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 —
Germany transformed former coal mines into Europe’s largest lake landscape
A project that first started in 1967 to transform disused coal mines in Germany into a massive lake complex will open its final lake for swimming and boating at the end of this month.
The Lusatian Lakeland, now Europe’s largest artificial water landscape, is made up of 23 human-made post-mining lakes with a surface water area of 14,000 hectares — almost as large as Italy’s iconic Lake Como.
Ten of the lakes will be connected by canals in the future, to have 7,000 hectares of continuously navigable water.
Why is this good news? Decades of mining in the region left huge craters. Once considered a “wound” in the landscape, the transformation is now having a positive economic impact, benefiting both tourists and locals, and serving as a model for other coal-mining regions in Europe.
The lake complex is also serving as a water reservoir for nearby rivers, helping during periods of low water and droughts.
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Scientists calculated how much money it would take to save every single threatened species in Australia — it’s lower than you’d think
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After having a heart attack when she was 22, a British woman is inspiring others to get their heart checked
To celebrate its 65th birthday, the British Heart Foundation dedicated 65 benches to people across London who are living with cardiovascular disease. 24-year-old Faith Harrison is on one of the benches — made in “living memory” of her, and others like her who came close to death due to heart disease.
In 2024, Harrison had a seven-hour-long heart attack that required emergency surgery. She had no idea that she had two congenital heart defects until the heart attack occurred, and she’s using her story to raise awareness for others.
“A lot of people view heart attacks as happening to someone who's old, potentially a man, overweight … I used that as a form of education, to educate people about what heart defects are,” she said.
A new $43 million ‘nature library’ helps people ‘check out’ the great outdoors
In Adams County, Colorado, the county’s “Anythink Libraries” use their seven locations to help relieve anxiety around outdoor activities. It offers free “TryIt Kits” with fishing poles, tents, and backpacks, as well as workshops where library cardholders can interact with bees, goats, and park rangers.
Its newest addition, a 33,000 square-foot Nature Library, will offer even more opportunities for people to connect with nature, removing cost and other barriers.
Once it opens this summer, it will feature 35,000 nature and ecology books, weekly programming, and new gear for visitors. It’s also designed with the planet in mind, with thoughtful sustainability features.
Why is this good news? We often think of nature as a “free” resource and activity, but sometimes gear, costs, transportation, knowledge, and other barriers prevent people from enjoying it. With its focused purpose, this library will help lower those barriers for more people.
This French Polynesian paradise combines tourism and sea turtle conservation. They’ve protected over 120,000 hatchlings
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New study finds that tropical rainforest biodiversity has rebounded over 90% in the last 30 years
A new study in Ecuador analyzed more than 8,500 species and found that biodiversity in tropical rainforests recovers much faster than anticipated.
In fact, biodiversity can rebound to over 90% of its original levels within just 30 years, as long as the land is no longer used for development or agriculture.
Scientists found that animals play a crucial role in rapid forest recovery, with birds and mammals dispersing seeds and aerating the soil as pollinators fertilize plants.
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A Colombian hillside neighborhood is helping its entire city be more climate resilient
In the neighborhood of Golondrinas in Medellín, residents of one informal settlement developed, implemented, and tested the effectiveness of nature-based climate risk mitigation solutions as part of a larger adaptation plan.
Formally launched in August 2023, the community’s plan is now a model for the entire city of Medellín’s 4 million residents and includes eight measures to address climate risks, like managing rainwater, reforestation, and eco-gardens.
Importantly, a number of the solutions are inexpensive and not difficult to make or implement, which is especially important for hillside settlements that are more exposed to flooding and landslides as the climate crisis worsens.
Why is this good news? While we definitely need massive, systemic solutions for both climate change resiliency and mitigation, this example proves that really great, effective, inexpensive solutions can happen starting at a smaller, local level, too. Plus, there’s more buy-in for adoption when residents have developed the solutions to meet their own needs.
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What can you, as an individual, actually do about climate change? Meet the woman who will help you figure it out
A record number of homes in Great Britain have turned to clean energy
As geopolitical tensions rise, global fuel prices have skyrocketed as well — and it’s having a measurable impact on homeowners in Great Britain. Energy bills are expected to rise significantly, with the average annual household cost projected to climb by about 18%.
At the same time, demand for solar panels, electric vehicles, and heat pumps has surged as well, with some energy companies reporting increases in sales and sales inquiries as high as 80% to 250%.
Experts say this uptick reflects a broader, more deliberate move away from fossil fuels as households look for long-term solutions to ongoing economic troubles.
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For the first time in U.S. history, renewables generated more electricity than natural gas for an entire month
Across all of March 2026, the U.S. got more electricity from renewable sources than it did from natural gas, which is typically the country’s dominant source of energy.
While it only occurred over a short period of time during a month that usually sees overall low demand, it’s still an important and historic milestone to celebrate.
Equally notable, emissions-free sources, including renewables and nuclear, produced more than half the nation’s electricity across the entire month for the third time ever — the first time was last March.
Why is this good news? Under the current presidential administration, the U.S. has seen unprecedented attempts to thwart the clean energy transition, critical to fighting the climate crisis and securing a habitable planet for humanity — this milestone continues to prove the dominance of renewable energy despite those attempts.
It’s a powerful reminder of what we could achieve if we double down on investments, rather than curtail them.
This rare, adorable critter is the only venomous primate on earth. It was just rescued in Bangladesh
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In 2025, US traffic deaths fell to the lowest level since 2019
After a sharp rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, traffic deaths in the U.S. fell to the lowest number since 2019, declining 6.7% to 36,640. It’s the fourth straight year of declines, as deaths dropped below 40,000 in 2024 for the first time since 2020.
Additionally, the fatality rate fell to 1.10 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles driven, the second lowest in U.S. history.
In 2021, traffic deaths jumped to 43,230, the most in a single year since 2005, and pedestrians and cyclists killed on roads jumped to the highest number in more than four decades. Experts said it was due to less crowded roads leading motorists to engage in riskier driving.
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Disney re-animated three of its most popular songs in American Sign Language
In celebration of National Deaf History Month, Disney+ announced “Songs in Sign Language,” featuring three musical sequences from recent films reimagined and animated in American Sign Language: “The Next Right Thing” from Frozen 2, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto, and “Beyond” from Moana 2.
A team of more than 20 animators worked with a sign language reference choreographer and eight performers from the Tony Award-winning Deaf West Theatre to reimagine and choreograph signed lyrics with a focus on concepts and emotion instead of a word-for-word transcription.
The project’s director said they “were never going to take sign language and just slap it on to character performances,” and in most cases created “entirely new animation.”
Even better: For “Beyond,” a Deaf Samoan actor was cast to help ensure any cultural nuances of movement were accurate, and for “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” Deaf Colombian actors were cast for the same reason.
People plan to plant 1 trillion trees this decade. A new project aims to ensure these forests survive
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Independent bookstores are up 31% across the US
Although online sellers like Amazon have had an undeniable impact on brick-and-mortar bookstores in the last two decades, independent bookshops are making a comeback.
According to the American Booksellers Association, 422 new indie bookshops opened in 2025, a rise of 31% from 2024.
Experts say the resurgence is driven by diverse consumer tastes and the inability of large chains like Barnes & Noble to fully meet localized demand. Despite economic pressures and competition from larger booksellers, indie bookstores have continued to thrive by being adaptable, affordable, and accessible.
More good news of the week —
Providing hope to conservationists, five “missing” bird species were rediscovered in 2025. All endemic to islands in Southeast Asia and Oceana, scientists hadn’t documented the “found” birds in the wild for at least 10 years.
NPR received two of the largest gifts in the public media network’s existence, totaling $113 million. NPR said it will help fund innovation in digital technology, increasing connection with audiences, and ensuring the viability of public radio stations.
In Maine, scientists are working with Indigenous basket makers to save ash trees from extinction. The coalition is taking an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to protecting the trees from invasive ash-boring insects.
In this Norwegian village, townspeople are assigned plants and animals to represent in an “interspecies council.” Each councilmember advocates for the conservation of their species, from bats to rockfoil flowers.
New education program offers 40,000 free travel passes to Europeans aged 18 to 19. The program encourages young adults to learn new languages and encounter new cultures through rail travel.
WNBA star Angel Reese returned to her hometown to host a STEM program for student athletes. Reese partnered with video game publisher 2K through its philanthropic arm, the 2K Foundations, to host the six-week program for girls at Crossroads Middle School in Baltimore.
At a school in the mountains of Sudan, orphans of wartime are learning to be peacemakers. Large numbers of children arrived at Our Father’s Cleft after the country’s third civil war broke out in April 2023, and it’s now home to 180 children and young adults and is educating some 300 more.
In Lexington, Kentucky, 36 randomly-selected residents took part in one of the country’s first civic assemblies. The assembly helped propose charter reforms that will appear on the city’s next election ballot.
After Dallas removed its rainbow crosswalks, local residents and businesses vowed to install permanent LGBTQ+ art exhibits. Projects include new murals, rainbow light displays, and branded rainbow banners on light poles.
A construction crew of humans and robots installed 100 megawatts of solar capacity in California's Mojave Desert. The large-scale solar farm now has enough energy to power 15,000 to 25,000 homes per year.
For the first time in history, the winners of the “Green Nobel” were all women. One of the six Goldman Prize winners was the woman whose campaigning set a legal precedent in the U.K. that stopped thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
A study of 38,000 people worldwide found that a connection to nature improves well‑being. Across countries as diverse as Brazil, Japan, Nigeria, Germany, and Indonesia, researchers saw a clear pattern: People who felt more connected to nature also reported higher well-being.
In the first “pollinator district” in the U.S., there’s a park within walking distance of every home. It all started in 2019, when a nonprofit wanted to create a movement that confronted the habitat destruction of the pollinators that are vital in producing the food we eat every day, and benefiting the overall ecosystem.
A new reforestation corridor in Madagascar is protecting both lemurs and locals. The corridor will reconnect 150 hectares of fragmented forest between a national park and a nature reserve that is home to a dozen lemur species as well as many other animals and plants found nowhere else on Earth.
Marine ecologists are working alongside seven Indigenous communities to restore terraced beaches in the Pacific Northwest. The practice of combining Native knowledge with Western science has long been known as “braiding.”
A new, personalized mRNA vaccine for pancreatic cancer showed lasting results in an early trial. Less than 13% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer live for more than five years, making it one of the deadliest cancers.
Researchers developed a new, biodegradable fruit wash that eliminates pesticides and extends shelf life. With rising food prices and nearly half of all fresh produce wasted worldwide each year, finding a way to cut pesticide exposure and reduce spoilage could have a big impact.
Baylor University, a Baptist institution, will allow gay Christian speakers on campus for the first time in history. The invitation came after LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff advocated for freedom of expression.
A man living on the streets of Los Angeles built a tiny home by hand — and now he’s building them for his unhoused neighbors, too. Osvaldo Medrano said that the new houses have instilled a sense of pride and dignity on his block.
The Bank of England will feature British wildlife on new banknotes instead of historical figures. Images of wildlife would be difficult to counterfeit, while also allowing for a celebration of nature across the country, and the public will have input on which animals and birds to feature.
California announced its largest investment in state parks in decades, adding three new parks. The expansion brings the total number of state parks, state beaches, and historical museums within the system to 283.
BookTok hits like “Fourth Wing” and “Sunrise at the Reaping” are bringing bookstores back to life. BookTok is an online community that is predominantly made up of women that has had a real-world impact on bookstores.
Volunteers in Florida saved 4,000 sea turtle eggs from being bulldozed. Since March, volunteers and trained personnel have moved 3,984 eggs from 44 leatherback nests and 122 eggs from a single loggerhead nest.
A new AI tool is helping doctors choose more effective treatments for patients with bowel cancer. With PhenMap, doctors can better analyze a tumor’s genetic makeup and predict whether a certain drug will work.
Communication between sperm whales is remarkably similar to our own. Not only do they have their own “alphabet,” but sperm whales also use rising or falling tones that mimic human language patterns like Mandarin and Latin.
