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 —
An ‘extremely fearful shutdown foster dog’ is inspiring millions on ‘Tiki Tok’ with his transformative recovery
With a combined 1 million+ following on Instagram and TikTok, writer Isabel Klee is a dog-centric content creator who takes her audience along on her fostering journey.
But no dog she’s fostered has captured the attention of the internet quite like her 23rd, Tiki. His time with Klee and her family was a test to see if being out of a shelter would help him overcome his debilitating anxiety.
Klee believes “every dog deserves a chance,” and Tiki got his. It took time, but in just over 25 days of Klee’s care, he’s hopped on the couch, sat in her lap, accepted lots of pets and kisses, ventured outdoors, and most recently, played with toys.
Even better: Together with Muddy Paws Rescue, the organization that saved Tiki, Klee created a “Be Brave Like Tiki” T-shirt — 100% of the proceeds go back to Muddy Paws to “save so many more dogs just like Tiki.”
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‘Hacks’ star Hannah Einbinder raises $60K on Instagram for doctors on the ground in Gaza
Documenting what needs restoring, Indigenous women in India are making “dream maps” to protect lands from climate change
In India’s eastern state of Odisha, Indigenous villagers have continued traditional practices of fishing, farming millet and rice, and foraging leaves and fruit for millennia.
Now, those practices are under threat from the climate crisis, with dwindling fish and other resources, and increasingly unpredictable monsoon rains.
With help from a local NGO, Indigenous women from 10 villages have surveyed and mapped out the resources that are dwindling, and what needs restoring on “dream maps” — depicting their villages in their most ideal states. They plan to submit their maps and data to government officials as a first step in requesting funds to preserve and restore them.
Harvard is offering free courses on US history, civic engagement, and politics
While Harvard University has offered free online courses for several years, with tensions rising in relation to the Trump administration, more attention is on the institution than ever.
In its commitment to serving the American people, not only has the university has expanded its financial aid offerings this year, it also released 122 free courses for 2025 that anyone with access to a computer can take.
While it is unclear if they have been offered in response to the administration, 40 government classes are also available online to anyone who wants to learn (some free, some with a fee) — including lessons on constitutional foundations, U.S. public policy, and civic engagement in a constitutional democracy.
Why is this good news? Higher education, especially when it comes to being an engaged, knowledgeable citizen, should be accessible to everyone. While civics lessons are taught in public schools, it’s often not enough to gain a true understanding of U.S. government and politics.
It’s very good news that Harvard is offering its educational resources to anyone and everyone who wants to continue learning.
Scientists believe penguin poop might be cooling Antarctica by kicking off an atmospheric chain reaction
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Offering familial support to those who may not have it, a group of dads invite Pride attendees to ‘play catch’
John Piermatteo — an ally and father of two, including one nonbinary child — wanted to come up with a creative way to show familial support to LGBTQ+ people at Pride events.
Remembering how much tossing a ball around with his dad meant to him growing up, he started Play Catch With A Dad in 2019.
After a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Piermatteo came back with lifelong friends joining him at Play Catch With a Dad events. He would take the offering on the road for Pride festivals across Pennsylvania — and nationwide, including at two of the country’s largest Pride gatherings.
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California approved $59.5 million in grant funding to preserve some of the state’s most ecologically significant habitats
In the face of federal funding cuts for some of the country’s critical habitats for rare plants and animals, California’s Wildlife Conservation Board just approved $59.5 million in grant funding to ensure they’re protected.
The funding will preserve nearly 23,000 acres of some of the state’s most ecologically important habitats, like the Salton Sea, which is at risk of drying out and releasing toxic dust if left unattended. It’s crucial wetland habitat for the endangered desert pupfish as well as several migratory bird species.
A $14.75 million grant will acquire nearly 6,500 acres of land known as Rancho Cañada Larga, which is home to at least 20 special-status species, including the California red-legged frog and the Southern California steelhead.
Why is this good news? While incredibly good news for Californians, the reality is that protecting critical ecosystems is good for the entire country (and the world) — each of us depends on healthy, thriving ecosystems for our survival, too.
Woman transforms clothing waste into building materials to solve ‘global south housing crisis’
A runner invented a sustainable, reusable alternative to the thousands of disposable water cups used at races
While running the California International Marathon in 2019 and grabbing cups of water along the route to stay hydrated, Kristina Smithe was quietly tallying how much waste these events produce.
She did the math on the way home, estimating that around 150,000 single-use cups were used per event. Even if they’re made of paper, these cups usually have a plastic lining that makes them difficult to biodegrade.
So, she also came up with an alternative solution: a lightweight silicone cup that could be used over and over. After testing them at a race in 2021, her business, Hiccup Earth, now has 70,000 cups it rents out to races to replace single-use cups.
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A Colorado cactus was removed from the endangered species list after nearly 50 years
The Colorado hookless cactus has been a federally threatened species for nearly 50 years. Now it’s making a recovery, leading the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to take it off the endangered species list.
The cactus is a small, barrel-shaped cactus with pink flowers that bloom in late April and early May. Recent data shows the species is “more abundant than previously known at the time of listing.”
Thanks to the help of recovery partners like the Bureau of Land Management, the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, and the Denver Botanic Gardens, threats to the cactus have been eliminated or reduced. The service says it will continue to monitor the cactus to ensure its long-term stability.
Why is this good news? As the world faces devastating plant and animal species loss, stories like this Colorado cactus remind us that — with the right investment, attention, and care — extinction is not inevitable.
Shipping containers make up new ‘hurricane-proof eco-hotel’ in Florida’s Everglades National Park
More good news of the week —
Scientists discovered a deep-sea “pancake” octopus species on a monthslong voyage in Australia. The “flapjack” octopus is a subset of the dumbo family that is named after its incredible shapeshifting abilities, which allow it to balloon out “like a tiny gelatinous umbrella” and flatten its body like a pancake to evade predators.
Teaching them the art and science of winemaking, inmates are crafting fine Italian wine on a remote Tuscan island. It all started with a wine family dynasty, who recognized the land’s potential for making wine and for the wine to “be a part of something greater, a part of the rehabilitation of these men.”
An immigrant- and family-owned dry cleaner offers free services for unemployed people going to a job interview. Ali Shirkhodaei’s newest service at Lux Cleaners & Alterations provides free, speedy outfit cleanings to any unemployed customer heading to a job interview — and about 5 to 10 customers use the service every week.
Belgium’s parliament voted to officially abandon its decades-old plan to phase out nuclear power. In response to growing interest and investment in nuclear power as a clean energy source — it already accounts for 40% of the country’s total power generation, followed by gas at 21% and wind at 19%.
New Mexico’s recreational marijuana tax is funding a basic income program for vulnerable families. The program provides $750 monthly payments to 80 families in two districts where students struggle with low academic performance, as well as financial counseling to the families.
A recycling team in Connecticut is collecting oyster shells from restaurant trash bins to rebuild oyster habitat. Empty oyster shells play a key role in the oyster life cycle: Oyster larvae attach to shells, where they grow into adults and form reefs that improve water quality, prevent coastal erosion, and create habitat for other marine life. (Gifted link)
Paris unveiled a massive, steel star monument as a memorial to LGBTQ+ victims of the Nazi regime. The monument is located in public gardens at the heart of Paris, and aims to fulfill a duty to remember and to fight discrimination, according to the city’s mayor.
A Korean-born artist is passing along a centuries-old dye tradition to art students in Maryland. The class at the Maryland Institute College of Art uses plants like indigo and marigold to create hues of blue and gold through a meticulous process of soaking plants to get the right color.
In a “historic day,” Italy’s high court ruled that same-sex female couples who whose IVF abroad can both be legally recognized as parents. The court found that denying legal recognition to the non-biological mother violates constitutional principles of equality and personal identity and violates the child’s rights to care, education, and emotional continuit from both parents.
Colorado’s governor signed a bill to protect wild bison by classifying them as big game wildlife. The bison would migrate to Colorado from states where they do have protections, so the new law ensures they stay protected across state lines.
Beekeepers in North Carolina are helping revive honeybee populations in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. It’s estimated that 70% to 90% of working beehives in the mountains were destroyed by Helene, so 10-12 beekeeping groups from around the state came together, each took a county, and started working to restore hives.
A clean energy workforce training program at a community college in Central Illinois is creating jobs and investing in underresourced communities. Long known for its Caterpillar, Firestone Tire, and other factories, Decatur, Illinois was funded as a clean energy workforce hub under the state’s 2021 Climate and Equitable Jobs Act — and it’s been incredibly successful.
Municipal officials in the town of Łańcut, Poland, have abolished the country’s last remaining “LGBT Ideology Free” zone. Although legally unenforceable, activists said the “LGBT Ideology Free” zones — in their attempts to stigmatize, exclude, and indirectly discriminate against LGBTQ+ people — sent the message that queer people were not welcome in these areas.
A team of scientists has developed the first mRNA bird-flu vaccine for cattle, which would help reduce the risk of human outbreaks. Researchers have been working to contain outbreaks before they can spread to humans, and early results of the vaccine trial show a strong immune response, though they still have to be peer-reviewed.
Solar energy is booming in Niger, the sunniest country in the world, which is often hit by power cuts. An unprecedented energy shortage in 2023 was a turning point for the country, with sales of increasingly cheap solar panels rising and new projects coming online.
A European Union court ruled that Marine Protected Areas must be safeguarded from harmful fishing practices such as bottom trawling. The court rejected a challenge brought by a German fishing association seeking to annul conservation measures, upholding the legal duty to ensure meaningful protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems at risk from destructive practices.
