{"id":198496,"date":"2026-01-29T08:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/good-news-stories-that-will-brighten-your-day-readers-digest-canada\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T08:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:02:12","slug":"good-news-stories-that-will-brighten-your-day-readers-digest-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/good-news-stories-that-will-brighten-your-day-readers-digest-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Good News Stories That Will Brighten Your Day – Reader's Digest Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Home<\/a> <\/span> Culture<\/a><\/span>
We’ve rounded up the most heartwarming and inspirational good news stories from around the world.<\/p>\n

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bahrudin bahrudin \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
Linda Groocock was out running errands in Digby, Nova Scotia, last November when she spotted an unusual sight off the coast: 16 Atlantic white-sided dolphins had become beached. Figuring they didn\u2019t have a lot of time\u2014dolphins can survive out of water for only about six hours\u2014Groocock quickly got in touch with the Halifax-based Marine Animal Response Society (MARS), as well as some friends who individually contacted the local fisheries department and posted about the dolphins on a community Facebook page.
MARS personnel were too far away to get to the dolphins in time, so they enlisted Digby\u2019s volunteer fire department to help coordinate the response. Soon, about 40 locals who had seen the news online arrived on the scene and waded into the mud flats. Then they carefully moved the dolphins to tarps or sleds and gently hauled them back to the water. It wasn\u2019t long before each dolphin was safely back in the sea, swimming with its podmates.\u00a0\u2014Patricia Karounos<\/em><\/p>\n

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Courtesy Curb Free With Cory Lee<\/span><\/span>
For 33-year-old American travel blogger Cory Lee<\/a>, it used to be easier to explore Antarctica than some of the nearby parks and beaches in his home state of Georgia. Using a wheelchair once meant that rugged hiking trails were off-limits, but that\u2019s no longer the case. All-terrain power wheelchairs are now available at state parks in Georgia, as well as in Colorado and Michigan. The wheels and treads on each Action Trackchair<\/a> allow people with mobility issues to traverse rocky trails, sandy beaches and uneven terrain. They\u2019re even powerful enough to make steep uphill climbs. As Lee told CNN, \u201cIt\u2019ll open up a whole new world for me and for other wheelchair users.\u201d
With its densely populated communities, Brazil struggles with outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases like Zika virus, chikungunya and dengue fever. The World Mosquito Program<\/a> (WMP) hopes to change that by using the Wolbachia method\u2014and it\u2019s enlisting school kids to help.
Wolbachia is a type of harmless bacteria found in up to half of insect species and research has shown it helps reduce disease transmission. The project raises mosquitoes with Wolbachia and then releases them into communities, where they mate and produce offspring carrying the bacteria.
In 2022, the WMP\u2019s Brazil chapter teamed up with 17 public schools in the central-western city of Campo Grande. About 1,600 students were provided with kits to raise an estimated 2.5 million Wolbachia mosquitoes over 16 weeks. The children also learned about proper mosquito safety.
\u201cIt isn\u2019t the whole solution,\u201d says Luciano Andrade Moreira, who leads WMP operations in Brazil. \u201cAlong with vaccines and insecticides, Wolbachia mosquitoes are one more tool.\u201d
The program is showing results elsewhere in the world. For example, a study in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, found a 77 percent reduction in dengue cases in Wolbachia-treated regions.\u00a0\u2014Patricia Karounos<\/em><\/p>\n

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absolutimages \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
Project Lifesaver<\/a>, founded in the U.S. state of Virginia in 1999, is a non-profit organization that helps find wandering individuals, such as those with dementia or other cognitive conditions. Participants wear frequency-emitting wristbands\u2014a technology often more reliable than GPS.
Earlier this year, the program made its 4,000th rescue, quickly finding a seven-year-old boy with autism who had wandered away from his Indiana home during the winter.
Today, there are more than 1,700 Project Lifesaver-certified agencies in the U.S. and Canada that can locate wanderers in an average of 30 minutes.\u00a0\u2014Patricia Karounos<\/em>
Learn how to spot the early signs of dementia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Debu55y \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
Although Iraq was once the world\u2019s leading producer of dates, years of war and drought resulted in the destruction of half of the country\u2019s roughly 30 million date-palm trees.
Labeeb Kashif Al-Gitta, co-founder of agri-tech company Nakhla, is working to revive the iconic tree. For an annual subscription, Nakhla tends to residents\u2019 mature trees, so they can hopefully bear fruit once again.
Nakhla launched in 2018, and as of 2022 the company cared for more than 14,000 date palms, with hopes to reach 50,000 by the end of 2023.\u00a0\u2014Patricia Karounos<\/em><\/p>\n

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Instagram.com\/adailycloud<\/span><\/span>
On a cloudy day, most people see just that\u2014clouds. But Dublin-based artist Chris Judge has seen a bear, a dog and much more. In 2020, Judge began sharing his cloud art on his Instagram account, A Daily Cloud<\/a>. Using an app, he draws lines around the edges of clouds, transforming them into whimsical characters he now shares with more than 429,000 followers. \u201cThere are certain times in the day when the sun hits the clouds and makes them look huge and three-dimensional,\u201d he told People<\/em>. \u201cAnd after a rainstorm, clouds always seem to look incredible.\u201d Judge also accepts fan submissions\u2014encouraging others to look up, lest they miss out on something amazing.
Despite suffering sieges, massacres and displacement because of the Russian invasion, Ukrainians have defied expectations and put up a strong fight. The same can be said for the hard-working team at Bakehouse in Kyiv.
When war first broke out, the bakery\u2019s chef and owner, Anna Makievska, left the country with her two young children. Her employees, however, refused to close shop. Not only are the people behind Bakehouse still operating the business, but they have been giving away up to 1,000 loaves of bread every day since the beginning of the conflict to soldiers, seniors and hospital workers.
Their kindness has inspired others: When English sourdough-bread baker Andrew Green heard about Bakehouse\u2019s story, he enlisted other chefs to donate recipes for a charity cookbook, Knead Peace<\/em><\/a>. Proceeds from the project go to the Disasters Emergency Committee\u2019s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal<\/a>.
Though she\u2019s currently based in Portugal to be near family members, Makievska is still helping keep Bakehouse running. For the team, these loaves are more than just food; they are something good being created in the face of war and suffering. \u201cAnd we will continue to bake them for as long as our country needs them,\u201d says Makievska. \u2014Robert Liwanag<\/em>
In a region of Australia where few Indigenous rangers are women, the Queensland Indigenous Women\u2019s Ranger Network<\/a> (QIWRN) is proof that female Indigenous rangers can succeed in a male-dominated field.
Created in 2018, the initiative combines ancient knowledge with modern tools to monitor forest fires, land degradation and the Great Barrier Reef. It also provides a forum for female rangers to share experiences and ideas.
To date, QIWRN has trained more than 60 women. And the initiative is getting noticed: Last December, Prince William and David Attenborough\u2019s Earthshot Prize<\/a> awarded $1.6 million to QIWRN for its work in protecting the Great Barrier Reef.\u00a0\u2014Robert Liwanag<\/em>
As one of the hottest and driest places on the planet, Dubai, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, must import nearly all of its produce. Until now, that is.
ECO 1 is the world\u2019s largest indoor vertical farm. Located southwest of Dubai, the 30,000-square-metre facility grows lettuce, spinach, kale, arugula and other veggies. Even better? It uses 95 percent less water than traditional farms\u2014and no pesticides are required.
All told, ECO 1 can churn out more than one million kilograms of produce every year, and it might just make reliance on food imports a thing of the past in Dubai.\u00a0\u2014Robert Liwanag<\/em><\/p>\n

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Mike Vande Ven Jr \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
Because of high prices and soaring demand, scoring a ticket to the latest West End show in London, U.K., may seem like a luxury. That\u2019s why Cardboard Citizens<\/a>, a London company that has been producing theatre shows with and for homeless people for more than 25 years, is now offering complimentary theatre tickets to families who rely on food banks or charities for support.
Renowned institutions like the Barbican, Roundhouse and National Theatre are participating in the initiative. \u201cAccess to art and culture is essential to the human condition,\u201d says Chris Sonnex, the charity\u2019s artistic director. \u201cThe project will give many people the opportunity to be entertained, to see other worlds, to escape and, most importantly, to dream.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Robert Liwanag<\/em>
Last year, students at a school in Gostivar, North Macedonia, received quite a surprise when the country\u2019s leader showed up just before roll call.
After President Stevo Pendarovski found out that 11-year-old Embla Ademi, who has Down syndrome, was being teased by classmates and isolated from other children by teachers, he took matters into his own hands. The president, who took office in 2019, visited the family before school, offered Ademi some gifts and then walked with her, at times hand in hand, to school.
In a country where more than half of people believe that children with disabilities cannot be fully integrated into society and 81 percent believe that children with disabilities should be segregated in schools, the president\u2019s act was significant.
Pendarovski\u2019s office issued a statement that said children with atypical development \u201cshould not only enjoy the rights they deserve, but also feel equal and welcome at their school desks and in the schoolyard. It is our obligation as a state, but also as individuals, and the key element in this common mission is empathy.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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afad tuncay \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
In 2022, major floods in Pakistan killed more than 1,700 people after monsoon rains and glacial melting. Thirty-three million people were displaced and many are still living in dire circumstances, threatened by diseases, poverty and lack of shelter.
To deal with the latter, Yasmeen Lari of Karachi, Pakistan\u2019s first female architect and a co-founder of the social and cultural advocacy organization Heritage Foundation of Pakistan<\/a>, has been working to distribute easy-to-assemble bamboo huts. The one-room structures are three-and-a-half metres squared and can sleep up to five people.
Lari, who is in her 80s, has a zero-carbon campus in the nearby town of Makli, where trained female artisans work in teams to make up to eight of the huts per day. She hopes to train others around the country, and the world, to do the same, expanding the reach of the relief program.\u00a0\u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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ESB Professional \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
In the United Kingdom, a local plumber from Burnley, a town north of Manchester, is helping low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities save on energy costs as prices around the world soar.
After hearing about a customer who got swindled by a plumbing company for the cost of a boiler retrofit, James Anderson was inspired to create Disabled and Elderly Plumbing and Heating Emergency Repair (Depher<\/a>) to provide free or discounted services to the people who need them most.
He has now expanded beyond Burnley; Depher has helped more than 19,000 people across the U.K. by providing services that are financed by Anderson\u2019s profits from jobs for other clients, as well as donations.
\u201cWhatever someone in a vulnerable situation needs, if they can\u2019t find help elsewhere they turn to us for a solution,\u201d he says. \u201cWe can\u2019t just sit back\u2014for some people it\u2019s a matter of life and death.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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steve estvanik \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
India has historically had a high poverty rate, which as of late 2022 was defined as living on less than US$2.15 a day. But there are other ways to define poverty. That\u2019s why the United Nations Development Program and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative measure multidimensional poverty\u2014things like health, education and the standard of living.
A 2022 report from the two groups was promising. It showed that 415 million people in India had gotten out of multidimensional poverty in the span of about 15 years. At the start of the study, in 2005-06, the incidence of multidimensional poverty in the country was 55.1 percent. By 2019-21, it had fallen to 16.4 percent.
The drop is due in part to India\u2019s efforts in sustainability, providing skills training to women and youth and increasing services to vulnerable communities.\u00a0\u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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doromonic \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
Mexico\u2019s first long-distance hiking and cycling trail has just opened in the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula. It passes through former Spanish estates (now reclaimed to tell Maya history), sacred freshwater sinkholes and various archeological sites, taking you on a tour of where the first Maya cities were built almost 3,000 years ago.
The Camino del Mayab<\/strong><\/a> is a little more than 100 kilometres long. It takes about five days to walk, and passes through 14 Maya communities. The people who live in those communities helped to develop the trail.
Local wildlife includes the turquoise-coloured motmot bird and several types of iguanas. Visitors can also stop in at restaurants offering Maya cuisine or stay in a thatched-roof cabana. \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em>
Explore more of the world’s best hikes<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Tanja Schnitzler, Courtesy of Bikeygees<\/span><\/span>
\u201cIt\u2019s like riding a bike\u201d is a common refrain when you want to remind someone that it\u2019s hard to forget a basic skill. But what if you didn\u2019t know how to ride a bike?
This was something that Annette Kr\u00fcger, an avid cyclist, saw was true for many women, including refugees, who\u2019d moved to Berlin. Whether they weren\u2019t allowed\u2014or didn\u2019t have the opportunity\u2014to learn, these women had never experienced the health benefits and independence that cycling offers.
That is why, seven years ago, Kr\u00fcger started Bikeygees<\/strong><\/a>, a non-profit focused on teaching women to ride a bike. The group meets for two hours every month and for training sessions throughout the week. Advanced riders can borrow bikes and helmets for free to practise on their own.
More than 500 bikes have been donated so far, and Kr\u00fcger says the goal is to eventually provide all participants with their own bike. To date, the group has taught more than 1,400 women and has met in more than 20 locations within Germany, including in emergency shelters.
Participants have said that riding a bike allows them not only freedom of movement\u2014some of the women use them to bring their children to school\u2014but also hope for the future.
Kr\u00fcger says that she can see the impact that concentrating on a new skill has for the women. \u201cWe can\u2019t replace what someone lost in their life, but we can offer something new.\u201d \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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Thanakorn.P \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
Gyms can be intimidating places at the best of times, but this can be particularly true if you have a disability or are elderly. That\u2019s why former pro cricket player and powerlifting athlete Javeno Mclean opened a gym to cater specifically to this crowd.
At his J7 Community Health Centre<\/strong><\/a> in Manchester, United Kingdom, he is working with 15 children living with disabilities\u2014some have cerebral palsy, others use a wheelchair\u2014and about 30 older adults. His goal is to help them improve their fitness, gain more independence in their daily tasks and build up their physical and mental strength.
In an interview, Mclean said that training at his gym helps his clients increase their range of movement and, more importantly, gives them the confidence to try new things long after they\u2019ve exited his health centre. \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em>
Here are 10 easy exercises to keep fit<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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lego 19861111 \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
How do you find a single whale in a body of water that has a surface area close to the size of Italy? What if that species is at risk of extinction, with only 336 left in the world? These are the questions that scientists are dealing with as they study the North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
It turns out that the answers could come from outer space. To address the challenge of trying to locate the animals in order to protect them (scientists still don\u2019t know the whales\u2019 specific migration routes into and out of Canadian waters), researchers at the University of Ottawa have started using satellite imagery<\/strong><\/a> to identify individual whales from space.
That work will likely help conservation experts track the elusive mammals, which also face the dangers of being hit by passing ships or getting tangled up in fishing gear. Knowing the endangered whales\u2019 migration routes could one day lead to the creation of alternative, and safer, shipping routes that avoid these areas. \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em>
Check out more Canadian contributions to the exploration of space<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Yassah Nupolu Lavelah<\/span><\/span>
Women giving birth in a public hospital in Liberia are required to bring with them essential items\u2014including bleach, diapers and menstrual pads\u2014to help make the delivery safer for themselves, their baby and the staff.
Why? The heavily strained Liberian health-care system remains severely underfunded following more than a decade of civil wars and an Ebola outbreak. But the policy of not admitting women who don\u2019t have their own supplies only increases the country\u2019s already-high death rates among newborns and new mothers.
Yassah Lavelah, a nurse and researcher from Liberia\u2019s capital, Monrovia, decided to investigate the issue further while completing graduate studies in global health delivery at Harvard. Women told her that, despite the risk, a home birth was their preference\u2014with one of the main reasons being that they couldn\u2019t afford to buy the required items for a hospital birth.
So, in 2021, Lavelah created Comfort Closet<\/a><\/strong>, a project to supply pregnant women with everything they need to be admitted to hospital. She\u2019s now working with a collaborator to raise money for two more Comfort Closets in other Liberian communities.
\u201cGiving birth shouldn\u2019t be a death sentence for women only because they can\u2019t afford it.\u201d \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Global Vision 2020<\/span><\/span>
In many parts of the world, access to glasses, let alone an optometrist, is severely limited. This is something that Kevin White, a now-retired marine, noticed in 2005 while observing a humanitarian mission in Morocco.
The United States Air Force had set up an optometry clinic, which included giving away donated eyeglasses. White watched as one woman was prescribed a pair, only to decline to wear them based on the style.
\u201cI thought, there needs to be a better way for us to get people wearing glasses,\u201d he says.
But at that time, there were no programs that embraced the idea that glasses were both a medical necessity and a fashion accessory. A style that the user likes makes it more probable that they will wear them.
So White launched Global Vision 2020<\/a><\/strong>, collaborating with experts at Johns Hopkins University and the New England College of Optometry to create the USee Vision Kit, an easy-to-use diagnostic kit.
It works like this: using a simple eye chart, aid workers help children and adults determine whether they need glasses. If they do, they then put on the USee device\u2014which looks like a pair of glasses\u2014and turn the dials until they see clearly out of both eyes. The numbers on the dials indicate their prescription and corresponding lens.
All that\u2019s left to do is pick a frame colour and snap in the correct lenses. White says that while they currently offer Wayfarer-style frames that suit the majority of faces, they\u2019re hoping to offer more frame styles in the future.
To date, more than 200,000 people in 65 countries have benefited from the program, and eventually White wants to see that \u201ceverybody, regardless of geography, can get screened for a pair of glasses.\u201d \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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Karlos Garciapons \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
Alley-Oops indoor skate park<\/strong><\/a> in Birtinya, north of Brisbane, Australia, is helping people of all ages and abilities experience the thrill of skateboarding and scootering.
The park is open to everyone but there\u2019s also an accessible option. Skaters are strapped into a harness attached to a custom-built frame on wheels. With this, they get to try rails, jumps and pipes with help from someone who pushes the frame through the different elements in the park.
Former owner David King says that he often saw youths with physical limitations sitting on the sidelines of other skate parks. He wanted to create something more inclusive.
The park\u2019s new owners, Lauren and Chris Hignett, continue to find ways to improve the frames. They also offer \u201cquiet sessions\u201d for people with autism spectrum disorder or sensory disorders who might find the usual sounds of a skate park too loud. \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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slowmotiongli \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
After 17 years of living in an aquarium on South Korea\u2019s Jeju Island, Bibong, an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, was released into the wild in October last year.
He had lived in captivity, where he performed for visitors, since 2005. Bibong was the last of eight dolphins from different Korean aquariums to be freed; the others were released between 2013 and 2017. Dolphins don\u2019t thrive in captivity\u2014the smart and social animals can get anxious, depressed and bored when they\u2019re kept in enclosures.
To make sure he would be prepared for life in the wild, Bibong spent 70 days learning to swim in the ocean, interacting with other wild dolphins and dealing with strong currents. Before his release, Bibong was fitted with a tracking device to allow government staff to check on him. \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Carie Broecker<\/span><\/span>
Carie Broecker, a lifelong animal lover, had already worked on the board of an animal rescue organization in Pacific Grove, California, for 12 years when she found herself taking care of a dog for an elderly woman who had emphysema.
The woman had been worried about what would happen to her dog, Savannah, and was comforted whenever Broecker brought the pup over to visit. After the woman\u2019s death, Broecker ended up adopting Savannah.
This experience inspired Broecker. She decided to open a dog rescue non-profit dedicated to taking care of dogs belonging to people who were dying or going into assisted living facilities. The organization would offer both short-term foster arrangements and full adoptions.
She asked a former colleague, Monica Rua, to work with her. Rua agreed to help and suggested they also take in senior dogs from shelters, who are often bypassed.
To date, Peace of Mind Dog Rescue<\/strong><\/a> has helped thousands of dogs and seniors with everything from temporary fostering during medical procedures to financial assistance for pet care and rehoming dogs whose owners have died.
\u201cSometimes a person\u2019s only source of love is their pet,\u201d says Rua. \u201cSo anything we can do to keep an owner and their dog together is meaningful.\u201d \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em>
These are the best dogs for apartment living<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy General Drones<\/span><\/span>
Every year, around 263,000 people worldwide die by drowning. And while we may think that a drowning person thrashes about and waves for help, real-life drownings often happen quickly and silently.
Adri\u00e1n Plazas, a former lifeguard, knows this all too well. Several years ago, he and his business partner, Enrique Fern\u00e1ndez, witnessed a woman drowning, and despite acting quickly, they were unable to save her. This experience was life-altering for Plazas.
The industrial engineer is now CEO of General Drones<\/strong><\/a>, a Spanish company he founded with Fern\u00e1ndez, who works in drone manufacturing. The two combined their knowledge to create a search-and-rescue drone that can help prevent drowning.
If a lifeguard notices a person in distress in the water, they can notify a drone pilot, who\u2019s also at the beach and can send the drone out directly to the victim. The pilot locates the victim with the help of a camera attached to the drone, which can reach them in just a few seconds.
This is important, says Plazas, because \u201cthe lifeguards have more time to arrive.\u201d The drone then drops a life vest (which automatically inflates when it touches the water) to the victim while lifeguards are en route. By hovering above the victim, the drone helps the lifeguard quickly locate the person who is struggling in the water.
Though the project started in 2015, Plazas says it took time to get from a prototype to a finished product. \u201cIt was important to design something specifically for the beach because it\u2019s a tough environment. You have the humidity, the sun, the high wind,\u201d he says.
To date, their drones have attended more than 60 emergencies, and have been deployed at 22 beaches in Spain. He\u2019s hoping that more investments and attention will help them expand their services to other countries. \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: A_B_C \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
Everyone knows that when there\u2019s an emergency, you dial 911. But what if you\u2019re having a mental health crisis? A 2020 CBC investigation showed that 68 per cent<\/strong><\/a> of people killed in police encounters in Canada have suffered from mental health or addiction issues (or both).
This is part of why, later this year, Canada is introducing a new emergency number to help people experiencing mental health crises and provide suicide prevention support. When it launches, 988<\/strong><\/a> will be available countrywide, and advocates hope the number will provide people in crisis with an easy way to access help either by phone or text. \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em><\/p>\n

\t\"Reading \t<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Photo: Dmitriev Mikhail \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/span>
In the Mediterranean city of Tartus, Syria, Mohamed Zaher spends his time manning a kiosk called Wisdom Seller, which invites passersby to stop and read from the more than 2,000 books that line its walls. To encourage visitors to stick around, anyone who reads at least 15 pages of a book gets a free coffee. The 32-year-old veteran is encouraging his fellow Syrians to get back into reading after the war made certain luxuries, including printed books, unaffordable for many of its citizens.
Zaher says reading was \u201ctherapeutic\u201d for him during his time in battle. To keep the kiosk going, he depends on funding from affluent local citizens\u2014but everyone is encouraged to come by. He estimates that more than 20,000 visitors of all ages have stopped by his stall since its opening. \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em>
Find out why you should always read before bed<\/strong><\/a>.
In Tel Aviv, summer temperatures reach the low 30s and sunlight shines down on the city for about 11 hours a day. So its residents are no strangers to hot weather. And with temperatures around the world projected to continue rising as a result of climate change, it\u2019s not going to get any easier to find respite from the heat. But where some people see problems, industrial and product designer Anai Green sees opportunity.
In 2019, she had the idea to combine her city\u2019s need for shade during the day with the chance to harness the sun for lighting at night. So she created Lumiweave<\/strong><\/a>, a fabric embedded with solar panels that catches up to 99.5 per cent of sunlight radiation but also stores solar power, which acts as street lighting in the evening. The fabric can be customized for any city\u2019s needs, whether fitted on a frame, like an umbrella, or hooked between buildings.
When asked about the motivation behind her design, Green says she wanted to change the way people experience their environment. \u201cI took very basic issues and combined them.\u201d \u2014Tina Knezevic<\/em>
United States <\/strong><\/em>| Take a walk through the community of Strawberry Mansion in northern Philadelphia and you might think you\u2019ve stepped into a scene from the Old West\u2014except in these streets, Black cowhands ride their horses alongside cars and trucks. The area, which was the setting for the 2020 film Concrete Cowboy<\/em> starring Idris Elba, has been home to stables for more than 100 years but, since the 1980s, it has also been a haven for youth looking to escape gang violence.
Known throughout the neighbourhood as \u201cEl-Dog,\u201d 83-year-old Ellis Ferrell Jr. runs the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club<\/strong><\/a> (FSURC). Though iterations of the club have existed since the 1970s, FSURC was officially founded as a non-profit in 2004 and is funded mainly through private donations\u2014it has raised more than $350,000 through crowdfunding.
The club keeps 15 horses and instructs young people from the area how to ride, train and care for the animals, while also teaching life skills such as teamwork and self-discipline. \u201cThe kids stay out of trouble because they\u2019re always here with the horses,\u201d Ferrell says. \u201cThey don\u2019t have time to get into trouble.\u201d
He estimates that more than 100 youths have been a part of the club and says that some have gone on to become firefighters, police officers and, in one case, a jockey. \u201cThey\u2019ve become like a family,\u201d he says. \u201cTaking care of the horses teaches them respect for other people and for themselves.\u201d \u2014Robert Liwanag<\/em>
Canada<\/strong><\/em> | Greater Sudbury in northern Ontario was once one of the largest producers of nickel on the planet, but the 2008 global financial crisis and dwindling reserves led to a sharp decline in output. The area\u2019s nickel mining was also notorious for causing air pollution and was even at one time the largest source of sulphur dioxide in the world.
For more than 40 years, however, the city has embraced a very different pursuit: tree-planting. Since 1978, nearly 13,000 volunteers have transformed roughly 3,400 out of 80,000 hectares of barren landscapes\u2014the devastating result of nearly a century\u2019s worth of mining and smelting\u2014into thriving greenery. Last July, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and primatologist Jane Goodall helped plant the project\u2019s 10-millionth tree.
Thanks to the re-greening effort, Greater Sudbury now boasts some of the cleanest air in Ontario, and there\u2019s hope it can inspire other municipalities to follow suit. \u2014Robert Liwanag<\/em>
United Kingdom <\/em><\/strong>| More than 1.5 million adults in Great Britain report having a stammer, according to a survey<\/strong><\/a> by the British Stammering Association (STAMMA). Of that number, around 70 per cent of British adults try to hide it by choosing their words more carefully or speaking less. The stigma attached to the disorder can often lead to low self-esteem and social isolation for the people it affects; to help combat that, the organization is transforming the public\u2019s perception of stammering.
Since 2018, STAMMA has launched a series of awareness campaigns. One such campaign, \u201cNo Diversity Without Disfluency,\u201d calls for broadcast media to feature more people who stammer.
\u201cIt is time to end the zero visibility of stammering,\u201d said Jane Powell, CEO of STAMMA. \u201cUntil we hear and see people who stammer in the media, people will continue to respond inappropriately.\u201d The organization has already collaborated with one radio show to hire a broadcaster with a stammer. \u2014Robert Liwanag<\/em>
Jordan <\/strong><\/em>| Built around the belief that everyone has a right to tell their own stories, an organization in Jordan is hosting mindfulness, creative writing and public-speaking workshops for more than 1,500 refugees. The sessions, which have also been held in cities across Turkey, Lebanon and Germany, are hosted by #MeWe International<\/strong><\/a>. The non-profit was founded in 2014 and helps participants work through severe trauma brought on by discrimination and, in many cases, violence.
According to New York-based founder Mohsin Mohi Ud Din, the key to the workshops is that they are taught by other refugees, creating a unique community that\u2019s \u201cfor the people, by the people.\u201d
The results are compelling, he says: participants have reported reduced aggression and improved communication skills. At the end of the sessions, they\u2019re invited to tell their stories through theatre productions, book projects and the like. \u2014Robert Liwanag<\/em>
Kenya<\/strong><\/em> | In rural Kenya, 4,000 students across 10 schools are busy sharpening their computer skills on refurbished machines. They learn everything from basic typing to coding to robotics, and even take part in remote tutorials with NASA scientists. Before participating in these classes, however, very few of the students even knew what a computer was.
The project, TechLit Africa<\/strong><\/a>, is the brainchild of Nelly Cheboi,a 29-year-old software engineer who grew up in poverty in the Kenyan village of Mogotio. In 2012, she received a full scholarship to attend college in Illinois, where she discovered a love for computer science. Upon returning to Kenya after graduation, she founded her own school, Zawadi, which became a launching pad for TechLit. Her organization now works with American colleges and businesses to source the recycled computers.
For Cheboi, TechLit is about more than just giving children a pastime: she hopes the students will use their newfound skills to find professional opportunities.
\u201cIf all you have is your small village, then your thinking is small,\u201d Cheboi says. \u201cBut once you come to the Internet, you become global\u2014and by being global, you can help the world.\u201d \u2014Robert Liwanag<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Netherlands<\/strong><\/em> | They didn\u2019t get badges or uniforms, but they did receive a generous meal allowance. Near Amsterdam\u2019s Schiphol Airport, 20 pigs joined a six-week pilot program designed to reduce the number of goose strikes at the busy international hub. The pigs were allowed to settle in a two-hectare sugar-beet field between two of the airport\u2019s runways. The hope was they\u2019d eat up any plant life that appeals to geese and, by their presence, would intimidate other birds in the area, too.
Collisions between birds and aircraft are a nagging problem in aviation\u2014in 2020, there were 150 avian strikes at Schiphol\u2014and these incidents can have serious consequences. Fortunately, the pig patrol appears to have been a success: no bird strikes were recorded during their stay. The airport is currently assessing whether to make the pigs a permanent feature of its overall safety program. \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em>
Canada<\/strong><\/em> | There are few things rarer than pristine wilderness. This is true in Canada, which according to Global Forest Watch ranks third in the world for forest cover loss. It\u2019s what makes the recent donation of a forested island within a freshwater glacial lake in Quebec so worthy of celebration.
Last fall, Montreal businessman Andrew Howick donated 26 hectares\u2014the equivalent of 24 soccer fields\u2014of richly forested Molson Island to the Nature Conservancy of Canada. He first began buying up parts of the island in the 1990s as a way of protecting aquatic birds and rare, diverse plant life. The donation of the island\u2014made possible by tax incentives for such land donations\u2014means it will escape development and thrive for decades to come. \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Philippines<\/strong><\/em> | Last May, during a fire at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, two nurses made sure no one was left behind in their fourth floor neonatal intensive care unit. Kathrina Bianca Macababbad was bathing one of the unit\u2019s babies just after midnight when she heard that a fire had broken out on the floor below. As the flames raged, she and fellow nurse Jomar Mallari made multiple trips in and out of the building with their charges. The biggest challenge was rescuing premature babies who were intubated and dependent on ventilators to breathe. Holding the babies in one arm while manually ventilating them with the other hand, the nurses managed to get all 35 of their tiny patients to safety. \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
England<\/strong><\/em> | Poverty brings with it many challenges, not the least of which can be the strain of sorting through clothing donation bins, on a mission to find the right-sized wardrobes for you and your family. Believing that female refugees deserve more than a bag of random castoffs, Sol Escobar, a Cambridge educator and a volunteer at migrant refugee camps, had a novel solution. In 2020, she created Give Your Best<\/strong><\/a>, an online \u201cshopping\u201d site that allows women to choose from an array of donated clothing posted by volunteers. All of the clothing is free and can be \u201cshopped\u201d on the site\u2019s Instagram page. Once selected, the items are shipped for free within the United Kingdom. Since its launch, more than 700 women seeking asylum or with precarious immigration status have claimed 7,500 items. \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of Pier Paolo Spinazze<\/span><\/span>
Italy<\/strong><\/em> | The number of reported hate crimes has steadily increased in Italy since 2014, fuelled by incendiary populist politicians reacting to an influx of refugees and migrants. In Verona, Pier Paolo Spinazze, a street artist who goes by the name Cibo<\/strong><\/a> (Italian for \u201cfood\u201d), is being celebrated for his creative countermeasures. \u201cVerona is beautiful,\u201d says Spinazze, \u201cbut it has a big problem with the far right.\u201d Whenever he encounters swastikas and other racist graffiti, he paints over them with colourful depictions of his favourite foodstuffs, from cupcakes to pizza.
His art has two positive effects. The extremists often spray-paint over Spinazze\u2019s cheerful food pictures, but he simply re-paints over their hateful messages again, and they usually give up. The other positive improvement: his paintings are awakening Verona\u2019s citizens to the seriousness of the problem. \u201cBefore I started this, people were so used to seeing those messages, they didn\u2019t really see them at all. Now people start to see and understand.\u201d
To Spinazze, food is a natural corrective to hate. It represents a language that connects people and cultures. \u201cFood is about union and sharing,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are all equal around a table\u2014everybody eats.\u201d \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em>
Find out how a Canadian charity is using art to fight homelessness<\/strong><\/a>.
Morocco<\/em><\/strong> | As a child in Tangier in the late 1970s, Salima Kadaoui made it her personal mission to save strays from animal control. At eight years old, she volunteered at an animal charity and saw firsthand how the city\u2019s lack of vaccination, neutering and spaying programs only exacerbated the challenging situation. \u201cI would go home and cry and say this is unacceptable,\u201d she says. \u201cI promised myself that I would change my country and that promise stayed with me.\u201d
In 2012, after raising her family in the United Kingdom, she returned to Morocco to care for an ailing parent. She also made good on her childhood vow, founding the Sanctuaire de la faune de Tanger<\/strong><\/a>. Located just outside Tangier, it\u2019s currently home to more than 450 dogs, 100 cats, 48 donkeys, two wild boars, an ape, two storks and a mule, among other small creatures. The sanctuary, which receives its funding from donations, is run by 14 employees, half of whom were once homeless and now live on site. They collect stray animals, get them neutered and vaccinated, and bring them back to the sanctuary.
Caring for dogs takes up much of their time. There are an estimated three million stray dogs in Morocco today. In Kadaoui\u2019s assessment, poverty and cultural beliefs often set the country\u2019s stray animals and residents against one another. To date, she and her team have treated, neutered and vaccinated more than 3,000 dogs.
During the pandemic, they also delivered food and essentials to both the city\u2019s homeless population and its starving strays. Kadaoui believes her work has ultimately helped people feel more sympathy for animals. \u201cIt connected their plights,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd now more people care.\u201d \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of Veronica Robles<\/span><\/span>
United States <\/em><\/strong>| Boston, a city synonymous with Irish-American culture, is also home to more than 130,000 Latino residents, who make up nearly 20 per cent of the city\u2019s population. When professional mariachi performer Veronica Robles decided to settle there with her husband 22 years ago, however, she noticed that the Latino community suffered from the effects of cultural dislocation. Every day, they also encountered racist stereotypes about Latin-American culture.
\u201cThey were afraid or ashamed of saying they were Latino,\u201d says Robles, who was born in Mexico City. To help Latino immigrants reclaim their sense of self and a connection to their cultural heritage, the couple began offering night classes in the art, music and dance of Central and Latin America at a school cafeteria.
Then, in 2013, Robles and her husband, using their own money, opened a dedicated facility. At the Veronica Robles Cultural Center<\/strong><\/a>, they offer everything from flamenco to capoeira classes. Robles estimates the centre has so far hosted more than 5,000 students. Over the years, she\u2019s seen her students, who range from children to seniors, develop a better sense of themselves\u2014and even feel more comfortable in their new home.
\u201cThey\u2019re more confident, they\u2019re more educated and they\u2019re more eager to learn English,\u201d she says. \u201cSome who are undocumented try to find a way to adjust their status. They are looking to stay here.\u201d \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em>
Spain<\/strong><\/em> | The push is on around the globe to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and break our collective reliance on fossil fuels. To encourage greener forms of getting around, many countries are offering rebates on electric cars. The city of Barcelona, however, is offering up a trade: lose the gas guzzler and ride public transit for free. People who trade in or get rid of cars that don\u2019t meet environmental specs are given a free transit pass that lasts for three years. The approach isn\u2019t just environmentally sound, it\u2019s cost-effective for residents. And it may significantly reduce the stress of car ownership, too. \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Canada<\/strong><\/em> | An estimated 60 killer whales are being kept in captivity at large marine parks and sea aquariums. Soon, some of them will experience the joys of retirement. North America\u2019s first wild refuge for captive orcas (potentially beluga whales, too) aims to open its 40-hectare coastal location in Port Hilford, a small town near Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, by early 2023. (The operation\u2019s headquarters and visitor\u2019s centre are already complete.)
The refuge, which will contain underwater nets to keep the whales free but still contained, has a depth of 16 metres and provides the whales with 150 times more space than they\u2019ve known in captivity. After passing the environmental-assessment stage, the site will one day welcome six to eight whales into its waters. \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em>
Kenya<\/strong><\/em> | As a child growing up in Nairobi City, the astronomer Susan Murabana didn\u2019t get much encouragement to look to the stars. The solar system wasn\u2019t a big part of her school\u2019s curriculum.
Her disappointment turned to wonder in her early 20s, when she encountered her first telescope and spotted Saturn and its icy rings. \u201cSeeing something I had only read about in a textbook, it made me realize how small we really are.\u201d
In 2014, Murabana, now married, bought a telescope with her husband. Inspired by how studying space had opened up her life, the couple decided to give kids the same experience. They called their program The Travelling Telescope<\/strong><\/a>, and circle around Kenya bringing astronomy education and a portable planetarium to schools and communities. So far, they\u2019ve met with 300,000 children in the process.
Kids can\u2019t resist the lure of the telescope and the opportunity it offers to see the moon (a favourite) up close, as well as stars and planets. Murabana says the telescope is the main attraction wherever they go. In January 2021, the visiting musical artist Madonna booked a private session for her family. Murabana watched the pop star\u2019s face light up with the same sense of wonder.
\u201cIt\u2019s a way of reminding people about the universe that sits just above their heads, and that they remain an intrinsic part of,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s there, but we forget to look up.\u201d \u2014Flannery Dean<\/em>
United Kingdom<\/strong><\/em> | For the 70 per cent of the world\u2019s population without access to electric washing machines, simply keeping up with laundry is a time-consuming, often painful physical task. The burden falls disproportionately to women and girls, who can spend 20 hours a week hand-scrubbing clothes, often without electricity or running water. London engineer Navjot Sawhney, however, has come up with an off-grid solution: a portable, lightweight and hand crank-powered washing machine that resembles a plastic drum. It also does double duty as a dryer, and costs around $60.
The 31-year-old Sawhney calls it the Divya, after the woman who inspired the project\u2014his former next-door neighbour in South India, where he spent a year volunteering after leaving his job as an engineer at high-end vacuum maker Dyson. \u201cWhen I got to know Divya, I was so frustrated by all the unpaid labour she needed to do for the sake of clean clothes,\u201d says Sawhney. He returned to the United Kingdom to found the Washing Machine Project in 2018. After a few months developing a prototype, he received a grant from Oxfam\u2019s Iraq Response Innovation Lab.
Since March 2019, more than 150 Divyas have been distributed to refugees in Iraq through non-profit partners. \u201cThe feedback was overwhelmingly positive,\u201d Sawhney says. His goal is to deliver 8,000 machines in 10 countries over the next three years. By saving 75 per cent of the time and 50 per cent of the water required to wash clothes, he says, women and girls will be freer to pursue education.
Aside from the Divya, Sawhney has also worked on making clean and fuel-efficient cookstoves, and plans to develop off-grid refrigerators, air conditioners and lighting. Sawhney, whose father had to flee his home during the Partition of India in 1947, sees the world\u2019s growing refugee crisis as an urgent call for innovation: \u201cThere is a huge need for appliances that make life better for people.\u201d \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: facebook.com\/anthillcreations<\/span><\/span>
India<\/strong><\/em> | In and around more than a dozen cities in India, brightly coloured caterpillars, octopi and elephants have begun appearing in empty lots, much to the joy of local children. Built from old tires and industrial waste like scrap metal and ropes, these climbers, jungle gyms and swings are low-cost, sustainable play spaces created by Bangalore\u2019s Anthill Creations<\/strong><\/a>. A new playground can be built in just five days for around $2,500, a fraction of the cost of a standard playground.
The project\u2019s CEO, Pooja Rai, a trained architect, was inspired to found Anthill Creations in 2014 after watching children at an orphanage play with broken pipes and flip-flops\u2014far from a luxury, play is a human right, she realized. Reusing some of the 100 million tires discarded in India every year also helps the environment, reducing the air pollution created by tire burning. Each tire is carefully cleaned, inspected and painted before being repurposed in the 300 playgrounds Anthill has so far built across India.
Rai aims to work with governments, corporate donors and Anthill\u2019s team of about 30 active volunteers to make cities more child-friendly, converting empty lots into playful community spaces. \u201cChildren come up with hundreds of different games exploring their creativity, and there is something new every time they play,\u201d Rai says. \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Germany<\/strong><\/em> | Looking for a long-term relationship with someone single, lonely and a little on the furry side? Your next date could be with an adorable dog or cat\u2014all you have to do is swipe right. Faced with an influx of animals who had been adopted during lockdowns and then surrendered when owners returned to work, the Munich Animal Welfare Association teamed up with an advertising agency to create \u201cdating\u201d profiles for 15 adoptable pets on the popular app Tinder. Complete with professional photos and a bio that includes likes and dislikes\u2014Captain Kirk, for example, a two-year-old black and white cat, enjoys cuddles but not small children\u2014the pet profiles have received an overwhelming number of right swipes, says the shelter. After being screened, prospective adopters can arrange a meet-and-greet with their new match at the shelter. \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em>
These pet adoption stories<\/strong><\/a> will warm your heart!<\/p>\n

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Photo: Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Canada<\/strong><\/em> | One-quarter of young women in Canada say they can\u2019t afford period products like pads and tampons, and, according to a United Nations report from 2014, one in 10 youth worldwide have missed school because of their menstrual cycle. The Ontario government plans to ease this burden through a new partnership with Shoppers Drug Mart, which will distribute 18 million free pads in washroom dispensers at all public schools in the province over the next three years. The fourth Canadian province to take such an initiative, Ontario\u2019s plan is part of a global movement to end \u201cperiod poverty,\u201d where stigma and lack of access to menstrual hygiene supplies have negative consequences for education, employment and health, causing absenteeism, anxiety and depression. \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em>
Canada<\/strong><\/em> | Imagine a city that grows most of its food on its very own rooftops, where tomatoes ripen on the vine year-round\u2014even in the dead of winter. That\u2019s the idea behind Lufa Farms<\/strong><\/a>, which operates four rooftop greenhouses in and around Montreal and delivers more than 25,000 fresh-picked vegetable baskets to its customers every week.
Founded in 2009 by Mohamed Hage and Lauren Rathmell, Lufa sprouted from the idea that urban farming could grow crops where people live, without using any new land, and deliver food without the carbon footprint of long-distance transportation. (In Canada, 92 per cent of imported produce travels more than 1,500 kilometres.) \u201cWhen you buy a tomato in the winter, you\u2019re probably getting one that\u2019s been trucked in from California or Mexico,\u201d says Rathmell. \u201cWe deliver ours right to you the day after they\u2019re picked.\u201d
Hydroponic technology helps Lufa\u2019s greenhouses operate sustainably, recycling about 90 per cent of the water used by the plants. In lieu of pesticides, ladybugs and parasitic wasps devour aphids and other pests. Using residual heat from the buildings below, each farm requires half the energy of greenhouses on the ground. Meanwhile, the company\u2019s programmers keep operations nimble with greenhouse automation. Software manages delivery logistics while allowing customers to tailor their own baskets, choosing from 50 varieties of fruits and vegetables, plus other items, like bread and cheese from local producers.
Lufa Farms is one of many similar urban-farming projects around the world, with commercial greenhouses and gardens springing up in places like London, Paris and New York. Analysts predict city-grown crops could eventually make up 10 per cent of the global food supply. \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of Maria Andrejczyk<\/span><\/span>
Poland<\/strong><\/em> | When Maria Andrejczyk captured the silver in javelin at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, it was a triumph over the odds. Having missed a medal at the 2016 Rio Games with a toss that was just two centimetres short, she overcame shoulder surgery in 2017 and a bone-cancer diagnosis in 2018 to compete again.
So when the 25-year-old Andrejczyk heard about a fundraiser for an eight-month-old boy, Miloszek Malysa, who was born with a serious heart defect, she was inspired to help a fellow Pole beat the odds, too. His family needed US$380,000 for a life-saving operation that would be performed in Barcelona. They had already raised half from their own campaign, and Miloszek was running out of time. \u201cIt didn\u2019t take me long to decide,\u201d said Andrejczyk, who chose to auction off her medal for the remaining funds. The winning bid of over US$125,000 came from Polish supermarket chain Zabka, which later told Andrejczyk to keep her medal. \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em>
Discover all the ways the Olympics changed Canada<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Panksvatouny\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Sweden<\/strong><\/em> | When companies burn coal to produce steel, they spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere\u2014an estimated seven to nine per cent of all direct emissions from fossil fuels. That\u2019s 2.6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide\u2014more than the combined mass of all animals on Earth.
But one Swedish steel company has figured out how to make steel without coal. Stockholm\u2019s SSAB recently announced that it has produced the world\u2019s first fossil fuel\u2013free steel, using hydrogen and electricity from renewable energy sources. Automakers Volvo and Mercedes-Benz have signed up for the first deliveries, and SSAB hopes to be able to produce the steel on an industrial scale by 2026. \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em>
China<\/strong><\/em> | It took more than two decades, 500,000 kilometres, 10 motorcycles and a few broken bones, but Guo Gangtang\u2019s search for his son finally ended last July. Xinzhen disappeared in 1997, at age two.
In China, an estimated 20,000 children are kidnapped every year and often sold into adoption. Guo criss-crossed the country on a motorbike while flying a flag with his son\u2019s picture on it. Once found, police used a photo database and DNA testing to confirm the identity of Guo\u2019s son, now a teacher. A man and a woman were arrested for abduction, having sold Xinzhen to a child-trafficking ring that delivered him to his adoptive parents. \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of Fionn Ferreira<\/span><\/span>
Ireland<\/strong><\/em> | Growing up kayaking around the southwest coast of Ireland, 20-year-old Fionn Ferreira saw the devastating effects of ocean pollution first-hand. Shocked by the amount of plastic littering the shores, he began learning more about the estimated 300 million tonnes of plastic waste humans produce every year. The most dangerous form of plastic, Ferreira discovered, is the kind you can\u2019t see\u2014microplastics, tiny fragments that can end up inside fish and our bodies. We ingest five grams of microplastics every week\u2014about the equivalent of a credit card\u2014from the food we eat and the water we drink. Even more microscopic plastic particles are shed from carpets and synthetic textiles.
After noticing that oil-spill residue on the beach attracted plastic particles, Ferreira set out to design a device that used ferrofluid, a type of magnetic liquid, to remove microplastics from drinking water. In 2019, his prototype\u2014which removed 87 per cent of microplastics from a water sample\u2014won him the grand prize at the Google Science Fair.
Now a chemistry student at the University of Groningen, Ferreira is working with an Ohio-based company to fine-tune his invention for use in homes and potentially in wastewater-treatment plants too. \u201cI love the process of inventing and doing things for the planet,\u201d he says, \u201cand there are many more ideas in the pipeline.\u201d \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of Italian School of Water Rescue Dogs<\/span><\/span>
Italy\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>| Move over PAW Patrol<\/em> and make way for the Italian School of Water Rescue Dogs. The Milan organization has been patrolling Italian beaches for more than 30 years, with about 400 fully trained and certified \u201clifedogs\u201d\u2014Newfoundlands, primarily, but also Labrador retrievers and German shepherds\u2014who save about 30 lives a year.
Founder Ferruccio Pilenga, a 61-year-old former photographer and volunteer with Italy\u2019s civil protection service, began operations with his own Newfoundland dog, Mas. Pilenga and Mas saved several lives during the first few years, working closely with the Coast Guard, military and police to rescue sailors, divers and swimmers up and down the Italian coast.
Pilenga uses the \u201cdolphin system,\u201d in which a handler holds onto the dog\u2019s harness as the dog swims out to the person in distress. Over the years, Pilenga incorporated various watercraft and helicopters into his missions, and began to train other canines.
Volunteers can apply with their own pooch, but the training is arduous and takes at least a full year. Dogs are taught how to leap into the water from helicopters and rescue boats, as well as patented survival techniques. Newfoundlands and other water dogs are especially good at this work, Pilenga says, because of their power, water-resistant coats and ability to navigate currents.
\u201cIf I intervene alone,\u201d he says of lifesaving, \u201cI am alone. If I intervene with a dog, I\u2019m a rescue team.\u201d Currently working alongside another Newfoundland named Reef, Pilenga has provided demonstrations and education to rescue services in the United States, Germany and Switzerland. \u2014By Jason McBride<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Thomas Hagenau\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Norway<\/strong><\/em> |\u00a0<\/strong>With many countries around the world abandoning fossil fuels for renewable sources, what are countries to do with the now-toxic landscapes left behind? Norway has one very good idea. It\u2019s turning the country\u2019s last Arctic coal mine, located on the Svalbard archipelago between Norway and the North Pole, into a nearly 3,000-square-kilometre natural park. (The decades-old mine ceased operation in 2019.) Svalbard was already of vital ecological importance: 20 million birds nest on the islands during the late summer, while about 3,000 polar bears use its sea ice as prime hunting grounds. Now, the new Van Mijenfjorden National Park\u2014named for one of Svalbard\u2019s largest fjords\u2014will unify this wilderness and, over time, return it to a pristine and well-managed state. \u2014By Jason McBride<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: vtwinpixel\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Canada<\/strong><\/em> | In 2018, a Halifax youth worker, 33-year-old Alvero Wiggins, was diagnosed with kidney failure. Unable to work and anxiously awaiting a transplant, the father of four soon had no choice but to move his family into run-down public housing. Sarah MacLaren, one of Wiggins\u2019s co-workers, was appalled by the situation and organized a GoFundMe campaign to help buy him a home. That fundraiser brought in several thousand dollars and also drew the attention of a kind-hearted real estate agent, Brenda MacKenzie, who was waiting on her own kidney transplant. With additional funds raised by lawyers, tradespeople and MacKenzie\u2019s housing charity, the thrilled Wiggins family took possession of a four-bedroom townhouse this past spring. MacLaren referred to it as a \u201cmiracle house,\u201d but it was a miracle made possible thanks to guardian angels like herself. \u2014By Jason McBride<\/em><\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of Remade<\/span><\/span>
Scotland <\/strong><\/em>| Fast fashion, same-day shipping and planned obsolescence\u2014nowadays, we expect things to be delivered quickly but don\u2019t expect them to last. The United Kingdom, for example, generated 222 million tonnes of waste in 2018. But a grassroots operation in Glasgow called Remade, founded by former environmental activist Sophie Unwin, aims to alter that thinking. Handy technicians at its three locations help residents mend, repair and reuse everything from laptops to lamps, jeans to jumpers. (The fees are modest\u2014repairing a broken extension cable costs $10 CAD, for instance.) Customers can also buy refurbished computers and other gadgets, or, through workshops, learn how to repair and restore their own items. In a throwaway world, Remade is a keeper. \u2014By Jason McBride<\/em>
Don’t miss these other proven strategies to save money<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtesy of Terence Crowster<\/span><\/span>
Terence Crowster, a development worker, has long helped disadvantaged youth in the hardscrabble, crime-ridden Cape Town neighbourhood of Scottsville. At various high schools, he helped create, among other things, valuable skill-development, anti-bullying and leadership programs. But it\u2019s the new libraries he\u2019s built out of repurposed shipping containers\u2014with donations and second-hand books solicited through Facebook\u2014that have truly transformed the neighbourhood. The first of these, which opened in 2017, was dubbed the Hot-Spot Library, a reference to both its location at the border of an area fought over by two rival gangs and its aim to be a helpful resource to youth in the area.
Despite the dangerous postal code, the library has flourished, becoming as much a safe space as an academic one. In its first year, its membership grew to 750 young people. Its shelves are now stocked with more than 2,000 books, and educational programming is offered six days a week. Last July, Crowster opened an additional branch in the adjoining Scottsdene neighbourhood, with future branches and libraries-on-wheels planned for elsewhere in Cape Town.
Crowster sees the libraries as part of a larger movement towards social justice in the city: \u201cIf this can inspire more people to stand up and do their part, then I have done my job towards changing our community.\u201d \u2014By Jason McBride<\/em>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\"Ambulance \t<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Photo: Courtesy of Ambulance for Monuments<\/span><\/span>
Romania<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>| The architect Eugen Vaida grew up during a tumultuous time in Romania: after decades of communist dictatorship, a bumpy transition to a free market society left citizens economically desperate. When he was 16 in the mid-\u201990s, he witnessed fleets of cars, filled with antique furniture, ceramics and traditional costumes, leaving the country to be sold in the West. Outraged at this pillaging of the country\u2019s heritage, he and his brother later began to collect or purchase whatever valuable objects they could find.
Now, Vaida has greatly expanded this mission, turning it into his life\u2019s work. In 2016, he founded the Ambulance for Monuments, starting with a truck, loaded with tools, that roamed Romania repairing neglected historical buildings and monuments with the help of volunteers. Five years later, Vaida has seven trucks, 500 volunteers and has saved 60 structures, including medieval churches, ancient windmills and castles. Various sponsors, including Prince Charles\u2019s educational charity, the Prince\u2019s Foundation, help bankroll the project, but local communities also donate food and housing to volunteers, and their governments (which usually own the structures) supply construction materials.
\u201cIt works similarly to an emergency medical intervention,\u201d Vaida says. \u201cThere is an ambulance that comes on-site, assesses the damage, stabilizes the patient, and then the patient is ready for treatment.\u201d The end result is heritage rescued from oblivion, but also renewed interest in Romania\u2019s history. Vaida estimates there are still about 600 monuments in Romania that need help, but he would love to see his efforts reproduced in other countries as well. \u2014By Jason McBride<\/em>
Want to green-up your own routine? Here are 50 things to repurpose<\/strong><\/a> instead of tossing in the trash.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Vova Shevchuk\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Iceland <\/i><\/strong>| The pandemic has all but obliterated the idea of work-life balance, so what better time to re-evaluate the work week? Iceland was ahead of the game. In 2015, for four years, 2,500 workers (about one per cent of the country\u2019s work force) reduced their typical 40-hour work week by four or five hours while still receiving the same pay. Researchers found that, unsurprisingly, the workers (drawn from hospitals, preschools and offices) were happier and less stressed. Importantly, they were also just as productive. Nearly 90 per cent of Iceland\u2019s workers now work fewer hours. Similar experiments have been completed in New Zealand and Spain, while politicians in Japan and California have proposed dry runs of their own. \u2014By Jason McBride<\/em><\/p>\n

\t\"The \t<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Photo: Courtesy of The Pups of High Park<\/span><\/span>
Canada<\/em><\/strong> | In this dog-eat-dog world, where\u2019s a weary pooch supposed to go for a break? If you live near Toronto\u2019s High Park, you might stop at the free snack bar for pups that Kaya Kristina set up on her front lawn. Kristina started off small\u2014a few years ago, she began putting out bowls of water for tired, thirsty dogs on their way home after a romp in the park. When the pandemic hit and Kristina was cut off from friends and family, she expanded her front yard\u2019s offerings to include dog biscuits, beef liver bites, dried chicken tenders and even a stick \u201clibrary.\u201d Now christened StarPups\u2014complete with its own Instagram account, The Pups of High Park<\/strong><\/a>\u2014Kristina\u2019s yard has become a popular community hub, as beloved by human residents as canines. \u2014By Jason McBride<\/em><\/p>\n

\t\"Jaylo \t<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Photo: Courtesy of Jaylo Miles<\/span><\/span>
Wales<\/strong><\/em> | Jaylo Miles has endured abusive foster homes, several years of homelessness, and drug addiction, all of which left him with complex post-traumatic stress disorder. In the last few years, however, the 39-year-old Cardiff resident has helped himself by helping others, embarking on several charitable and social media initiatives\u2014singing competitions, long-distance bike rides\u2014to raise awareness of mental health and suicide.
He hasn\u2019t done it alone, of course; Miles has a supportive partner, three kids and a pair of British barn owls named Oscar and Louie. Miles rescued the two birds and, over time, they became his unlikely support animals. The two owls, which are brothers, have very different personalities, which Miles has come to see as reflecting his own divided self: the wary Oscar is fiercely protective, while Louie is a calm, loving, \u201ccheeky chappy.\u201d \u201cI firmly believe I didn\u2019t choose the boys,\u201d Miles says. \u201cThey chose me.\u201d
Over the years that Miles has had the owls (Oscar is four, Louie two), they\u2019ve become local celebrities in their own right, accompanying Miles on visits to nursing homes and schools, where he gives talks, and even on a hike up Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in southern Britain. \u201cSometimes just being able to see the owls can bring comfort to somebody\u2019s day,\u201d Miles says. \u2014By Jason McBride<\/em>
Look out for these signs you could have post-traumatic stress disorder<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\"Good \t<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Photo: Ale Karmirian, Courtesy of Gastromotiva<\/span><\/span>
Brazil<\/strong><\/em> | Every bite counts in Brazil\u2019s favelas<\/em>, sprawling shantytowns on the outskirts of major cities. The country has one of the highest COVID-19 death tolls, and severe unemployment has led to 19 million Brazilians experiencing chronic hunger over the past year.
But for David Hertz, food is more than sustenance. It\u2019s a social-bonding tool, an $8-trillion global industry and, through his non-profit, Gastromotiva, a way to empower the world\u2019s poorest citizens. Gastromotiva provides free courses in restaurant cooking, kitchen-assistant training and food entrepreneurship, all with a focus on nutrition. Students apply online, and after they finish the program, they not only find jobs, but often start their own restaurants and soup kitchens.
What\u2019s more, through 65 grassroots \u201csolidarity kitchens,\u201d many based out of the homes of alumni, as well as partnerships with local homeless charities and food banks, almost 80,000 free meals are distributed to hungry families in Rio de Janeiro every month.
\u201cWith Brazil and the world facing all the challenges the pandemic has caused, the greatest reward of my work is seeing people employed and being able to feed themselves,\u201d Hertz says.
A former chef, Hertz was inspired to start Gastromotiva in 2006, after quitting his restaurant job and spending time designing training programs for a S\u00e3o Paulo favela<\/em>. The non-profit has expanded its courses to Mexico City and Cape Town, and is also working in El Salvador through the UN\u2019s World Food Programme. \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em><\/p>\n

\t\"Good \t<\/picture> <\/div>\n
\t\"Good \t<\/picture> <\/div>\n

Photo: Courtesy of Just Believe Inc.<\/span><\/span>
United States<\/strong><\/em> | Up to 30 per cent of American veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, while 14 per cent of people who die by suicide in the U.S. every year are vets. Many veterans also struggle with homelessness and addiction.
In June, Marty Weber, himself a vet, donated 15-hectares of New Jersey forest to homeless-outreach organization Just Believe Inc. The land will become a retreat for veterans struggling with addiction, mental illness and homelessness. Weber named it Jeff\u2019s Camp, after Jeff Poissant, his Army buddy-turned-life-partner who died of bladder cancer in 2017.
Weber blames Poissant\u2019s death on an inadequate military health-care system, which didn\u2019t properly treat him until it was too late. For the almost one in four veterans who suffer from mental illness, accessing mental-health care is often difficult and complicated. \u201cOur government is not taking good enough care of our vets,\u201d said Weber. \u201cI have to do what I can in Jeff\u2019s memory to help make things right.\u201d \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em>
Next, check out 50 inspirational quotes<\/strong><\/a> to live by.
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Home CultureWe’ve rounded up the most heartwarming and inspirational good news stories from around the world. bahrudin bahrudin \/ Shutterstock.comLinda Groocock was out running errands in Digby, Nova Scotia, last November when she spotted an unusual sight off the coast: 16 Atlantic white-sided dolphins had become beached. Figuring they didn\u2019t have a lot of time\u2014dolphins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-198496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Photo: AustralianCamera\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>
Australia<\/strong><\/em> | The voracious, whirling Looney Tunes<\/em> character might be the first Tasmanian devil that springs to mind, but the real-life creature is actually one of the world\u2019s most vulnerable marsupials. Devastated by a facial-tumour disease that wiped out up to 90 per cent of the population in some areas of Tasmania, devils were declared an endangered species in 2008.
Now Tasmanian devils are thriving on the Australian mainland for the first time in 3,000 years, thanks to the efforts of conservation group Aussie Ark. Dozens of devils were introduced to a 400-hectare sanctuary in New South Wales last year, and this spring, the first generation of joeys were born.
Once widespread over the entire continent, prehistoric climate change, combined with hunting by people and dingoes, left Tasmania the only place where devils survived after 1,000 B.C. Aussie Ark hopes to create a self-sustaining population of devils that can help rebalance the ecosystem in the face of invasive species. \u2014By Anna-Kaisa Walker<\/em>
Check out the cutest baby animals born during the pandemic<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n