no. 112: It's August

Hey friend,

Missed you! Welcome back to the Friday Good Newsletter.

Like it or not, welcome to August.

Since the last time we chatted, I've been watching a lot of the Paris Olympics, getting close to the end of the hope-packed book *Not The End of the World, and I volunteered to help re-green Prospect Park, Brooklyn's largest and most magnificient park.

We shoveled, wheelbarrowed, and spread hundreds of pounds of mulch to areas with degraded soil, and a kind soul came over after a few hours to thank us and hand over two free pizzas for some instant karma! Besides the pizza, it was incredibly rewarding to see the results of our efforts right in front of us, and I plan on stopping by over the next few months to see the grass thrive there.

If you have the chance to help clean or improve your local park, I highly recommend it!

But before that, let's hear about this week's good news...

Friday, July 26

A new process could help us finally solve recycling of modern fabrics by breaking down any blend of cotton, polyester, nylon and spandex into building block molecules that can then be turned into new materials. And the process only takes 15 minutes (Science Advances)

Hawai’i joined California, Oregon and Washington in banning deep sea mining in state waters to protect this fragile, mostly undiscovered marine ecosystem, which will also hopefully push other states and countries to follow (HPR)

New Orleans just received $50M in funding from the EPA to expand household solar, plant thousands of trees, construct 7 miles of protected bike lanes, and expand their bike share program (NOLA)

New York City’s congestion pricing still has a chance as several advocacy groups are suing governor Hochul in the state Supreme Court arguing the cancellation violates New Yorker’s constitutional right to “clean air and water, and a healthful environment” (AP)

Monday, July 29

A secret rainforest in Mozambique called Mabu is a “sky island” because it’s elevated and isolated from the surrounding area with at least 25 unique species and is now a community-protected area to prevent logging and mining (Jonah Fisher|BBC)

London’s controversial Ultra Low Emissions Zone expansion where polluting cars are charged a fee to enter has proven to be a success per a new report showing a reduction in harmful nitrogen oxide levels equivalent to removing 200,000 cars from the road for a year (Phys)

After years of deliberation, South Africa just signed a monumental bill making every city create a climate adaptation plan and all levels of government consider environmental impacts in decision making (Cristen Hemingway Jaynes|Ecowatch)

A new board game called Pampero has players recreate Uruguay’s real-life success of increasing renewables from almost nothing to nearly half of their energy mix in just 15 years, providing an accessible and fun way to learn about real progress (Alison F. Takemura|Canary Media)

Tuesday, July 30

The Machángara river in Ecuador is now legally required to be cleaned by the government after a court ruled its rights were violated since the nation legally recognizes the rights of natural features to not be degraded or polluted (Angela Symons|Euronews)

NYC’s Summer Streets program started again and will close off almost 20 miles of roads across all boroughs on the next 5 Saturdays from 7am - 3pm letting over half a million people walk and bike in car-free zones (Brianna Perry|Secret NYC)

Mineral mining could completely end before 2050 by implementing just 6 solutions per a new report which mainly focus on efficiency and reusing the minerals in used batteries which would unlock a self-sufficient battery we need for a circular economy (RMI)

Community win: Sheri (on Instagram) commented that her community is becoming a Blue Zone where people live longer and healthier lives based on science-backed policies thanks to support from three mayors and their major hospital.

^ You can also write your story in a comment down below

Wednesday, July 31

Lying in politics will be illegal in Wales and politicians found guilty of deliberately deceiving the public will be disqualified from office if the nation’s new law passes which would the first in the world to rebuild political trust following a petition signed by 200,000 people (Hannah Partos|Positive. News)

The Internet of Animals with thousands of tiny global trackers will monitor wild animal behavior to provide unprecedented insight into previously secret information and help scientists truly understand what drives global changes and transform conservation (Hillary Rosner|Yale e360)

A new genetically engineered black soldier fly just dropped from Australian scientists who believe the flies could consume our organic waste and prevent it from ending up in landfills or creating methane and instead turn the waste into fuels or animal feed (Graham Readfearn|The Guardian)

Community win: Bumps (on Instagram) is applying for a masters in freshwater ecology to study freshwater research and conservation.

Thursday, August 1

Dark oxygen has just been discovered in the deep ocean where metal nodules lie in complete darkness yet create the element we breathe without photosynthesis, further proving deep sea mining shouldn’t happen as 827 marine scientists from 44 countries petition to stop it before it starts, which I’ll link so you can add your name (Victoria Gill|BBC)

A new robot called Maximo who might be WALLE 2.0 is installing solar panels twice as fast as humans for cheaper to speed up clean energy and do the physical work so people are safer to do complementary jobs (Brad Plumer|NYT)

Carbon credits were found to be mostly ineffective per evidence from the Science Based Targets initiative which doesn’t sound like good news but means companies must prioritize actually reducing emissions instead of just offsetting (Phys)

Community win: Stevie shared (on TikTok) that the LA zoo has hatched a record 17 critically endangered California condors set to be released into the wild.

Bonus stories

🍌 When life gives you bananas, make... clothing and power?

🥗 Going vegan could literally make you younger

🌳 Trees already do enough, but now they suck methane too

WAIT!

Before you go off and have an amazing day, mind taking 20 seconds to hit reply (or reach out to jacob@jacobsimonsays.com) and tell me how I can make this newsletter even better?

Thanks in advance :)

-Jacob

Disclaimer:

Links marked with * are affiliate, meaning I get a small kickback when you use them which helps support this newsletter at no additional expense to you (usually a discount).