Good News for the Environment

Sustainable stories of progress for the planet

Hair Stylists Are Using Hair Clippings to Clean Up Oil Spills

In 1989, Phil McCrory, a hair stylist in Huntsville, Alabama, was watching CNN coverage of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska while washing a client’s hair in his salon. He wondered... what if human hair could be used to clean up oil spills?
Read More
Marie Kondo smiling at two tall black men dressed in flannel

Sparking Joy: How to Ethically and Sustainably Get Rid of Your Stuff

Marie Kondo's new series is arriving on Netflix. With many of us accumulating piles of things to get rid of, we want to highlight some responsible ways you can tidy your home while minimizing waste and giving back.
Read More

Cleaning Up Rivers Is Saving the Oceans

When an architecture student’s dazzling ocean cleanup concept fizzled, she started thinking smaller — and tackled the problem at the source.
Read More
Greta Thunberg

We Need Help': Thunberg's Movement Makes Plea to Rescue Afghan Climate Activists

The climate activists have been trying to get the names and details of Afghan campaigners and their families onto evacuation lists, but eight days after their first calls for help, there has been no response.
Read More
Environmentally friendly, ethically sourced, wedding ring in a sustainable box

How to Plan a Wedding That’s Ethical, Environmentally Friendly, and Gives Back

Here are some ways to make sure your wedding is perfectly you, while also being ethical, environmentally friendly, and serving a greater purpose.
Read More
View of tree from below

The World Has More Trees Than It Did 35 Years Ago

This might come as a surprise: Worldwide tree cover has grown — not shrunk! — by 2.24 million square kilometers — the size of Texas and Alaska combined — in the last 35 years, according to a paper in the science journal “Nature.”
Read More
Two photos of Female Firefighters

Female 'Firies' Are Fighting Flames and Stereotypes in Australia

Her mother, grandma, and sister-in-law all fight fires, and she expects her baby daughter will become a firefighter, too.
Read More
Greta Thunberg

Celebrating Three Years of Greta Thunberg's Activism: 'There's Still Time to Change Our Climate Future'

As the Swedish teenager marks the third anniversary of her first solo climate strike, here's how she built the global "Fridays for Future" movement...
Read More

Boise Is Tapping Into Free, Sustainable Energy - and Other Cities Could Follow Suit

Boise’s system is entirely renewable. It requires no fossil fuels, and because the water is constantly recycled in the aquifer, the system sustains itself. It is also relatively cheap to operate. Gunnerson says that his annual budget to heat all the buildings is about $750,000.
Read More

Tree-Free Paper Is Saving Forests and Farmers in Washington State

Columbia Straw Supply works with local balers to buy up all that leftover wheat straw, which Columbia Pulp turns into pulp for paper products, giving farmers a new stream of revenue — and pushing the paper industry in a more sustainable direction.
Read More

Ending Subsidies That Harm Nature Could Create Millions of Green Jobs, WWF Says

In a report, WWF examined the potential impact on employment of channeling into greener activities the annual $500 billion governments now put into damaging subsidies that support things like fossil fuels, over-fishing, and unsustainable agriculture.
Read More

U.S. Climate Spending Could Help Rural Communities Embrace Green Shift

Steering billions of dollars in climate-related federal spending to rural parts of the United States would generate a substantial return on investment, researchers said Wednesday, urging policy-makers to seek regional equity in the clean energy transition.
Read More