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 —
A science museum in Vermont is using its 100-acre forest to support visitors’ mental health
Over the summer, a “wind phone” was installed on the grounds of the Montshire Museum of Science in Vermont as a part of a larger effort to put its 110-acre forest to good use: promoting mental health.
Inspired by an idea out of Japan, there are hundreds of wind phones set up around the world to help people cope with grief, giving them a way to “talk” with loved ones who’ve passed away.
It’s just one of many installations aimed at helping people spend time outdoors, in nature, and be more present. The museum is also planning to expand a wheelchair accessible trail to the nearby Connecticut River, add yoga platforms, and more.
Why is this good news? Research supports the idea that spending time in nature is good for mental health. Furthermore, the museum initiated this installation in response to public feedback — people sharing that they needed mental health support, and that the museum could help address that need.
These futuristic 3D-printed homes start at just $200K. One major U.S. city is building 80 of them.
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New U.S. data shows teen suicide is on the decline
While there are still a devastatingly high number of teens impacted, a new federal report found that between 2021 and 2024, depression and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in teens declined.
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health shared that the prevalence of suicidal thoughts among 12-to-17-year-olds fell to 10% in 2024 — down from nearly 13% in 2021. Additionally, the prevalence of suicide attempts in the same age group also fell slightly, to 2.7% in 2024 from 3.6% in 2021.
While the report did not elaborate on the potential causes for these declines, one reason could be that more teens are opening up, being vulnerable, and talking about their suicidal thoughts. The common assumption has long been that asking about suicidality can increase suicidal tendencies, but the data says that’s not true at all.
Affordable and simple to install, solar panels that fit on your deck or balcony are growing in popularity in the U.S.
Smaller-scale solar panel systems that can plug into a standard wall outlet have been popular in Europe for years — and they’re gaining traction in the U.S. now, too.
Even before the Big Beautiful Bill passed, which scrapped residential rooftop solar tax credits that helped make systems more accessible for homeowners, manufacturers of smaller systems — known as plug-in or balcony solar — were seeing a rise in demand. Utah also passed a law to streamline regulations and make it easier to buy and install them.
One homeowner who installed a $2,000 plug-in solar systems reported saving around $35 per month on his power bill — recouping the cost of the system in just 5 years. His primary motivation, though, was reducing his carbon footprint.
What’s the nuance? Wider adoption of these smaller-scale systems has been hindered in the U.S. by varying policies that make it unclear and confusing about what individual utility companies allow locally, as well as a lack of awareness and availability of the systems.
However, that could change with the removal of the tax credits, as folks look for more financially accessible options for going solar.
Hank Green launched a new ADHD-friendly app where a bean that lives in your phone will only knit if you focus
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A 16-year-old upcycles toxic rubber waste into emergency sleeping mats for people experiencing homelessness
Growing up in Biratnagar, Nepal’s industrial hub, 16-year-old Priyanshi Poddar has first-hand experience with the overwhelming piles of rubber waste that accumulate from local factories, polluting local waterways. She started Project Saathi to help.
The project upcycles the rubber remnants from the footwear industry into durable mats, “improving the living conditions of homeless individuals and reducing environmental pollution caused by rubber waste.”
The mats are essential to people experiencing homelessness, people displaced by disaster, and families living in poverty. They provide a clean, insulated surface for sleeping, studying, and even playing, giving people a dignified place to land instead of a cold floor.
Tulum, Mexico is now home to one of the Yucatán Peninsula’s most ambitious conservation projects
Late last year, on a stretch of once loosely regulated beachfront, Jaguar National Park opened along the coastline of Tulum, Mexico. Across more than 2,400 acres, the area has been transformed into a protected zone of forest trails, Maya ruins, and quiet beachfront.
In contrast to the noise and congestion Tulum’s rapid growth has brought, the reserve limits cars and the number of daily visitors, and prohibits beach vendors and plastic. A small handful of hotels were grandfathered into the park, but no new ones are permitted.
The goal of one of the Yucatán Peninsula’s most ambitious conservation projects is both to restore and conserve the land, and shift the way travelers experience one of the country’s most-visited regions.
Why is this good news? Traveling and experiencing new cultures and environments is a beautiful part of the human experience. But when destinations become too popular, it can lead to unsustainable travel habits. More destinations are taking action to preserve very reasons these places became sought-after in the first place.
These innovative, solar-powered shipping containers house 280 homeless people amid scorching summer heat
A German grandma builds wheelchair ramps from Lego to make her town more accessible and colorful
Thirty years ago, Rita Ebel was in a car accident that left her with incomplete paralysis. As an ambulatory wheelchair user, she can walk short distances, but largely relies on her wheelchair to get around.
But in her hometown of Hanau, Germany, Ebel found that most businesses were inaccessible to her after her accident. So she took matters into her own hands, building wheelchair ramps of her own design out of something more colorful than wood or concrete: Lego bricks.
Quickly priced out of her building material of choice, Ebel took to social media to ask for help — and the donations came pouring in. Her landlord even offered up some extra space to fuel her efforts to make the community more accessible.
A summer camp in Vermont is providing a fun, safe space for kids with parents who are or have been incarcerated
Every summer, a weeklong sleepaway camp in Plymouth, Vermont hosts kids between the ages of eight and 12 who currently have, or have had, a parent incarcerated. The campers do all the traditional summer camp activities: songs around the campfire, secret handshakes, arts and crafts, and more.
Knowing all the kids around them share the experience of a parent being incarcerated, the campers feel a freedom to be themselves, let go of the usual worry or stress they’d have at home, and just be kids.
As one camper said, “When you’re here, you can just be yourself. You don’t have to hide like you have to do at school sometimes.”
Why is this good news? Around 4,700 kids in Vermont, or one in 25, have a parent who has gone to jail. On top of everything else kids go through, parental incarceration can be destabilizing, stressful, and isolating. Kids deserve to be kids — and this summer camp is giving them the space to have a core childhood experience, despite what’s going on around them.
In this all-women tiny home neighborhood, rent starts at $450. Residents want it to be a nationwide blueprint
Despite slow growth in the U.S., global EV sales are already up 27% this year
In the first seven months of 2025, a new report found that more than 10.7 million electric vehicles were sold — a “robust” 27% increase over the same time period last year.
China led the way with 6.5 million EVs sold, an increase of 29%, but Europe also saw a large uptick: with 2.3 million EVs sold, a 30% increase over the same period last year. Notably in Europe, fully electric vehicle sales were up 30%, while plug-in hybrids were up 32%.
While North America saw 1 million EVs sold, an increase of 2%, the report also came out around the same time Ford announced its new $5 billion investment in manufacturing affordable EV options in the U.S., calling it its next “Model T Moment.”
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A blind man was able to return to work thanks to RayBan and Meta’s “life-changing” AI glasses
Sight loss forced 57-year-old Andy Evans to leave his job working nights at a supermarket. After a year of unemployment due to registered blindness, RayBan and Meta’s AI glasses have been “life-changing,” allowing him to return to work.
The glasses have a tiny camera in their frame and speakers in the arms, and are voice-activated by the wearer. Evans also uses a white cane, but says the glasses have given him a “much better quality of life.” He’s been able to order food in a restaurant and have the glasses tell him what obstacles are in front of him.
Evans now works helping people adjust to sight loss at the Sight Support West of England charity.
What’s the nuance? The real issues surrounding AI cannot simply be ignored, but this is one example of the potential the technology holds to build a better, more inclusive world. And these people-centered use-cases that make a life-changing impact for disabled people ought to be prioritized — that means making them financially accessible, too.
Chicago-wide search for beloved service dog ends as 'Bam Bam' reunites with owner after 72 days
The global suicide rate has fallen by nearly 30% since 1990
According to a large international study, suicide rates have declined by 29.9% worldwide since 1990. Data from 102 countries found that the average rate dropped from 10.33 suicides per 100,000 people in 1990 to 7.24 in 2021.
The decline was greater in higher-income countries, falling 32.1% compared to lower- and middle-income countries, where it fell 27.3%.
Researchers noted that, in Europe, responsible media reporting and efforts to build social and emotional skills could have contributed to the decline, as well as improved access to care, reduced stigma, and suicide prevention programs.
If the current rate of decline continues, the global suicide rate could reach 6.49 per 100,000 by 2050.
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More good news of the week —
A 12-year-old was named ‘girl of the year’ for designing solar-powered sleeping bags for her homeless neighbors. Designed similarly to a traditional sleeping bag to allow heat retention, her invention also features a control circuit that automatically alternates the blanket between on/off states based on temperature readings to conserve battery life.
A University of Colorado Boulder alumna donated a 476-acre wildlife reserve and endowment to the university. The Spruce Gulch Wildlife and Research Reserve land had been in Linda Holubar Sanabria’s family for nearly a century, and along with endowment funds, her donation was valued at $10.4 million.
Scientists say they have solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars in a decade-long epidemic. Starting in 2013 and continuing today, a mysterious sea star wasting disease sparked a mass die-off from Mexico to Alaska and devastated more than 20 species, including the sunflower sea star, which lost around 90% of its population in the outbreak’s first five years.
New smart glasses use AI to help blind and low-vision users read, translate text, describe surroundings, and more. The glasses can also search the web and recognize people, objects, and signs, feeding information to the user via open-ear speakers built into the ear stems.
More than 500 Catholic sisters embarked on a “pilgrimage of hope” to support immigrants, the environment. Gathering in Atlanta, Georgia from 18 countries, pilgrimage leaders guided readings, music, and periods of intentional silence, pausing at three locations, each dedicated to one of the three issues they were in the streets to confront: Forced migration, climate change, and racism.
A Jamaican university student invented a self-disinfecting door handle for hospitals. With the potential to help control the spread of disease, particularly during pandemics, the pioneering ultra-violet self-sanitising door handle model, called Xermosol, can kill 99.9% of pathogens but is safe for people and animals.
A new trail development in North Carolina will both boost ecotourism and protect rare species. Adding 22 acres onto an existing 170-mile public trail system will add potential habitat for the four-toed salamander, bog turtle, and mole salamander, which are uncommon species that are jeopardized by loss of natural habitat.
A pandemic-era program to facilitate hotel- and office-to-affordable housing conversions is opening its first project in New York City. The development, called Baisley Pond Park, is the first project to open using the Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act, which financed the conversion of underutilized office and hotel space for affordable and supportive housing.
Nadeen Ayoub will become the first woman to represent Palestine at the Miss Universe pageant. Ayoub will make history, joining competitors from more than 130 other countries and territories at the 74th Miss Universe final, which will be held on November 21 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Scientists are celebrating 40 potential new sea creatures uncovered on an Argentinian expedition. Notably, the expedition also livestreamed from its Remotely Operated Vehicle, SuBastian, going viral and inspiring curiosity about the deep sea in millions of viewers online — in Argentina and around the world.
A British bookstore chain is opening 10 new stores every year to keep up with young customers’ demand for books. Waterstones’ sales revenues are up 5%, about half of which is down to higher prices — the rest is a result of selling “lots and lots of books” as younger adults are being inspired to pick up a paperback by BookTok, and real-life book clubs.
Pope Leo will welcome a pro-LGBTQ+ Catholic group to the Vatican for the first time in history. In addition to advocating for LGBTQ+ reforms, We Are Church has been a longtime critic of the Vatican from within the Catholic Church, particularly its history of sexual abuse and exclusion of women from leadership.
A new, non-invasive test can quickly spot meningitis in babies with “great accuracy.” The current screening method for meningitis uses a spinal tap in newborns and infants, but a new study showed that a new high-resolution ultrasound device can detect the potentially deadly infection with 94% accuracy.
Kenya officially eliminated “sleeping sickness” as a public health concern. The country joins nine others that have eliminated human African trypanosomiasis. It’s also the second neglected tropical disease the country has eliminated; it was also certified free of Guinea worm disease in 2018.
An Australian couple bought a former student boarding house to create housing for older women at risk of homelessness. They decided to step in to help after learning about the housing affordability crisis, and wanted to make a difference in their community by offering a low-cost solution for people in need.
Scientists developed a new compound that could offer a breakthrough in the global fight against tuberculosis. TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, and this compound even proved effective against drug-resistant infections, which are common globally and pose a significant challenge for controlling the disease's spread and progression.
Nike co-founder Phil Knight is donating $2 billion to Oregon Health and Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute. The Knight Foundation says it’s the single largest donation ever to a U.S. university, college, or health institution and will be used to shift the scientific approach to cancer treatment, research, and patient care outcomes.
A traveling music group in Sudan is helping keep people connected amid the ongoing civil war. Sudan’s army and a paramilitary group have been at war for control of the country’s government since April 2023, so the musical salon is trying to give people a sense of normalcy, encouragement, and inspiration.
Polestar’s electric SUV set a new Guinness World Record after traveling over 580 miles on a single charge. The new Polestar 3 drove 581.3 miles on public roads in the U.K., setting a new record for the longest journey traveled by an electric SUV and smashing its range estimates by almost 143 miles.
Missouri is making it easier for sexual assault survivors to get a forensic exam, no matter which hospital they go to. The first state to require this kind of support, its new Sexual Assault Forensic Exams via Telehealth Network has been in the works for five years after the passing of the Justice for Survivors Act, which requires all hospitals have access to SAFEvT.
