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The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —

The Democratic Republic of Congo is creating the Earth’s largest protected tropical forest reserve

Stretching across six countries, the Congo Basin is the largest and healthiest tropical forest carbon sink in the world — around 60% of it is located in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Along with partners, the DRC government announced a new model of “green” economic development, conservation, and peacebuilding through a new “green corridor.”

The new model will protect an area the size of France from growing threats to the basin like monocrop plantations, industrial meat farming, deforestation, and the impacts of the climate crisis.

Why is this good news? Home to 10,000 unique species (a third found nowhere else on the planet) and providing livelihoods to 60 million people, the Congo Basin also sequesters 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 annually and its peat swamp stores 29 billion tons of carbon — about three years worth of global greenhouse gas emissions.

This move in the DRC preserves the Congo Basin’s functionality as a carbon sink — benefiting both locals and the whole world.

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California is building a ‘one-of-a-kind’ homeless campus: It’s costly, but a ‘heck of a lot cheaper than letting someone stay unsheltered’

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YouTube creators and celebrities raised over $1 million for LA wildfire relief

On Friday, YouTube stars The Try Guys hosted a fundraising livestream to support five organizations on the ground helping people impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires.

Before the event even aired, fundraising totals reached over $1 million, with $10,000 more donated within the first 15 minutes of the stream.

Funds raised will be divided among five charities and guests included in the livestream include creators and celebrities such as Ben Schwartz, Jason Segel, Jean Smart, Ke Huy Quan, Alyssa Milano, and many more.

Along with direct donations, viewers could bid on auction items, as well as shop merchandise that benefits the on-the-ground organizations.

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Organ donations are at a record high in New England — and one of them saved an 8-year-old’s life

With an 80% increase since 2020, the number of people donating organs in New England is at a record high. With 648 donors, there were a total of 1,570 transplants across the region in 2024.

One transplant in Maine was for an 8-year-old girl, Emily, whose lungs were failing. She and her family waited for seven months for another family “to make the hardest decision on their darkest day.”

Emily got her transplant and is one beneficiary of the generosity of New Englanders who choose to become organ donors — and the skill of doctors who perform the life-saving procedures.

Be the good: Encouraging others to become organ donors, Emily’s mom said, “If you have the opportunity where your loved one or you're making the decision for your loved one, to be that for somebody else, it is the best gift you could give anybody.”

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A Dutch fashion designer invented a snowsuit-turned-sleeping bag to help homeless folks keep warm

Dutch fashion designer Bas Timmer was designing luxury outerwear when he learned a friend’s father had died from hypothermia while sleeping outside, he immediately felt a disconnect between his work and the reality so many people face.

And he wanted to help. Pulling together the jackets he was already working on — and an old sleeping bag and tent — in five hours, he made the first prototype of what became the Sheltersuit.​

Now, over a decade later, The Sheltersuit Foundation provides vital warming supplies to people experiencing homelessness across Europe, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States.

They’re not “a replacement for finding a home but a supplement to when you have no other choice,” Timmer says.

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Researchers at Stanford developed a molecule that tricks cancer cells into self-destructing through genetic editing

Overcoming a major challenge with existing cancer treatments, researchers at Stanford just developed a new technique that uses a cancer tumor’s ability to rapidly evolve against it.

Instead of introducing new drugs or targets, their technique involves “switches” which enable engineered cells to outnumber cancer cells and then release a toxin that kills both the engineered and existing cancer cells.

So far, they’ve tested it with the most common form of lung cancer and are working to test it with other types of cancer.

Why is this good news? Currently, to overcome the resistance some cancer cells develop to survive treatments, doctors will use a combination of drugs to attack the cells in different ways. This kind of approach is especially limited for hard-to-treat cancers ​— so this new breakthrough is critical.

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Instead of a new jail, Los Angeles built a shipping container housing complex for homeless residents

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New technology is helping volunteers in Denver who shovel snow for their neighbors in need

For years, volunteers with the Denver Snow Angels Program have anonymously shoveled sidewalks for their neighbors in need who are physically unable to.

Now, their efforts are getting a boost thanks to new technology that automatically pairs people in need with a volunteer who lives close by.

The automated process allows volunteers to view a list of addresses in need, mark them as “in progress” when they get started, as well as note when the shoveling job is done.

The new technology is helping streamline the help — allowing more volunteers and people in need to connect.

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After securing $950 million in funding, New York is getting its largest solar farm — and it’s set to come online next year

A clean energy investment company secured $950 million to build New York’s largest solar farm, which will sit on 2,500 acres east of Buffalo.

Construction has already begun on the massive project, and when completed and online in 2026, it’s expected to generate enough energy to power around 120,000 households in the state every year.

It’s part of a larger statewide goal of sourcing at least 70% of all its energy from renewable sources by 2030. This project is one of 23 larger clean energy projects approved by the state. Currently, it has enough solar capacity to power more than 1 million homes in the state.

Why is this good news? This is another massive step the state is taking to not only reach its clean energy goals — but to do its part to move the country toward an emissions-free future, which will ultimately help limit global warming, save lives, and result in cleaner air and healthier communities.

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Solar and wind capacity are being installed five times faster than all other new electricity sources combined

The “fastest energy change in history,” new solar power generation capacity around the world was installed 100 times faster than nuclear capacity — new wind, 25 times faster.

That’s from a new report from the International Solar Energy Society, which also detailed how electricity generation from coal and gas has not only been stagnant since 2001, it likely peaked in 2023.

If current growth rates continue, it predicts that by 2032, there will be more global solar and wind generation than coal and gas — combined.

It found that “almost all growth in electricity demand is being met by solar and wind” — and the two are being installed five times faster than all other new electricity sources combined.

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Startups are turning empty office buildings into vertical farms in cities around the world

Canada’s iconic Calgary Tower is now home to a 65,000-square-foot vertical indoor farm, producing crops like strawberries, kale, and cucumber. Similar farms have popped up in Japan, Singapore, and Dubai.

On vertical indoor farms, foods can grow in climate-controlled environments, which is doubly important in light of severe weather events intensified by climate change impacting weather patterns and crop yields.

In places like the U.S., where the office vacancy rate is more than 20%, farms are a solution for landlords who need to fill space. One is in the works in Texas, another opened in Ohio, and there’s now a 200,000-square-foot farm inside a former commercial building in Kentucky.

Why is this good news? The indoor farming movement has been (pardon the pun) growing for years, but when the pandemic disrupted global supply chains, it heightened the need for new, local solutions. And now, the pandemic has also resulted in as many as one in four office spaces left vacant in some cities. Indoor farming offers a solution to both problems.

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Using upcycled Carhartt fabric and car insulation, water-resistant coats transform into sleeping bags for homeless folks (and they’re manufactured by formerly homeless folks, too)

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More good news of the week —

​Outperforming expectations, solar provided more power than coal to EU countries for the first time in 2024. Moving “faster than anyone could have hoped for” solar generated 11% of EU electricity in 2024, overtaking the dirtiest fossil fuel.

​After three decades of wrongful conviction, Scott Minton was exonerated in Tennessee. Despite there being no physical evidence as well as 18 alibi witnesses and time-stamped receipts from multiple stores putting him in a different county, Minton spent over 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

​A court in Spain just ruled that single parents should get as much paid leave as couples. The decision is the first to stem from a November ruling by Spain’s constitutional court that barred discrimination against children born into single-parent families.

​A bipartisan coalition of 24 U.S. governors pledged to continue the country’s work toward achieving Paris Agreement goals. Representing nearly 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of the nation’s population, Alliance members pledged to reduce collective greenhouse gas emissions by 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, a target it is on track to achieve.

​Trained dogs are working in hospitals to help healthcare staff struggling with burnout. Sometimes spending entire shifts with doctors and nurses, the dogs are kept away from allergic patients and washed regularly to prevent germs from spreading, and people must wash their hands before and after petting them.

​A new rideshare service exclusively for women is now available in Las Vegas. After having negative experiences of her own with rideshares, founder Megan Hjelle founded Alegna to provide a friendly, secure, and affordable option for women who need to get around.

​To help bring greater transparency for victims, statewide tracking of rape kits is now required by law in New Jersey. The measure passed unanimously and requires the state attorney general to create an online system where victims, law enforcement, and health care and laboratory workers can track the kits through the chain of custody, from collection to results.

​Breakthrough drugs are bringing in a “new era” of treatment for dementia and Alzheimer’s. An estimated 50 million people live with dementia globally, more than two-thirds of them in low- and middle-income countries, so it’s essential the new treatment options are equitably accessible throughout the world, too.

​The European Union is sending €60 million in humanitarian aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo. As the crisis has escalated around Goma, with 800,000 people internally displaced, the assistance will cover shelter, clean water systems, food rations or cash transfers, and educational support for vulnerable children.

​Collaborations between nonprofits, police departments, and local governments, cities across the U.S. are experimenting with ID programs to help residents access basic services. For immigrants, the unhoused, and others, not having an ID means you can’t open a bank account, you can’t drive, and you may hesitate to report crimes to law enforcement.

​Researchers at Washington State University created a plant-based substitute made from pine for plastic foams. The innovation could lead to more environmentally friendly versions of foams used ubiquitously in products such as kitchen sponges, foam cushions, coatings, adhesives, packaging, and insulation.

​Experts are celebrating the revival of a rare butterfly species 50 years after it disappeared. In England, chequered skippers died out in 1976 because of changes in woodland management — now, they’re thriving thanks to a successful breeding and reintroduction program.

​The U.K. and Scottish governments launched a “skills passport” to help fossil fuel workers transition to clean energy jobs. Research has found that around 90 percent of these workers have skills relevant to the clean energy transition, and ensuring they aren’t left behind is critical.

​A kabaddi club is helping Indian girls find new opportunities and become financially independent as they get older. An Indian contact sport, kabaddi is now played in more than 50 countries across the world and is offering young girls in India the opportunity to escape a restricted, rural life.

​A new study found a critical ocean current that helps regulate the Earth’s climate and weather has not declined in the last 60 years. Scientists have feared that as the climate continuously changes and the atmosphere warms, fresh water from melting polar ice sheets could significantly disrupt — or collapse — the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation — it hasn’t yet.