Every day the Good Good Good team collects the best good news in the world and shares it with our community. Here are the highlights for this week!
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The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —
Florida’s sea turtle license plates have raised millions to save the endangered species
Florida’s second-most popular specialty license plate, which features a sea turtle on a sandy beach crawling towards the water, has provided an estimated $8 to $10 million in support for the state’s sea turtle conservation programs since it debuted in 1998.
In 1995, the Sea Turtle Conservancy campaigned to establish the sea turtle design. They began appearing on roads in 1998, and now more than 100,000 can be spotted on Florida’s streets every year.
70% of the plate’s proceeds serve as the primary source of funding for the FFWC’s Sea Turtle Program, including the management, research, and protection of sea turtles statewide.
Why is this good news? While some species have made remarkabl recoveries, the world’s seven sea turtles remain threatened or endangered across the globe. For around $25/year, Floridians have been playing a huge role in protecting and conserving them for decades.
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You may also like: Do sea turtles only hatch during a full moon? Your top 5 questions about sea turtles, answered by an expert
An EMT is dressing up as ‘The Roanoke Raven’ to save his city: ‘If it takes wearing a superhero mask to do it, let’s do it’
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Wildlife overpasses aren’t just popular in the U.S. — the movement is gaining momentum globally
All over the world, roads pose a deadly physical threat to wildlife and fragment the landscapes animals need to move through to survive. Decades of research have proven the effectiveness of wildlife crossings — underpasses and overpasses — in protecting both humans and animals.
While North America is among the epicenters of global wildlife crossing construction, the movement is a global one — and many of the world’s most successful, if little-heralded, passages lie elsewhere.
In Croatia, for example, roughly a quarter of a new highway in the country is crossable for wildlife, making it among the most permeable highways on Earth.
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The European Union just banned fashion companies from destroying unsold clothes
A new law two years in the making has finally taken effect across the European Union. Under the ruling, major fashion retailers, wholesalers, and apparel manufacturers are now banned from trashing unsold clothing, accessories, and footwear.
Companies must now find ways to sell the product, via discounts to consumers, alternative markets, and charity donations. Under the new law, unsold product can only be destroyed if it is counterfeit, irreparably damaged, deemed unsafe, or rejected by charities.
Going forward, companies are also required to publish annual reports on any discarded goods and maintain those records for a minimum of five years.
Why is this good news? Researchers estimate that hundreds of thousands of tons of fashion items are destroyed every year in the EU alone. Since most modern clothing is made from man-made plastics, it takes hundreds of years to decompose in landfills.
On a global scale, waste from the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all carbon emissions. Measures like this can help reduce that carbon cost.
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You may also like: Half a million unsold concert t-shirts sat in a warehouse for years. Billie Eilish gave them a second life
25-year-old reporter buys his hometown newspaper to save it from corporate ownership
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Ferran Torres scored the game-winning World Cup goal for Spain — his story shows the importance of mental health care
Four years ago, Spain’s Ferran Torres was going through a mental health crisis, struggling to cope with the pressure of his new $62.8 million deal with FC Barcelona.
Finding himself “in a bottomless pit,” he “decided to work with a psychologist.” He calls it “one of the best experiences” that made him stronger as a person.
And now, he believes that working with a psychologist “will become increasingly normalized in football.” That couldn’t come soon enough, with an estimated 51% of elite athletes struggling with mental health at some point in their life, and put off seeking treatment due to ongoing social stigma.
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An artist auctioned off a painting of viral raccoon “Jimothy” and raised thousands for his local food bank
Due to the shape of his distinct, rounded body, researchers believe that Jimothy the Seattle raccoon has a rare congenital spine condition, but seems to be happy and as mobile as any other raccoon.
With videos of his antics circulating, Jimothy has skyrocketed to internet fame, inspiring countless internet memes — and Seattle artist Ryan Henry Ward to paint a portrait of the iconic raccoon.
He auctioned off the painting, announcing that 100% of proceeds would benefit a local food bank. Jimothy fans answered the call, raising more than $12,000 for the Ballard Food Bank.
Why is this good news? This particular food bank has been fighting food insecurity in northwest Seattle since the 1970s, and features a unique “grocery store” model. Internet sensations are fun just for the online community building — but it’s even better when they can inspire some real-world good, too.
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Meet the women protecting the last remaining gorillas in Nigeria: ‘Our men have failed to stop the threats’
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Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest reached its lowest level in a decade in the first half of 2026
In the first six months of the year, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest reached its lowest level since 2016.
Around 500 square miles total were deforested — an area almost twice the size of New York City — a decrease of 38% compared to the same period in 2025.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has promised to end illegal deforestation by 2030, after it peaked in 2022 under his predecessor and an area around 13 times the size of New York City was cleared.
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An annual summer trash pick-up race for off-roaders has cleared 5 million pounds of garbage from public lands
Every summer since 2014, DIY off-roaders have gathered on national forest lands near Madras, Oregon for a race like no other. In the Gambler 500, competitors speed around public lands, seeing who can pick up and haul the most trash possible.
The only requirement is that “Gamblers” drive cars that cost less than $500 each, and each one is a spectacle in and of itself. Although many are technically street legal, they are also heavily modified, painted, or “souped up” with pirate flags and metal dragons breathing real fire.
Since the event first began, the Gamblers have gathered over 5 million pounds of garbage. One participant said, “We are a disorganized group of people who like to drive bad cars, go camping, and pick up trash on public lands.”
Even better: The “do-good” element of Gambletown doesn’t end after one weekend. Founder Tate Morgan created an app called Sons of Smokey — a play on “Sons of Anarchy” and the beloved forest mascot Smokey the Bear — for public land-goers to mark large items of trash they see while out on hikes or camping trips.
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You may also like: Nonprofit hosts ‘ghost trap’ rodeo: A fishing tournament for cleaning abandoned fishing gear out of the water
Kangaroos cause 90% of wildlife crashes in Australia. This new car feature emits a sound only they can hear
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A visual artist’s latest work protests offshore drilling on the same Greek isle that inspired ‘The Odyssey’
According to legend, Homer’s Ogygia, the island of the nymph Calypso, is based on Othonoi, a real island on Greece’s westernmost point. The isle is surrounded by the Ionian Sea, also an iconic setting in Homer’s epic.
Today, as Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” reaches international acclaim, the same shores that inspired it are being studied for potential oil drilling by companies like Chevron and ExxonMobil.
In protest and to raise awareness about the devastating impacts of offshore drilling, visual artist The Krank created a large-scale public artwork installation called “The Hunt” about six miles from the proposed drilling site. The piece was inspired by cave drawings and designed to cause no harm to the local environment.
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Rooftop solar saved New England residents over $130M in electricity costs during recent heat wave
A new report analyzed the heat wave that hit New England in early July and estimated that during the week of June 28 through July 4, distributed solar projects contributed more than six gigawatts in electricity and saved New England ratepayers $130-149 million.
On July 2 alone, the report found that solar arrays saved $39 million to $54 million, and solar contributed more power to the grid than the region’s nuclear fleet that afternoon.
One of the authors of the report, which came from the Acadia Center, said it was a clear economic case for the benefits of solar. The center also found that last year, solar energy saved $1.26 billion to $1.37 billion.
Why is this good news? In the middle of a heat wave, demand on the energy grid is extraordinarily high, and this proves that investing in solar is a good way to provide cheap, reliable electricity when and where people need it the most.
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Robert Irwin isn’t giving up on this species on the brink of extinction: ‘There’s still hope’
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More women are running for governor in the US than ever before
There are 85 women major-party candidates running for governor across 36 states this year, significantly exceeding the previous record of 69, set in 2022. Fifty-one of those women are Democrats, another record, and 34 are Republicans.
At the congressional level, 580 women are currently major-party contenders for the U.S. House, just three people away from the 2018 and 2020 record of 583 women candidates.
The number of women Democratic House candidates has already reached an all-time high of 387, and the remaining candidates are Republican.
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More good news of the week —
Florida’s sea turtle license plates have raised millions to save the endangered species. It’s the second-most popular specialty license plate in the state and has provided an estimated $8 to $10 million for the state’s sea turtle conservation programs since it debuted in 1998.
Drones are saving hundreds of fawns from lawn mower deaths in Germany. (Video) A Bavarian wildlife rescue organization is using thermal imaging drones to locate and rescue vulnerable fawns hidden in tall meadow grass ahead of the annual mowing season.
A global citizen science project is asking volunteers to search Arctic satellite images for walruses. The animals are under threat as human activity in the Arctic increases and climate warming melts the sea ice they use for breeding and resting.
For the first time, Bluey released episodes in an Australian Indigenous language. (Video) The award-winning children’s cartoon series released five episodes in Yolngu Matha, one of the world’s oldest living languages.
A Toronto hospital started a $1M fund to help people experiencing homelessness pay rent. (May require login) It’s Ontario’s first hospital-based homelessness and eviction prevention program, which uses donations to pay off eligible UHN patients’ rent arrears, or to pay first and last month’s rent so a patient can access housing.
Canva’s billionaire founders are giving no-strings-attached $150M cash transfers directly to Malawi’s poorest. The program first launched in 2021, and early results show 90% of recipients in one area moved above the extreme poverty line in three months, alongside significant drops in child mortality and illness, and increased school enrollment.
After revealing his own ALS diagnosis, a former NFL quarterback revived the viral “Ice Bucket Challenge.” In the summer of 2014, the challenge raised $115 million for the ALS Association, and now, former Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson is looking to revive it.
An international team of scientists invented a floating capsule that disinfects water without chemicals or batteries. The breakthrough device costs less than $25 to produce and could prove vital in disaster zones.
Professional chef Maurice “Moe” Levene is showing families how to cook high-quality meals for just $5. (Gifted link) His TikTok videos are going viral as inflation across the country hits its highest point in three years.
Poland’s first Baltic Sea wind farm officially tested its onshore power route to an inland substation. The Baltic Power project is expected to generate approximately 4 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power more than 1.5 million Polish households.
The University of Denver launched a new, searchable tool to track artificial intelligence laws across the country. The dashboard known as the U.S. State AI Policy Tracker is free to the public, collecting information on the more than one million total bills being discussed by state lawmakers and compiling a list of AI-related legislation.
In response to recent extreme heatwaves, Eurostar ordered new trains that can handle extreme heat. The massive high-speed train operator initially ordered up to 50 new trains that could operate under temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), before increasing it to 55.
Butterfly experts are planting 15,000 milkweed plants along Florida roadsides to help monarch butterflies. It’s part of an initiative led by the University of Illinois Chicago to turn the vacant rights-of-way alongside roads, power lines, and train tracks into environmental corridors for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
Researchers developed 3D-printed contact lenses that can be produced on-demand in as little as 20 minutes. The customised lenses could be designed, manufactured and dispensed during a single visit to the optometrist and transform how contact lenses are manufactured.
A politically diverse church in North Carolina wiped out millions in medical debt for their neighbors. Rev. John Jackman said the congregation was united over its desire to provide relief for its neighbors — it was “the easiest money I’ve ever raised.”
A nonprofit in Kenya is breaking barriers and training women to join the construction industry. Since its inception in 2019, Buildher says it has trained more than 1,000 women, with graduates increasing their average daily earnings roughly five- to six-fold within a year of training — from about $1.50 to between $11 and $12.
Dam removal efforts have led Maine’s alewife fish to make a remarkable comeback. The story of Maine’s alewives is a conservation success decades in the making — and a lesson for struggling alewife populations on the rest of the Atlantic coast.
Researchers developed a “light switch” that wakes cancer cells up to make them more accessible for treatment. Some cancer cells evade medicines by switching to a sleep-like state with the help of stress hormone receptors.
A critically endangered western lowland gorilla received a first-of-its-kind mastoidectomy to treat an infection that had spread into his skull. The surgery was performed by a team of wildlife health experts from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and surgeons from UC San Diego Health.
Kids across Pittsburgh are planting trees around their schools, parks, streets, and playgrounds. The One Tree Per Child Program was first started in Australia by the late singer Olivia Newton-John in 2015.
Volunteers are harvesting seagrass seeds to boost underwater meadows in the south of England. Just like trees and plants, seagrass can absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide — but the same area of seagrass can absorb 35 times the amount a tropical rainforest can.
Pennsylvania launched a new task force to build highway crossings to protect both wildlife and drivers. The state already has 35 wildlife crossings, and the new group will create a statewide plan to identify priority wildlife corridors and guide infrastructure improvements.
A renowned Disney animator launched an interactive ASL learning app and vowed to keep it free forever. Josh Staub worked on projects like “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Frozen,” and created the ASL app as a labor of love alongside Deaf animators, engineers, and other collaborators.
An international study found that zoo elephant survival has substantially improved over six decades. In the most recent decades, their survival now exceeds or matches that of the wild and semi-wild elephant populations included in the analysis.
While navigating her own divorce, Jen Hamilton is donating 100% of new merch proceeds to other women in need. The nurse, turned influencer and best-selling author, is using her own challenges to help others.
Staff at an Ohio animal shelter made a paralyzed kitten a custom wheelchair using Hot Wheels. Gelato was deemed too tiny to fit into any of their existing mobility devices, so veterinary assistant lead Mallory Smith got creative.
Two critically endangered black-and-white ruffed lemurs were just born at the Central Park Zoo. The twins, Maso and Tonga, join six other lemurs born through the zoo’s Species Survival Plan since 2008.
A new 3,000-panel solar power farm in Colorado is cooling the land and turning a profit as local farmers raise crops and livestock. The microclimates of the solar array also keep fresh berries and vegetables from scalding in the summer heat.
Neighbors in Pasco County, Florida have spent nearly two years documenting wildlife crossings to help local sandhill cranes. Wildlife monitoring led to an uptick in “Sandhill Crane Crossing” traffic signs, which protect the birds from speeding drivers.
People’s photos are helping scientists record marine life in real-time in the Canary Islands. Through the citizen science project, more than 5,000 species of living organisms have been identified.
