Although it sometimes seems our world is falling apart at the seams, there is a lot going on that is good. Once in a while, I like to point out a few of those things, compliments of Blue Crab Collective, which is a collection of activists, artists and writers who are trying to make this a better world. Details of these and many more articles are available at bluecrabcollective.com. (Disclosure: I am a founding member of Blue Crab Collective.)
Enjoy.
+ Power plants burn the planet’s dirtiest fossil fuel, but scientists have found that the coal ash it leaves behind could contain as much as 11 million tons of rare earth elements — nearly eight times the amount the U.S. has in domestic reserves.
+ Ecuador was the first country in the world to establish that nature holds legal rights. Now, the nation’s Constitutional Court has determined that coastal marine ecosystems have those rights, including the right to restoration, and that the government will act against anyone who violates them.
+ Several states are lowering electricity costs for low-income households by letting them share energy from community solar projects.
+ An innovative farm in Virginia promises it will grow 4 million pounds of strawberries this year on less than one acre. It’s called vertical farming.
+ Large-scale wooden buildings are growing in popularity globally as builders move away from emissions-heavy steel and concrete. Backers say that spending time in wooden buildings also can help improve our wellbeing. Sweden and Scandinavia are leading the way.
+ A tiny species of microalga named chlorella vulgaris is rapidly becoming the new champion of superfoods. It combines high nutritional power with sustainable production methods, and it might be a game-changer in terms of global food security.
+ Tiny plastic beads that are added to some cleansers and beauty products add to the plastic waste that is engulfing our world. However, researchers at MIT have
developed a class of biodegradable materials that could replace those beads, break down into harmless sugars and amino acids, and take a giant step toward cleaning our planet.
+ More Native Americans sought public office in 2024 than ever before, and the numbers grow every year. Notably, most of the candidates were women.
+ Kenya is dedicated to planting 15 billion trees by 2032, enough to restore 30 percent of its land to a tree cover, and it’s tapping into the goodwill and participation of its citizens to get it done.
+ Islamabad offers a free bus service to working women, students and teachers so that they will have reliable, safe and easy transportation across the city. Officials say the pink buses address transportation issues that often serve as a barrier to girls’ education.
+ Maritime shipping, which uses 300 million tons of fuel every year, causes 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. To combat that, a state-owned company in China has built a 10,000-ton containership that is fully electric, and it recently put the ship into service.
+ Until recently, areas contaminated by industrial operations were either left alone or bulldozed with the contaminated material hauled off to a landfill. But the former was wasteful and the latter was expensive and dangerous, so a California ecologist found an inexpensive way to turn those areas into flowering meadows – by planting mushrooms.
+ Emerging research is turning up solid evidence that nature may be as important to good mental and physical health as diet, exercise and sleep. Even looking at trees from a hospital window has been shown to help.
+ It was a long time coming, but thanks to years of construction and solid political leadership, California is now producing more energy from clean sources than the state uses. By depending on solar panels, wind, geothermal sources and hydropower, the state is proving that it is possible to run a large modern economy on clean energy.
+ Most all the nearly 620 ferries that operate in the United States rely on diesel engines that spew more harmful gases into the air than almost any other commercial harbor craft. San Francisco, however, has just launched the world’s first hydrogen ferry that spews nothing but water vapor and a little heat. The goal is for all short-run ferries in California to produce zero emissions by the end of 2025.
+ Overgrazing was threatening to convert much of Jordan’s countryside into deserts, but then the country revived a tradition that Bedouins used more than 1,400 years ago. The tradition is called himas, an Arabic word that translates as ”protected places.” By bridging tradition, culture, conservation and even religious faith, it sets aside lands for rotational grazing that protects them from hunting, logging and other extractive uses, and it has been a ringing success.
+ Cement production injects a significant amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, so a California company has invented a solution: cement-free concrete that exceeds trade standards for strength and durability, emits close to zero CO₂ during its manufacture, and over time can even absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere. It could be a game-changer for construction everywhere.
+ Strong evidence shows that America badly needs more Black doctors, but the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on affirmative action in higher education is resulting in medical schools training fewer Black persons to become doctors. To help rectify that, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg pledged to donate $600 million to four historically Black medical schools, stipulating that the money must be used as scholarships.
+ Landfills account for more than 17 percent of human-caused methane pollution, making them the third highest-emitting U.S. sector for the pollutant, trailing only agriculture and oil and gas. And yet, controlling emissions from landfills costs far less than it does to achieve similar reductions in other sectors. The EPA has taken notice of this, and a crackdown on landfill gas emissions might be coming soon.
+ It is a well-established fact that electric fields accelerate healing in chronic wounds, so electric bandages were bound to come – and now they have arrived. Battery-charged bandages have been animal-tested with remarkable results, so they soon will be available to treat slow-healing wounds caused by diabetes and other chronic illnesses that could significantly increase the risk of amputation and death.
+ Instead of spending or investing the fortune her grandmother left her, Marlene Engelhorn asked the public to help her decide what charities she should give it to. Now a group of 50 publicly chosen citizens has decided. The 25 million euros (about $26.8 million) will be divided among 77 organizations.
from the Blue Crab Collective Bookshop
- Nourishing Resistance
Stories of Food, Protest, and Mutual Aid - Work Less
New Strategies for a Changing Workplace - Mother Emanuel
Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church - Tools to Save Our Home Planet
A Changemaker’s Guidebook - Something Between Us
The Everyday Walls of American Life, and How to Take Them Down
