Good News, Planet Earth! - JanuFebMarch 2020

There will always be a balance between good and bad.  What may seem bad now will inspire good that’s yet to come.  It’s a challenging time to be alive, but challenge leads to growth.  I believe having hope is crucial for creating a better tomorrow, so I’m starting “Good News, Planet Earth!” as a reminder that there’s always good news to be thankful for.  

Thousands of Aussies Are Heartened by Photos of Charred Landscapes Already Recovering From Bushfires

By McKinley Corbley – Jan 8, 2020

Photo : Alexandre Benard – Koala Hospital Port Macquarie

• Australian photographer Murray Lowe, along with others, documented fresh new plant life growing out of areas that were blackened and charred by wildfires only a month prior

• Lowe is selling his photos and donating all proceeds to wildfire relief efforts

• These photos inspired some relief and hope for those feeling the pain and loss of life experienced in these forests

This Good News of regrowth demonstrates the resilience of life, providing the important reminder that beautiful environments destroyed by human activity are capable of recovering and thriving once again.

Trillions of Dollars Now Being Leveraged to Protect the Earth, Thanks to World’s Largest Asset Manager

By Andy Corbley – Apr 6, 2020

Photo : Fink in 2010 – Wilson Center, CC license

• Larry Fink, CEO and chairman of the world’s largest asset management company and controller of trillions of dollars, informed the CEO’s of companies he invests in that climate change will now be the main focus of what he invests in

• Climate change will have a significant and lasting impact on economic prosperity and growth, and awareness of this is growing rapidly by those focused on finance

• Companies will be required to disclose any risks and how they could operate within the limits that would keep warming under 2 degrees C°

• Coal production or utilization, which often already costs 50-100% more than maintaining and manufacturing renewables, will be dropped from their portfolios

• While governments have less interest in reducing climate change than those in finance, those with financial power can force governments and companies to make more responsible decisions for our planet’s health

This Good News shows how investing companies and financial planners are increasingly moving away from supporting those harming our future in an effort to bring sustainable economic health, which is interconnected with improving the health to our world.

Happy 60th Birthday to Madagascar! World’s Most Biodiverse Island Gets Gift of 60 Million Trees

By Good News Network – Mar 29, 2020

Photo : Lemur – Mobile Library Project

• The nation of Madagascar celebrated its 60th birthday with its largest ever tree-planting ceremony, planting a million seedlings in just a few hours

• The country is preparing to plant 60 million trees for the benefit of future generations, with President Andy Rajoelina encouraging everyone to protect the rainforest and environment

• The president was elected after promising to “Make Madagascar Green Again”

• This publicized event was made possible through months of hard work by schools, government ministries, NGOs, and even Madagascar’s army uniting for the common good

• Guards will be recruited by the state to protect and monitor the young plantlings

• Madagascar’s indigenous communities inspired, educated, and trained the government and rural communities to see themselves as forest protectors

• Fast-growing fruit and spice trees are being included to improve the economic wellbeing of Madagascar, helping them move away from their reliance on deforestation

This Good News shows how a uniquely biodiverse nation that had fallen victim to deforestation is learning from past mistakes and coming together in an attempt to sustainably improve the wellbeing of animal, plant, and human life in their forests.

The Guys Who Sell Ocean Plastic Bracelets Are Closing in on 8 Million Pounds of Waste Pulled From the Sea

By Andy Corbley – Feb 2, 2020

Photo : 4Ocean

• 4Ocean, a Public Benefit Corporation that promises to pull a pound of trash from the ocean for each product sold, has taken 8 million pounds of trash out of the sea

• They’re expanding their cleanup operations into Central America and working with local communities around the world to change plastic consumption habits, stopping plastic pollution at its source

• Boyan Slat, a young Dutch engineer, is also collecting shipping containers full of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and stopping trash from entering the ocean in Malaysia and Jakarta

This Good News shows how we are developing the ability to remove non-biodegradable plastic from the ocean, giving hope that, once all of the plastic we use in our daily lives is safely biodegradable, much of our past and current mistakes against our ocean can be reconciled.

Want to Help Bees? Leave the Dandelions Alone This Spring

By Andy Corbley – Feb 8, 2020

Photo : David Poe, CC license

• Ecologists are encouraging people to learn to love weeds in order to help dwindling honeybee populations

• Keeping dandelions and buttercups in our yards, for example, can directly help insects, plants, and birds, improving biodiversity and environmental health

• Anything we can do to be more pollinator-friendly, from gardening to buying certain potted plants to leaving weeds in peace, will help support the health of our local ecology and all that we rely on to survive and thrive

• Plants with nectar and pollen parts that aren’t covered by pedals, such as dandelions, are perfect for helping pollinators

• Plenty of scientific evidence shows how acting kindly towards nature will repay us many times over through a wide variety of physical and psychological benefits

This Good News reminds us of how easy it can be to protect and save our local ecology simply by being mindful of the benefits that the life growing around us has to offer.