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 —
The Missing in America Project has provided thousands of dignified burials for “unclaimed” veterans
Heartbreakingly, veterans who die alone, without connections to friends and family, have piled up on the shelves of county morgues and funeral homes for decades.
Since 2007, the Missing in America Project has provided thousands of them with dignified burials.
Their work involves combing through lists of unclaimed remains at funeral homes and morgues, and then spending years trying to verify veteran status of those they suspect might have served in the military. When a veteran is found, volunteers begin the search for family.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates about 21,000 veterans are awaiting burials, some dating back to the Civil War — though the Missing in America Project believes that number falls short by tens of thousands.
→ Read the stories of five unclaimed veterans
In an “exciting development,” the world’s first stem-cell treatment restored vision in four people
Three people who received groundbreaking stem-cell transplants are still seeing substantial improvements in their sight more than year later. A fourth person who received a transplant also saw improvement, but it did not last.
The four patients all had severe vision impairment and were the first int he world to receive transplants made from reprogrammed stem cells to treat damaged corneas.
In the latest published results, researchers describe their restored vision as “impressive” and “an exciting development” — and that the overwhelming success warrants more transplants.
Why is this good news? While it’s important to design a world that’s equitably accessible for blind and visually impaired people, it’s also very exciting to see progress being made to restore vision in those who would like the option. These medical advancements no doubt have an impact on other related medical research, too.
Gophers were given one day to revive Mount St. Helens — and their impact on its ecosystem has lasted decades
A middle school student invented a water filter that uses animal bones and just won a top STEM prize
Last summer, middle schooler Tina Jin was alarmed to learn that over 2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water.
With her heart set on finding a solution, Jin found inspiration in an unlikely place: on her dinner plate, in the tiny, porous holes of leftover bones.
With about 130 billion kilograms of animal bones produced worldwide each year, often discarded, inspiration struck. Jin spent the last year perfecting a dual solution that would reduce excessive bone waste — and increase access to clean drinking water.
For months, she saved bones from family dinners and tested their honeycomb-like structures to create a natural water filtration system.
There were no women in leadership positions for the COP29 climate conference — until they demanded a seat at the table
The annual global climate conference, COP29 started this week in Azerbaijan. Until very recently, the conference’s organizing committee was made up exclusively of men.
In response, 75 women leaders from varying industries launched the Women Leading on Climate Initiative and demanded the Azerbaijani president include women.
And their demands were met: the president expanded the now 55-person committee to include 12 women. While the group has not achieved gender parity, it’s significant progress.
Why is this good news? Women make up half the global population, and not having their perspective and insight — especially when they’ve long been at the forefront of climate action — represented at a conference that will undoubtedly (and arguably, disproportionately) impact them is more than an oversight.
While representation should be even better, it’s a notable and important improvement — and a reminder that speaking out against injustice matters.
Voters in Washington overwhelmingly elected to save the state’s landmark climate law
On Election Day last week, voters in Washington faced a ballot initiative that would repeal the state’s Climate Commitment Act, the most ambitious price on carbon in the country.
Overwhelmingly, with 62% rejecting the repeal, voters elected to keep the cap-and-trade law that has already raised more than $2 billion. That money has been used to clean up transportation, shift to clean energy, and for climate adaptation.
Not only would the ballot measure have removed the state’s price on carbon pollution — it would have prevented it from ever implementing a similar policy in the future.
Why is this good news? Carbon pollution has devastating health implications for people and for the planet, and while putting a price on it isn’t a cure-all for those negative impacts, it is a deterrent. This vote is also a hopeful reminder that climate action will progress, even if the incoming presidential administration plans to roll back incentives and environmental protections.
→ Read more
An 8th grader invented an accessible braille reader that could help people save thousands of dollars
When 14-year-old Yash Mehta visited his grandfather, who helps run a school for the blind, in India — he wondered why none of the students had access to modern electronic braille readers.
He was told that most braille readers cost upwards of $3,000 (with some priced as high as $15,000) — and he knew he wanted to help. He wanted to make an electronic braille reader that anyone could afford.
Exceeding his goal to make a model that costs less than $50, he invented a small model that cost $20 and a larger model priced at $35.
Mehta’s invention is critically important, since “there are currently 36 million visually impaired individuals around the world” and that’s projected to increase by 55% over the next 30 years.
On top of that, 89% of blind people live in low- and medium-income countries, so affordability is as essential as access.
The Onion bought Infowars and plans to relaunch the site with an anti-gun violence organization
Most notably including the website Infowars, the media empire of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was just officially purchased at auction by the satirical newspaper The Onion.
Jones was court-ordered to liquidate his assets to pay a $1.5 billion settlement to the families of those killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which he repeatedly and falsely called a hoax on his platforms.
The Onion, which had the backing of Sandy Hook families in making the purchase, says it plans to relaunch it as a parody site alongside educational material from Everytown for Gun Safety, a national anti-gun violence organization founded after the shooting.
Why is this good news? Alex Jones and Infowars caused an unexplainable amount of trauma and heartbreak for Sandy Hook families, and we’ll let a victim’s parent take this one: “The dissolution of Alex Jones’ assets and the death of Infowars is the justice we have long awaited and fought for.”
A Denver man is creating cold weather kits to help his neighbors experiencing homelessness
The city of Denver recently got its first round of heavy snow and winter weather of the season — with snow falling for 72 hours straight.
This inspired Denver resident Spencer Barnes to start working on a project to help his neighbors without a safe, warm place to ride out the winter.
In 2020, he created 50 cold-weather kits to give out to unhoused members of his community — and this year, he wants to make even more. He made an Amazon wish list and within days, everything was purchased.
He has enough supplies to make 250 cold-weather kits, including blankets, hats, gloves, and food.
More good news of the week —
A new study confirmed that service dogs can alleviate some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder for veterans. Those with service dogs had a better quality of life, milder depression and anxiety, and significantly lower odds of still meeting the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.
A building in Detroit was transformed into permanent housing for veterans experiencing homelessness. Four organizations in the city and a national partner used their relationships and data to reduce homelessness toward “functional zero.”
Women veterans are receiving more benefits and care from the VA than ever before. Progress is attributed to legislative measures and ongoing initiatives such as the PACT Act and the new Women's Health Research Collaborative.
The VA’s work to end veteran homelessness is also working — and its success could provide answers for civilians, too. Part of the long-term success of reducing the number of unhoused veterans is the Veterans Affairs’ pledge to end it — as well as the funding to cover the costs of that goal.
A nonprofit provides professional clothes to veterans so they can re-enter the workforce with confidence. While federal law requires government agencies to establish employment assistance centers, veterans are still left behind when it comes to acquiring new job skills, building confidence, and starting a new life mission.
A nonprofit connects military members with volunteers to care for their pets while they’re on deployment. Dogs on Deployment also provides financial assistance for military pet owners, promotes responsible, life-long pet ownership — and keeps beloved animals out of shelters while their owners are away.
Combat diving veterans are using their skills to protect and restore ocean health. Faced with needing a new mission, Force Blue connects the specialized skills of these veterans with the world of coral reef conservation for the betterment of both.
Equipped with tail lights, smart LED, motion-tracking, and crash-detection tech, a new helmet could be life-saving for cyclists. An estimated 47,000 bicyclists are injured — and 850 are killed — in traffic crashes every year in the United States.
On Election Day, voters in Maine overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to limit political spending, specifically “dark money.” The measure started super PACs, which cannot contribute to or coordinate with a candidate directly but can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money for their candidate of choice.
Istanbul just became the largest city to provide free public transportation to unemployed residents. The Turkish city of 16 million people implemented the program to remove barriers to finding a job and help boost employment rates.
The USDA is eliminating “junk fees” for low-income families when purchasing school lunches. Schools will not be allowed to charge online processing fees to students eligible for free and reduced-price meals starting in the 2027-28 school year.
Researchers found that LED-lit surfboards and wetsuits can help prevent shark attacks. While shark attacks are quite rare, the fear people have about a “Jaws-” like encounter is very real — and this research helps keep swimmers and surfers safer.
For the first time in over a decade, a critically endangered antelope was born at a UK safari park. After years of poaching, it’s estimate there are fewer than 100 eastern mountain bongos left in the wild, so the calf’s birth is a significant conservation success story.
In a key migratory pathway, a Texas metro area reduced light pollution to save birds from colliding with buildings. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is the third most dangerous area for avian migration nationwide, and the “Lights Out” initiative has already proven to successfully reduce bird casualties.
Australia just announced the appointment of its first-ever anti-slavery commissioner. With an estimated 41,000 people living in modern slavery in Australia, the former senator’s role will be to address exploitative practices such as forced marriage and deceptive recruiting.
A proposed network of subsea power cables that will power millions of homes in Europe just received final approval. The cable projects will link Great Britain to power grids in Germany, Ireland, and Northern Ireland to help share renewable electricity across borders and help Britain meet its green energy goals.
Veteran homelessness in the U.S. has reached a record low, decreasing by 7.5% since 2023. While not a single veteran should experience homelessness in the country they sacrificially swore to defend, it’s important to celebrate this progress as we work toward making the number zero.
Dolly Parton just made a $4.5 million investment in the Nashville Public Library’s early literacy program. Parton has long been an advocate for childhood literacy, and this latest investment is the largest in the Nashville Public Library Foundation’s 27-year history.
The UK just implemented “safe zones” around abortion clinics to protect the well-being of patients. The 150-meter (almost 500-foot) protected area is now in effect outside of all abortion clinics in England and Wales to help ensure patients are better protected from harassment or distress.
