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 —
Thanks to Indigenous activists, a Malaysian logging firm removed all their equipment from a protected forest
Earlier this year, organizations monitoring some of the last untouched forest on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia captured satellite and drone imagery showing Malaysian logging firm Samling Timber entering deep forest and culturally sensitive areas.
The Penan Indigenous organization Keruan filed a police report and planned to start a blockade to protect the forest. The day before their blockade was set to begin, the company removed all their logging equipment from the area.
This isn’t the first time the Penan have had similar run-ins with Samling, but it may be the last time — at least for this part of the island, as the part of the forest they’re protecting is slated to be added to a new conservation project.
And though the world has more trees than it did three decades ago — it still needs more. We must protect and preserve the old-growth forests we already have, while planting more trees.
Approval of interracial marriage is at a new all-time high of 94% — up from just 4% in 1958
According to new Gallup polling, 94% of Americans say they approve of interracial marriage — up from just 4% when Gallup first asked in 1958. And the approval rate holds relatively true regardless of age, race, or location — in every instance, approval of interracial marriage is over 90%.
Additionally, according to the Pew Research Center, the number of interracial marriages has increased too. Today, 20% of marriages are interracial — whereas in 1967, when it first became legal, 3% were.
While we’d love to see 100% approval, this is incredibly significant progress to celebrate. Because even as justices, leaders, and lawmakers threaten to overturn the legalization of interracial marriage — it’s helpful and hopeful to know that nearly all of your neighbors don’t agree with them.
England’s government is supporting a “once in a generation” farmer-led plan to restore biodiversity in the country
Farmers and landowners across England put together ambitious land and biodiversity restoration plans in 22 locations, and the government just announced it will support them all with an initial £12 million pound investment.
Importantly, the plans will both restore nature and prevent flooding, as well as continue to allow the land to produce food. Land managers and conservationists are calling the plans the most “exciting and important” step in a generation to restore lost biodiversity.
This effort is part of an even larger wave of farmers implementing restorative, regenerative farming practices that are better for the planet and for people.
An LGBTQ+ soccer team in Kenya is offering a “safe space” for lesbian players
Around the world, lesbian and bisexual soccer players are at the forefront of top women's teams, unlike in the men's game where only a small number of elite players have come out. But in Kenya, where women's soccer is gaining popularity, stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people force players to stay in the closet.
Recognizing an increasing number of lesbians are passionate about football, former amateur player and LGBTQ+ rights campaigner Anita Wanjiru founded a women's team in 2017. The all-lesbian team is organized through the Kenyan LGBTQ+ activist group Minority Women in Action (MWA) and offers a “safe space” for players while maintaining secrecy from the wider community.
Patagonia’s founder just donated the entire company to ensure profits would go to fight climate change
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard just announced he would be donating the entire company, worth about $3 billion, to a trust and a nonprofit organization fighting climate change. Any profits, about $100 million per year, that they don’t reinvest in the company will go to fight climate change.
“Hopefully this will influence a new form of capitalism that doesn’t end up with a few rich people and a bunch of poor people,” Mr. Chouinard, 83, said in an interview with The New York Times. “We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet.”
Australians are growing mullets and raising money in support of mental health research
Every September, Black Dog Institute (BDI) — a mental health research organization in Australia — runs the Mullets for Mental Health campaign, encouraging community members to grow mullets and fundraise together to support mental health research initiatives.
BDI’s research is done through studies, educational programs, digital tools and apps, clinical services, and public resources with the goal of discovering new solutions, fostering connections, and creating real-world change.
Combining science, compassion, and action, BDI’s partnerships with Australian communities, governments, schools, and businesses seeks to make evidence-informed change in mental health.
The cool haircut is a fun bonus.
The Martha’s Vineyard community came together to provide food, shelter, and support to migrants flown from Texas
When two chartered planes filled with 50 migrants landed unexpectedly in Martha's Vineyard on Wednesday — the community quickly came together to help.
St. Andrews Church provided shelter, the Salvation Army and other organizations brought food and water, local high school Spanish students helped translate, and members of the community showed up with clothes and other necessities.
Their response was so swift, that you would have never known Martha's Vineyard hadn't actually been expecting the migrants, who had been told they would receive housing and jobs upon arriving.
“In a typical Vineyard fashion, it is a community effort,” one community member told the Vineyard Gazette.
More good news of the week —
Mackenzie Scott just donated two mansions worth $55 million to charity. The California Community Foundation plans to sell the homes and use the money for affordable housing grants and an immigrant integration program.
Using money from the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS is developing a free online filing platform. The digital filing tool would end years of for-profit corporations dominating tax season.
Princeton just announced it will cover tuition for students from families making less than $100,000. It was the first university to replace loans with grants, and now 25% of its undergraduates won’t pay anything to attend.
For their Season 2 launch, Abbott Elementary used some of their marketing budget to buy school supplies for teachers. In its first season, the show opened viewers’ eyes to struggles faced by teachers, like retention, poor classroom conditions, and more.
California just passed a law requiring employers to post salary ranges on job descriptions. Posting pay scales both increases transparency and helps close pay gaps.
The European Union is writing legislation to ban both products and imports made with forced labor. The move was started by lawmakers concerned about human rights abuses in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
A Swiss coffee maker is creating a coffeemaking system to replace the ones that use wasteful plastic capsules. Migros’ CoffeeB system uses “coffee balls” that are compostable and can be discarded with the used coffee grinds.
San Francisco lawmakers unanimously approved a measure to decriminalize psychedelics. The measure cited research showing the ways they can potentially help those with mental health illnesses and recovering from drug addiction.
Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, workers in rural Virginia are pivoting from coal to clean energy jobs. The state’s first solar energy youth apprenticeship scheme is now underway.
Tokyo will require all new homes and buildings to include solar panels beginning in 2025. It would be the first prefecture in Japan to do it and would apply to homes and buildings under about 21,500 square feet.
The Boston Marathon added a nonbinary runner option to its 2023 race registration. More than 200 races around the country have added a nonbinary division for runners to compete in, and now the country’s most popular running event has too.
A new study found that switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy could save the world as much as $12 trillion. They say the cost to switch pales in comparison to how much sticking with fossil fuels would cost.
After two months, Jackson, Mississippi’s water is safe to drink again. Certain people still need to take precautions, and the city needs to make major improvements to its water system to ensure a crisis like this never happens again.
The world’s largest shipping container line is rerouting its entire fleet to protect the world’s largest animal: blue whales. Researchers found it would reduce collisions to avoid Sri Lankan waters where the whales congregate.
Europe’s largest charity stream raised a record-breaking $10.3 million in just three days for environmental organizations. Fifty-seven French streamers participated, and the money will go to WWF France, Sea Shepherd France, The SeaCleaners, and more.
