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The best good news stories from July
July was filled with so much good news, it’s easy to overlook some of it!
Today, we’re highlighting stories from the past month of Goodnewsletters — to help make sure you catch all the good news you might have missed.
Photo: via National Parks Gallery
An Interior Department policy asked national park visitors to report ‘negative’ content — they complimented rangers instead
Even after funding and staffing cuts, the national parks were hit with a new Interior Department policy: posted signs asked visitors to report not just maintenance needs or service improvements, but “negative” history.
Norway offered residents a $1,000 lottery for recycling, and now 97% of all plastic bottles are returned
People also have the option to choose between a guaranteed refund or the chance to win anywhere from 5 to 100,000 euros, and now, similar programs are being tested in Canada.
Elementary schoolers invented a remote-control ‘orca’ robot to clean up beach trash
When two young entrepreneurs — Aris Isaac and Kaydyn Mack — learned that over 800 species of wildlife are affected by beach pollution across the globe, they wanted to take action.
‘America In One Room’: Study put 200 voters together for days — they changed each other’s minds on hot-button issues
For example, the number of voters favoring a plan to work with other nations to adopt net-zero greenhouse gas emission policies rose from 42 to 55% and support for a national proposal to offer more visas to “low-skilled workers” doubled from 25 to 50%.
Photo: Courtesy of Civil Protection and Fire Department of Acuña, Coahuila/Facebook
A group of first responders from Mexico arrived in Texas to help with flood rescue and recovery efforts
In addition to having extra boots on the ground, the first responders are also providing drones and other technology to help locate Texans who are still missing.
Scientists are developing menstrual pads containing nanotechnology to provide Pap-smear-free cervical cancer screening
While a new at-home, self-testing option was recently approved by the FDA, the Canadian researchers believe science can be doing even more to improve comfort and access to help women feel more comfortable, and therefore, more likely to catch cervical cancer before it spreads.
Sweden became the first country in the world to ensure all egg-laying chickens are cage-free without any laws requiring it
While the country does have stricter legislation when it comes to how many chickens farmers can raise per plot of land, this latest milestone comes on the heels of grassroots activism and public pressure from consumers, not government legislation.
After years of advocacy from a survivor, Texas passed a new law that closes a loophole in the state’s sexual assault laws
House Bill 3073, also known as the Summer Willis Act, was officially signed into law last month, amending that loophole and clarifying the definition of consent.
Following budget cuts and layoffs, national park rangers hosted a bake sale to take on $1.2 billion deficit
The bake sale, which most certainly would not raise those billions of dollars, was more of a symbolic gesture to spread the word about these proposed budget cuts and garner support for public lands.
Scientists hosted ‘science fair of canceled grants’ on Capitol Hill to fight funding cuts
One researcher who traveled from Stillwater, Oklahoma lost his 3-year, $2.7 million project funded by the NSF, which aimed to build STEM careers among college graduates. His grant was canceled weeks before the third and final cohort of nine students was due to arrive at work.
Kids across Texas raised thousands of dollars for flood relief with lemonade stands
A 14-year-old raised $600, 9-year-old twins raised over $5,000, and one kid’s stand even linked to a GoFundMe — which has now surpassed $440,000 in donations — all with 100% of proceeds benefiting campers and families at Camp Mystic.
After decades of conservation efforts, Maryland is now home to one of the biggest populations of bald eagles in the U.S.
A local conservation effort coordinated a two-decade-long nest monitoring program for bald eagles in the state. Their efforts have led to the bald eagle’s population growing by over 250%.
A new UN report found solar power is now 41% cheaper than fossil fuels
Fifteen years ago, solar power was nearly four times the cost of fossil fuel alternatives. Now, according to two new United Nations reports, renewable energy has passed a “positive tipping point,” and in 2024 alone, green energy outpaced fossil fuel investments by $800 billion.
‘Sinners’ became the first film to offer Black American Sign Language through a streaming service
The divergence of BASL and American Sign Language was largely driven by the segregation of schools in the American South throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. And even with desegregation, the style, structure, and syntax of BASL continued and are still practiced today.
A TikToker paid migrant day laborers to join him at a waterpark for the day — and his followers gave them $20K more
Jesús Morales has been supporting street vendors, day laborers, and housekeepers in his community for the past three years, paying them to take the day off and join him on viral outings, or buying out their street carts so they can take a week off.
Thanks to the canine companion in the ‘Superman’ film, interest in dog adoption skyrocketed 500%
Krypto is a key character in the latest “Superman” installment, and while he’s created with CGI for the film, he was inspired by the director’s own rescue dog, Ozu.
Atlanta became the latest city to adopt a “cool roofs” program to combat urban heat
Experts say cool roofs are a simple, relatively cheap, and effective way to save people from extreme heat by significantly reducing temperatures not just in a building, but in the surrounding urban environment.
1,000 dogs volunteer for first-ever ‘canine-citizen science’ study, sniffing out invasive species
Professional detection dogs do this with high accuracy, but there are not nearly enough of them to tackle the mounting concern of invasive species like the spotted lanternfly.
Scientists invented a ‘living’ concrete that heals its own cracks with sunlight
Despite being the most widely used building material on Earth, cracks in concrete — big or small — can lead to catastrophic structural issues, even leading to the collapse of a building, bridge, or highway.
An Indigenous-designed mural doubles as a giant solar power generator, reducing 150 tons of CO2 emissions annually
The installation is retrofitted on an existing building, constructed in the 1970s, and rather than demolishing it, the building’s owner upgraded it entirely — and covered it in the world’s largest solar panel mural.
Three-footed turtle given ‘new wheels’ after museum staff gifts him a handmade LEGO harness
Most of the time, Root enjoys resting in his woodchip-filled enclosure and swimming in his tank, but three times a week, the turtle takes walks through a museum — and staff noticed that Root’s injury caused him to scrape the underside of his shell as he walked.
New “Hero Gum” is making it easier than ever to find a match for people in need of a stem cell transplant
Every year, 20,000 Americans need a stem cell transplant, but only 30% find a match within their family — the other 70% rely on donor registries, one of which could dramatically expand its donor pool through this new, easy, accessible method that relies on a wad of chewed gum.
More than 100 volunteers pulled 4,000 pounds of trash and 128 ‘ghost traps’ from Tampa Bay’s waters
A local nonprofit hosted a four-hour cleanup competition that involved 109 volunteers in boats, kayaks, wave runners, and on the beach looking for traps and other trash.