same finals matchup between the Badgers and Ohio State and ESPN+ engagement saw an increase of 27% throughout the tournament compared to 2024.
Helping reduce overspray and runoff, MIT engineers developed pesticides that can stick to plant leaves. A recent study found that if farmers didn’t use pesticides, they would lose 78% of fruit, 54% of vegetable, and 32% of cereal production, but a lack of technology means they tend to be over-sprayed, leading to runoff and chemicals ending up in waterways or building up in the soil.
To fight rage-bait, a new social media app punishes users who are intentionally inflammatory and incentivizes respectful dialogue. Sez Us uses what its creators call a “reputation engine,” a feature that allows you to rate another user’s posts on the platform across five key areas: approval, influence, insightfulness, relevance, and politeness.
A first-of-its-kind underwater turbine farm will generate clean energy for thousands of people from tides in France. Located in the Channel sea current of Raz Blanchard is one of the most powerful in the world, with a development potential of around 5 to 6 gigawatts, it could produce 15 to 18 terawatt hours, supplying electricity to 8 million people.
Paris Hilton’s nonprofit gave $25,000 grants to 50 women-owned small businesses impacted by the Eaton Fire. More than 1,800 businesses were located in the Eaton and Palisades fire zones, employing 9,600 workers and generating $1.4 billion in annual sales.
Namibia just swore in the country’s first-ever woman president and second-ever directly elected woman leader. Earning 58% of the country’s vote, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is taking on the task of leading a country facing high rates of unemployment, inequality, and poverty.
A massive Attack concert broke the record for the lowest carbon emissions ever produced by a music event. The concert slashed energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by 98% compared to similar shows by being 100% battery-powered, selling 100% vegan food, and the performers opting for low-carbon transport like coaches and ferries instead of planes.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia developed a stir stick that can detect if a drink has been spiked. Spikeless looks like an ordinary stir stick, but is capable of detecting common drink-spiking drugs like GHB and ketamine within 30 seconds, potentially preventing assaults.
A Long Island man became the first in the history of New York to be cured of sickle cell anemia. A groundbreaking treatment used Beauzile’s own bone marrow in IV transfusions to create normal red blood cells.
Thanks to the Academy Award-winning film “Flow,” there’s been a surge in black cat adoptions. Black cats and dogs have historically low adoption rates for a number of reasons: ancient superstitions that they were bad omens or bad luck, they don’t photograph as well in adoption photos, and more.
With wind power more than doubling since 2020, Finland is “ahead of schedule” on phasing out coal. The closure of a coal power plant in Helsinki brought coal to less than 1% share of the country’s energy mix four years ahead of schedule.
A former middle linebacker and student at MIT is working to design a safer football helmet for players at all levels. And he’s succeeding: LIGHT Helmets’ new Apache helmet line was ranked the highest-performing helmet ever in safety tests by Virginia Tech’s renowned helmet-testing lab.
