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The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —
The last elephant in South Africa’s national zoo was just released back into the wild after 40 years in captivity
Captured in 1984 when he was just two years old, Charlie the elephant was taken to a circus in South Africa and trained to perform tricks until the early 2000s when he was moved to the country’s national zoo.
Out of concern for his health at the zoo, animal welfare groups have been advocating for his release back into the wild — and in a “historic event,” after 40 years in captivity, he was just released at the Shambala Private Reserve in South Africa.
The reserve is famous for reintegrating animals back into the wild, has a thriving population of elephants, and has veterinarian and behavioral experts who will closely monitor Charlie. He is reportedly already showing signs of a successful release.
More good news for elephants:
- Villagers in Malawi helped arrest elephant poachers in Kasungu National Park.
- Making history, 2023 was the first year without elephant poaching in the Republic of Congo National Park.
- A Houston Zoo elephant received the first-ever dose of a vaccine aimed to prevent herpesvirus in elephants, a leading cause of death in Asian elephants born in North America.
Renewable energy production is on track to beat coal for the rest of the year in the U.S.
Earlier this year, wind-powered electricity generation outpaced coal for two consecutive months in the U.S. for the first time in history — in March and April of 2024.
In March, wind turbines produced around 45.9 terawatt-hours of electricity, while coal produced 38.4 TWh. Similarly, in April wind produced a record 47.4 TWh, while coal fell to 37.2 TWh.
Altogether, power generation from renewable sources surpassed coal in the U.S. for the first time in 2022, but never consistently — until now. Data shows renewables have fully outpaced coal and will do so for the foreseeable future.
U.S. national parks just received a record-breaking $100 million grant — the largest in the parks’ 108-year history
The National Park Foundation — the nonprofit arm of the official National Parks Service — just announced it’s received a historic $100 million grant. It’s the largest ever received by the NPF, and largest grant benefiting the national parks in its 108-year history.
The NPF says the endowment will help in four key priority areas, including addressing biodiversity concerns, improving visitor experience, and more.
Two of its priority projects include restoring coral reefs at Biscayne National Park in Florida and restoring trout species in western national parks.
Why is this good news? Private philanthropy has long helped “bridge the gap” between what the parks need and the available funds. And right now, as they confront mounting foot traffic, responding to a changing climate, and navigating the social and cultural landscape of the country’s public lands — those needs are great.
→ Read more
Trials for the world’s first-ever lung cancer vaccine just launched across eight countries
Doctors have now started trials for the world’s first lung cancer vaccine in patients. Experts say it has “groundbreaking” potential to save thousands of lives from the world’s leading cause of cancer death, with about 1.8 million deaths every year.
The new vaccine uses similar mRNA technology as the COVID-19 vaccines — it instructs the body to find and kill cancer cells and prevents them from ever coming back.
About 130 patients in eight countries will participate in the trial, and the vaccine targets non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease.
→ Read more
More good news for treating cancer:
- Thanks to decreases in smoking and scientific advances, and led primarily by lung cancer and melanoma, deaths from cancer are declining rapidly.
- Brain cancer is notoriously hard to treat in children, but a new mRNA vaccine can deliver treatments more effectively and teach their immune systems to fight back.
- Proteins in milk and blood could soon let doctors detect breast cancer earlier, which dramatically improves survival rates for the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women.
High school students are using lunch drives and free doughnuts to encourage their eligible classmates to vote
With 8 million high school students eligible to vote in the 2024 general election in November, an organization is helping high schoolers host voter registration drives.
New Voters is a nonpartisan nonprofit that connects high school students who are passionate about civic engagement with the resources to help engage their classmates, too.
In 2017, the organization’s founder, Jahnavi Rao registered 85% of eligible voters at her high school. Since 2018, New Voters has registered over 80,000 high schoolers to vote across 400 high schools in 39 states.
And they’re not slowing down — they’ve already helped over 2,000 drive leaders and volunteers, who recruit others in subsequent years and election cycles.
They could have something to do with the fact that voter participation among young people is trending upward: Gen Z voters turned out at higher rates during their first midterm elections in 2022 than previous generations.
→ Read more
A middle school in San Francisco just opened a free grocery store to help feed students and their families outside of school, too
A new, free grocery store just opened up at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Middle School in San Francisco. A collaboration between Amazon, food startup Goodr, and the YMCA of Greater San Francisco, the store will operate weekly and serve about 75 families.
The grocery store will provide fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy products, and other goods.
While the school district already has in-school meal programs for students, this store offers a new opportunity to help students and their families outside of school, too. Additionally, food insecurity can lead to truancy issues.
Why is this good news? While providing nutritious foods that can help improve educational outcomes for students, the grocery store is also something that can strengthen the relationship and build trust between families and the school.
→ Read more
The number of homicides in Mexico last year was at its lowest level since 2016
According to preliminary data, homicides in Mexico declined to the lowest level since 2016 last year.
There were 31,062 homicides in 2023, a 6.7% decline from 2022 and the third consecutive year that murders had declined since peaking in 2020 with 36,773.
While those numbers are still incredibly and devastatingly high, with most of it the result of gun violence, it’s very good progress to celebrate, especially considering that the numbers sharply increased after a militarized “war” on drug cartels was launched in 2006 by the then-president.
While the current government is still the most violent in history, it’s making notable progress, and working to address the root causes of violence instead of using force.
Even the country’s most violent state saw a significant decline last year — with 3,746 homicides in 2023, a 13.5% decline from 2022.
Pop star Chappell Roan is using her meteoric rise to fame for good — raising over $160,000 for LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights
During pop star Chappell Roan’s meteoric rise to fame in the past few months, she’s made headlines for record crowd sizes — and regularly uses those record-breaking shows to make a difference.
Working with digital fundraising platform Propeller (also used by artists like Maggie Rogers and Noah Kahan), Roan offers ticket upgrades, signed setlists, and even a trip to meet her in person for “actions” fans take for causes she cares about.
And it’s resulted in over $160,000 generated for the Human Rights Campaign and Reproductive Freedom For All. These funds came from more than 150,700 supporters, who have taken over 223,000 “actions” on the Propeller platform.
Why is this good news? As the HRC’s vice president of membership told us, Roan’s support “has not only inspired countless supporters to take action, but it has also helped us reach a younger audience and secure 2,500 new monthly donors. This has been vital in driving meaningful change and protecting the rights of all individuals.”
→ Read our exclusive interview
Good as Gold
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are officially underway! The best para-athletes have descended on Paris to participate in “the most transformational sporting event on Earth.” Here are some can’t-miss moments so far:
- In case you missed the Opening Ceremony, here’s a 90-second recap of the most iconic moments.
- Zakia Khudadadi already made history, becoming the first-ever Refugee Paralympic Team athlete to win a medal.
- The Paralympics dropped its ban on athletes displaying Olympic ring tattoos — an important and symbolic representation of the journey many athletes take to get to the Games.
- There are a record number of openly LGBTQ+ athletes competing in Paris right now.
- After a two-week break, we’re so glad we get to cry at more inspiring sports-related moments again.
- One of the disabled broadcasters covering the 2024 Paralympics for NBC is on a mission to change how disability is viewed.
- Team USA’s gear haul is fit for a Paralympian (literally).
- Fun fact: the Paralympics has its own symbol, Agitos, which comes with its own significant meaning, too.
We can’t wait for all the good that the coming days of competition undoubtedly have in store!
A former poacher in Zimbabwe is now working to protect the country’s wild animals
Tembanechako Mastick hunted in his community’s tradition, grew crops, and raised livestock, but after droughts made farming increasingly difficult — he turned to poaching.
In 2023, he was caught taking small game from one of the largest private game reserves in Africa, and spent nearly three months in jail. There, a program, that turns poachers into conservationists set his life on a new trajectory.
Now, he advocates for protecting the animals, encouraging his neighbors to rely on crops and livestock for food and income, instead.
He says that “poaching is a selfish act,” and animals are a benefit to the entire community. And it’s a challenging message to get across these days, as repeated droughts, illegal deforestation, and more push the boundaries of wildlife habitats.
→ Read more
More good news of the week —
An Indigenous tribe in California revived its beaver population to boost the Sierra Nevada mountain’s wildfire resilience. Beavers were once abundant in North America and bringing them back could have serious climate benefits.
The largest solar grazing project is coming to Texas with 6,000 sheep grazing on 10,000 acres of solar panels. The sheep are more efficient and effective than lawnmowers, reduce emissions, and even improve soil quality with their manure.
Helping lower temperatures by about six degrees, reflective mirror roofs are helping cool homes in Sierra Leone. A climate mitigation method to help combat extreme heat, the roofs are helping beat the higher temperatures in the country’s capital.
island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean are paying off. An important cultural symbol in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, the cagou’s numbers are estimated to have tripled thanks to conservation efforts.
The largest “ultra-green” development in the U.S., an affordable housing complex in East Harlem is saving energy and utility costs. The apartments were built with careful attention to ventilation, windows, sealing, and other details that “stand up better to extreme weather.”
Researchers estimate that nearly 25% of Europe’s landscape can be rewilded. The continent’s abandoned farmlands could find new life through rewilding, a movement that restores devastated landscapes to the wilderness they were before human intervention.
Solar-powered generators are pulling water “from thin air” and providing clean water to communities in need. The generators use a heat exchange and condensation method to capture water, and a filtration and sanitization process makes it safe to drink for humans.
China has cut new coal power plant permits by nearly 80% in the first half of 2024. The country’s combined wind and solar capacity of 11.8 terawatts also exceeded coal capacity for the first time and made up 84.2% of all new grid-connected capacity.
Two states just became the first in the U.S. to ban the use of toxic “forever chemicals” in firefighter gear. PFAS make their gear resistant to water and heat, but it’s estimated that cancer from that gear accounted for 66% of firefighter deaths from 2002 to 2019.
[Related: For the same reason, a city in California went PFAS-free for its firefighter gear, too.]
Whale populations are doing so well, researchers say the agency protecting them “has done its job” and can be closed. With virtually all whale populations on the rise, researchers insist it’s time to disband and consolidate the International Whaling Commission.
Dolly Parton just helped celebrate the statewide expansion of her “Imagination Library” literacy program in Kentucky. Parton’s program sends 1 million children free books in the mail every month, making a huge difference in early childhood development — and now it’s available for all kids in Kentucky.
Ikea is testing an online, preowned marketplace for its items in Spain and Norway. With buyers and sellers contacting each other directly, the platform, Ikea Preowned, lets users list their furniture with photos and a price.
Farms in Japan are recycling food waste into sustainable pig feed using a unique fermentation method. The country imports almost two-thirds of its food and three-quarters of its livestock feed, and still throws out 28.4 million tonnes of (mostly edible) food each year.
To help save the species, scientists fly alongside a once-extinct bird to teach them to follow migratory routes. The northern bald ibis doesn’t instinctively know which direction to fly to migrate without the guidance of wild-born elders, so scientists and conservationists stepped in.
An incredible 80% of new U.S. electricity capacity this year came from solar and battery storage. And by the end of the year, 96% of new electricity capacity is on track to be emission-free, thanks to contributions from solar, wind, battery, and nuclear power.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!
