Author: Spirit of Change Site Staff

Good News Headlines 10/16/2023

Cheap, disposable clothing is causing an environmental disaster. Now, the home of haute couture is chipping in for its citizens’ garment repairs. The French government has set up a fund for clothing repairs financed by taxes on manufacturers and retailers in France’s fashion industry.

Good News Headlines 10/9/2023

Gary Batton, Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, sends a greeting from the Choctaw Nation recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day for 2023 along with the rest of the country, as a day to commemorate the history, sovereignty and culture of all Native people.

Good News Headlines 10/2/2023

The Norwegian government has just completed the largest re-wilding project in its history. Polar bears, reindeer, Arctic fox, and many sea birds are now moving back into the Sveagruva mining town.

Good News Headlines 9/25/2023

America gets a new Civilian Climate Corps this week that will put a new generation to work conserving our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, advancing environmental justice, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and tackling climate change.

Good News Headlines 9/18/2023

At the start of this school year, all public schools in New York — from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 — are required to offer two to five minutes of mindful breathing every day to improve mental health. 

Good News Headlines 9/11/2023

A derelict oil tanker off the coast of Yemen had more than a million barrels of crude sitting around, on the verge of leaching into the Red Sea, until one remarkable American crowdfunded to orchestrate the removal of the crumbling ship.

Good News Headlines 9/4/2023

Tā Tipene O’Regan reached down to a large wooden box then slowly lifted the lid. Out shot a takahē: a large, flightless bird, that was believed for decades to be extinct.

Good News Headlines 8/21/2023

Climate advocates expressed hope that an unprecedented ruling by a state judge in Montana, siding with 16 young residents who argued the state violated their constitutional rights by promoting fossil fuel extraction, will mark a change in the outcomes of climate lawsuits.

Good News Headlines 8/14/2023

What's four-legged, furry, and often serves up a quick little mood boost? That's right, a dog. It turns out even short, friendly interactions with canines can be good for our health.

Good News Headlines 8/7/2023

As the Hollywood actors strike continues, some of the industry's biggest names are making their voices heard. SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents thousands of film and television actors, declared a strike starting on July 14.

Good News Headlines 7/31/2023

21 Indigenous visionary leaders from throughout Turtle Island and beyond who are radically transforming Indigenous communities by defending Indigenous lands, waters, and rights; developing solutions for future communities; and revitalizing Indigenous languages, governance practices, ceremonies, and ways of life receive NDN Changemaker Fellows.

Good News Headlines 7/24/2023

Detailed analysis finds that the Vegan diet massively cuts environmental damage leading to 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use than meat-rich ones.

Good News Headlines 7/17/2023

"Groundbreaking," "monumental," and "transformative" were just a few of the words rights advocates used to describe the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's long-awaited approval of over-the-counter use of Opill, a birth control pill.

Good News Headlines 7/10/2023

The Blackfeet Nation set dozens of wild bison loose on tribal land last week, in a historic move to restore a free-ranging herd at a time when the last remaining American buffalo are typically kept enclosed.

Good News Headlines 7/3/2023

The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act has passed in California. It prohibits any person or public agency from importing, exporting, removing, owning, buying or selling western Joshua trees or any of their parts.

Good News Headlines 6/26/2023

Huynh Tieu Huong, whom national media has dubbed ‘Mother Teresa of Vietnam,’ overcame decades of homelessness to help hundreds of orphans and now runs a non-profit organization dedicated to the adoption, support, and free offering of loving kindness to foundlings, orphans, and homeless children.

Good News Headlines 6/19/2023

Whisper it, but the boom in plastic production could come to a shuddering halt as a plastics treaty agreed to this month by the world’s governments could cut production by 80% by 2040.

Good News Headlines 6/12/2023

Filmmaker and cultural anthropologist Gail Myers discusses the making of her documentary, Rhythms of the Land, which preserves the untold stories of Black farmers, the oppressive history of sharecropping, and the power of seed saving.

Good News Headlines 6/5/2023

A unique opportunity for a fixer-upper is coming by way of the US General Services Administration (GSA)—6 historic American lighthouses. Going up this year via public auction, the federal government has a unique way of ensuring lighthouses retain their historic status.

Good News Headlines 5/29/2023

From the majestic whooping crane to the smallest songbird, an iconic American landmark in Missouri is making the skies safer for spring migrating birds who follow the Mississippi River to reach their summer nesting grounds.

Good News Headlines 5/22/2023

The Colorado General Assembly has passed unprecedented and groundbreaking legislation known as The Colorado Wild Horse Project, a new law that adds state protections for the rights of mustangs and burros.

Good News Headlines 5/15/2023

Chief Standing Bear, whose landmark lawsuit in 1879 established that a Native American is a person under the law, is on a new postage stamp. The U.S. Postal Service released a Forever stamp on Friday honoring the Ponca tribe chief.

Good News Headlines 5/8/2023

New York state has passed legislation that will scale up the state’s renewable energy production and signals a major step toward moving utilities out of private hands to become publicly owned.

Good News Headlines 4/24/2023

A ban on dozens of semi-automatic rifles cleared the Washington state Legislature on Wednesday and the governor is expected to sign it into law. The Washington law would cover more than 50 gun models which fire one bullet per trigger pull and automatically reload for a subsequent shot.

Good News Headlines 4/17/2023

The numbers of wild tigers in India has more than doubled from 2010 to 2022. The 2022 count includes at least 3,167 wild tigers, up from 1,411 in 2010. “Concerted efforts from tiger range countries are really encouraging,” Rajesh Gopal, secretary general of Global Tiger Forum, said in a statement.

Good News Headlines 4/10/2023

A two-year study on the interactions of several seabird species at an offshore wind farm found that not a single case of birdstrike was recorded over the study period or in the 10,000 videos taken.

Good News Headlines 4/3/2023

Happy the cow was never destined for greatness, born as he was a bull on a dairy farm. Yet despite his inability to produce milk, Happy had another valuable skill that began working the minute he dropped onto the grass of Barry Coster’s dairy—making people smile.

Good News Headlines 3/29/2023

After three years of extreme drought, the Western U.S. is finally getting a break. Mountain ranges are covered in deep snow, and water reservoirs in many areas are filling up. Many people are looking at the snow and water levels and asking: Is the drought finally over?

Good News Headlines 3/22/2023

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Friday afternoon signed into law a bill to provide breakfast and lunch at no cost to all of the state's roughly 820,000 K-12 pupils regardless of their household income.

Good News Headlines 3/8/2023

When Zandile Ndhlovu started scuba diving in her native South Africa, she was the only black person on the boat. Beneath the surface of the ocean she had discovered the place where she felt most herself – “an incredible world filled with wonder”.

Good News Headlines 3/1/2023

Australia’s Albanese Labor Government has announced its plans to triple the size of the Macquarie Island Marine Park to protect millions of seals, seabirds and penguins in the Southern Ocean.

Good News Headlines 2/22/2023

A privately-funded program to provide basic income to 100 California homeless people aims to study how the cash—plus one-on-one social support—can be potentially life-changing.

Good News Headlines 2/15/2023

Imagine how children feel when they find out that the person preparing to read them a story is the person who wrote it. But just days before the start of Black History Month, the superintendent of Hoover City Schools abruptly canceled the scheduled readings.

Good News Headlines 2/8/2023

Oslo, Norway has announced plans for its transportation system to be fully electric by the end of 2023. Oslo already has a system of electric trains, ferries and trams, along with some buses.

Good News Headlines 2/1/2023

2022 saw major advances, and even victories, as cancer deaths plummet, Guinea worm is eradicated, and we say bye-bye to Ebola — three huge wins for humanity.

Good News Headlines 1/25/2023

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated its regulations on foods labeled “organic” on Thursday, as part of an effort to close loopholes and increase confidence in the agency’s organic seal.

Good News Headlines 1/18/2023

The recent adoption of a landmark agreement to protect 30 per cent of nature by 2030, signed by 196 countries at Cop15 in December, marks a turning point. But how can individuals be true stewards of nature?

Good News Headlines 1/11/2023

Laurier University’s 23-year-old Scotty Creek Research Station had become the first Indigenous-led research station in Canada. The event marked another milestone in a remarkable effort by Indigenous people across Northern Canada to address the impacts of climate change.

Good News Headlines 1/4/2023

Conservationists called on the federal government to stop big cats like Sombra from going extinct in the US by reintroducing jaguars to the region and increasing protections for the animals’ habitat.

Good News Headlines 12/28/2022

What went right in 2022? The top 25 good news stories of the year included seismic shifts in energy policy, major medical advances, animal comebacks, four-day week trials, plus plenty more good news.

Good News Headlines 12/21/2022

The candy darter (Etheostoma osburni), listed as a federally protected endangered species in 2018 and included in WBOY's 2022 list of West Virginia's six "weirdest animals," is a festive-looking fish. And its red-and-green coloration does resemble a candy cane.

Good News Headlines 12/14/2022

Lenox Massachusetts voters killed a proposed wireless communications bylaw. They backed $70 million for a wastewater plant upgrade and a new public safety complex.

Good News Headlines 12/7/2022

A baker in the English town of Guisborough is reviving an ancient tradition to help his neighbors endure high energy costs. “At this time of year, there can be no greater expression of love than baking the family Christmas cake” said Baker Ed.

Good News Headlines 11/30/2022

The humble beaver could hold the key to saving our water, according to new research that found how their dam building skills protect rivers threatened by climate change.

Good News Headlines 11/23/2022

14 year-old Leanne Fan developed Finsen Headphones, a low-cost headphone device that uses machine learning and blue light therapy to detect and treat mid-ear infections in children—potentially preventing up to 60% of hearing loss in children.

Good News Headlines 11/16/2022

I rubbed the dog’s soft neck. He pushed his head into me as his silk-like fur slid through my fingers. This was nothing new for Evan ― he gets pets and scratches all the time. But I hadn’t touched a dog in 19 years. Petting Evan made me emotional.

Good News Headlines 11/2/2022

Homelessness is a problem that plagues many cities and there are so many different approaches to address the issue. Salt Lake City is trying a compassionate approach by building a tiny home village to address its homelessness problem.

Good News Headlines 10/26/2022

United States Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-California) grilled Mike Konczal, the director of Macroeconomic Analysis over the primary cause of inflation. Porter got Konczal to admit that surging corporate profits are forcing American consumers to pay significantly more for goods and services.