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!
If you want to get good news in your inbox every day, join the Goodnewsletter — the free daily newsletter designed to leave you feeling hopeful.
The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —
An ambitious plan to provide electricity to 300 million people in Africa by 2030 is now underway
Thanks to an initial $30 billion investment from the World Bank and African Development Bank, Mission 300, a plan to bring electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030 is now underway.
The collaborative effort from governments, foundations, climate organizations, and more will work to raise $90 million total to support Mission 300’s goals.
Africa accounts for nearly three-quarters of the world’s population without access to electricity. Countries like South Sudan, Burundi, and Chad have electrification rates below 12%.
Why is this good news? More than 600 million people in Africa currently don’t have access to electricity, and the continent has just over a 43% energy access rate — the lowest in the world. Something many of us perhaps take for granted, lack of access to energy has a myriad of negative impacts, like restricting economic growth, access to education, making food, and more.
People adopted and fostered hundreds of animals in Palm Beach County before Hurricane Milton made landfall
With Hurricane Milton just days away from making landfall, Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control put out an urgent call for help: it needed fosters and forever families for the more than 200 cats and dogs in its shelter.
The Palm Beach County community responded swiftly and overwhelmingly — the shelter ended up having to turn people away because there were no animals left to care for. Within two days, 117 cats and 113 dogs were adopted or placed in foster homes.
While the community suffered damage from the storm itself, the shelter was making preparations knowing that it would likely need space to take in and shelter animals post-storm, too.
And it was right, the shelter is already caring for at least 16 dogs and 16 cats found wandering the streets post-Milton, waiting to be reconnected with their owners — or to find their forever homes, too.
→ Read more
A revolutionary new children’s hospital just opened in Zurich, with architecture designed to “help the healing process”
Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron just unveiled their latest creation: a revolutionary new children’s hospital that upends traditional hospital design, which they say neglects “basic human needs.”
Their design, which also comes with a lower price tag than comparable hospital builds, addresses “the curiosity of children” — with thoughtful touches like a low-level reception desk, cubbyholes and lookout windows, and coated walls that invite patients to draw away.
The Kinderspital has been in the works for 14 years, and is an experiment in how architecture can help the healing process — and the roles that light, views, scale and proportion of spaces, and materials play in that process.
Why is this good news? The medical advancements we’ve made throughout history are remarkable — and much like offering mental health support and care, considering how we can reimagine the physical surroundings of sick children to improve their health outcomes is important, too.
A Chicago man ran 26.2 miles around his neighborhood block and raised over $12,000 for the community homeless shelter
One day before a record 50,000 people ran in the iconic Chicago Marathon last weekend, Lincoln Park resident Matt Brusich — decided to race 26.2 miles around his own city block.
To reach the official marathon mileage, that would equate to nearly 80 laps around the block. Ready to lace up his sneakers, Brusich also wanted to do something meaningful with the challenge.
He used the opportunity to raise money for the Lincoln Park Community Shelter, a homeless shelter and nonprofit right in the heart of his community.
By the time the race had been completed on Saturday, Brusich racked up about $11,000 in donations, and his pledge page now boasts over $12,000, as gifts keep pouring in after the fact.
→ Read more
People donated over $193,000 to help rebuild a queer bar that opened weeks before it was destroyed by Helene
Branden Davis and his husband Davie opened DayTrip — a bar and coffee shop where they’d host LGBTQ+ fundraisers, burlesque shows, dog adoptions, and more — just weeks before Hurricane Helene destroyed it.
A friend of the couple started a GoFundMe to rebuild the “cozy and quirky place for friends and neighbors to come and feel welcome.” To date, it’s raised over $193,000 from thousands of donors.
Overwhelmed by the support, the pair plan to rebuild DayTrip, compensate employees who lost wages from the storm, and donate to support local volunteering efforts.
→ Read more
More good fundraising news:
- In a single weekend, tattoo artists raised over $74,000 for Palestinians in need.
- Pop star and “Midwest princess” Chappell Roan has raised over $160,000 to support LGBTQ+ and human rights.
- John and Hank Green’s annual 48-hour “Project for Awesome” livestream fundraiser has raised $23 million for charity since 2007.
Coal generation in a group of 38 countries has fallen 52% since its peak in 2007
Countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s have reduced their coal by half for the first time since it peaked in 2007.
Coal generation fell to 17% of total OECD electricity generation in 2023, a 52% reduction from its peak of 37% in 2007. Solar and wind generation accounted for 87% of the decrease in coal generation.
When the UK’s last coal power plant closed on September 30, it became the 14th of the 38 OECD countries to achieve a coal-free power system.
Three-quarters of OECD countries have committed to achieving coal-free power generation by 2030. Even among those that haven’t, wind and solar power are continuing to grow significantly.
With over 300,000 ballots cast, Georgia more than doubled its first-day early voting record
In 2020, a then-record 136,000 Georgia voters participated in the first day of early voting. This year, over 328,000 Georgia residents cast their ballot on day one — more than doubling the previous record.
Election officials predicted another 200,000 votes would be cast on the second day of early voting, and also expect turnout to continue to increase in the final week of early voting in the state.
Despite the record-shattering turnout, both voters and the state’s election office said there were minimal reports of long lines, except at popular voting locations in metro areas.
Why is this good news? Record-breaking voter turnout for elections is good news for a democracy whose elected officials best represent the people. With around two-thirds of eligible voters participating in the 2020 election, that leaves so many who did not — Georgia setting a record pace for voter participation is good news in this election cycle.
→ Read more
Grocery stores that donate expiring food — instead of price discounting or discarding — make higher profits
→ Read more
A California university just added a climate change course requirement to graduate
The University of California San Diego just implemented an innovative requirement for students, effective this fall — all students must take a climate change course to graduate.
Intended to “prepare students for the future that they really will encounter,” the course must cover at least 30% climate-related content and address two of four areas: scientific foundations, human impacts, mitigation strategies, and project-based learning.
The requirement won’t add any time to a student’s schedule, and 41 classes at UC San Diego already meet the requirement, like “The Astronomy of Climate Change”, “Gender and Climate Justice”, and “Environmentalism in Arts and Media”.
Why is this good news? A student’s time in higher education is intended to prepare them for a future career of their choice — and as climate change continues to impact more areas of life, careers are no exception. Whether you’re a doctor, chef, teacher, designer, or entrepreneur… they’re all impacted by the climate crisis — this requirement helps prepare students for that reality.
Volunteers cleaned up litter left behind by “leaf-peeping” visitors in New Hampshire
As fall is fully underway across the country, leaf-peeping season is in full swing. Tourists have flocked to destinations with exceptional foliage, though officials say crowds are “overwhelming” state parks across the Northeast.
While this influx of visitors can bring a boost to the local economy, they also bring… their garbage.
After seeing photos of the larger crowds, Siobhan Smith knew that a volunteer effort would be needed to clean up the trash left behind by leaf-peepers. She and her friend, Noah, hiked up one of the most popular destinations — filling up two large trash bags along the way.
They volunteered their time and effort to make sure others could enjoy the beautiful views — and encouraged others to adhere to the same Leave No Trace principles.
More good news of the week —
The U.S. EPA finalized a rule to replace all lead pipes in homes within a decade. Lead poisoning can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system and the brain and poses a specific risk to infants and children.
The U.K. government is funding a £120 blood test that could detect the 12 most common cancers before symptoms develop. It’s providing £2.5m via the National Institute for Health and Care Research to improve the speed of the test, which checks for cancers like breast, lung, prostate, pancreatic, and brain cancers.
A tiny parasitic wasp helped save one of the world’s rarest birds from extinction. Wasps released on Nightingale Island have protected Wilkins’ bunting by halting the spread of invasive, mold-causing insects.
Mimicking wetlands, mini-artificial islands are helping filter Missouri’s lakes and ponds from contaminants. The artificial floating islands are a promising solution to water pollution after agricultural and urban development destroyed about 90% of the state's natural wetlands.
Indigenous people in British Colombia are combining modern science with ancestral principles to protect the land. The Heiltsuk Nation’s ancestral laws center on respect, responsibility, reciprocity, and stewardship for all sentient beings — and have shaped their interaction with their environment.
A library in Ohio is providing free resources to aspiring nonprofit and business owners who lost manufacturing jobs. Part of a growing movement to provide more than books to the public, in 2018, Toledo was one of 12 public library systems awarded grants to explore ways to engage entrepreneurs in their communities.
A Navajo woman is using horses to help register voters and get people to the polls. Allie Young’s voter registration events will culminate with 100 Indigenous voters riding on horseback to a polling station in Arizona on election day.
Colombia launched a new investment portfolio to transition away from fossil fuels and adapt to climate change. Hoping to generate around $40 billion, the portfolio will help fund eco-tourism, a fair energy transition, and conservation and restoration of ecosystems.
Transforming treatment in crisis zones, British scientists developed a tool kit to make limb-saving devices. Rather than waiting for them to be flown in, the doctors developed kits that could be distributed locally so people can make their own devices using conventional equipment in the event of a natural disaster or war.
Weeks before Halloween, scientists discovered a critical new ‘orange and black’ salamander species. Around the globe, salamanders are considered a “linchpin” species, serving as prey for other vital species and curbing the overpopulation of pests.
Thanks to the city of Seoul’s restoration initiatives, a river ecosystem is showing significant signs of recovery. Since 2007, the number of trees along the Han River has doubled to more than 3 million, and the diversity of species in the area has surged by nearly 30%.
A study found that more bystanders are stepping in to administer naloxone to people who’ve overdosed on opioids. Overdose deaths declined by 3% in 2023, and the nearly 25,000 patients who received naloxone from an untrained bystander before paramedics arrived could have helped lead to the decline.
Nebraska’s Supreme Court upheld voting rights for people convicted of felonies who had finished their sentence. Lawmakers had restored voting rights to more people convicted of felonies, but a dispute over the law had led to pre-election confusion — this ruling helped bring clarity.
Volunteers and scientists are working to save endangered baby turtles in Canada. They collect eggs of at-risk turtle species from a conservation area in east Ottawa to save them from predators, watch over them, and then release them a couple of months later.
A county in Oregon filed the first-ever climate deception lawsuit against a natural gas company. The lawsuit accuses the state’s largest natural gas utility of being responsible for “a substantial portion” of greenhouse gas emissions and deceiving the public about their harm.
