Uplifting News

Our news is biased. It’s biased in the conventional sense, in that certain news sources will have certain ideological biases which may bleed into the phrasing and selection of news, but it’s also biased in a much broader sense. Skim the front page of The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today — take your pick —, and you’ll notice stories covering national tragedies, systematic suffering, struggles, violations of rights, and death. Without freedom of press, we would not be the democracy we are today, and there is no doubt that this kind of news and investigative journalism is absolutely necessary. It’s also no secret that the news can incredibly depressing; humanity’s victories don’t get as much coverage as our failures do. By taking the time to share our successes, we hope to balance the bias of our media sources towards the negative with great things happening all over the world going relatively unnoticed.

The Amazonian Rainforest, Brazil

The newest project of the American nonprofit Conservation International is underway. In the largest tropical reforestation project in the world, they plan to restore 73 million trees over 74,000 acres by 2023, which will considerably offset the painful losses the rainforest has been experiencing, and provide new homes for all previously evicted critters and creatures.

Philadelphia, USA

The power of kindness is bettering lives in Philadelphia. A man who gives haircuts to the homeless was given a barbershop by a complete stranger. “Haircuts 4 the Homeless”, a project started by Brennan Jones, had seen great success, with Jones alone giving more than one thousand free haircuts in the past year alone. However, Jones worried about the sustainability of his project through the winter, where the cold weather threatened the logistics of the operation. Then-stranger Sean Johnson stepped in and bought an entire barbershop for Jones, where he will now be able to continue giving haircuts to the homeless all through the winter months.

Antarctica

In other news, the massive ozone hole over Antarctica is now at its smallest size since 1988, due to human effort to regulate the use of ozone-depleting chemicals and a favorable combination of weather conditions. Scientists predict that it will continue to shrink (albeit slowly), and will reach pre-1980 conditions by 2070.

The United Kingdom

In light of the honeybee’s decline all around the globe due to pesticides, the UK is backing a total ban on all pesticides that harm insects.

Florida, USA

After sorting all dogs at the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando by Hogwarts house instead of breed, the shelter saw a considerable increase in adoptions. Dogs are observed and then sorted according to personality traits and temperament, and those waiting to be sorted reside in the “Pawgwarts” house. PAGO says that the choice to sort by House instead of breed is meant to encourage finding a dog that fits with the owner personality-wise, and to end breed discrimination.