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The Year in Cheer
Happy New Year! And here it is, our annual roundup of the many surprising ways the world has changed for the better since January 1. We hope it makes you feel warmer about the year behind us, and calibrates your optimism for the year ahead.
(Note that some of these items link to “What We’re Reading” columns, which feature multiple stories. In those cases, you may need to scroll down a bit to find the story you’re looking for.)
In the 1970s, there were only three fish species left in the Seine. Today, nearly 40 have been officially registered, with new species turning up in the French river all the time.
Congestion pricing in New York City halved traffic accidents and resulting injuries in its first 12 days in operation.
Lithuania has more than halved its suicide rate.
Over 120,000 “hedgehog highways” now connect about 240,000 gardens across the U.K.
A hedgehog going through a Hedgehog Highway. Credit: Christopher Morgan
The world’s most ambitious oyster reef restoration is nearing completion in the Chesapeake Bay, with more than 1,700 acres of reefs now revitalized thanks to millions of tiny mollusks.
In Pittsburgh city parks, it takes a crew of 12 goats roughly 12 days to clear one acre of land of invasive and damaging plants, reducing the need for harmful herbicides.
Seattle provides each adult resident with four $25 vouchers they can donate to local political candidates of their choice.
Swedish company Circulose can process old fabric into a material that can be used to manufacture new clothing — enough for around 150 million new t-shirts per year.
In the 1920s, there were just 54 European bison, all in captive areas. Thanks to rewilding efforts, there are now around 10,000.
A European bison stands near the woods. Credit: Szczepan Klejbuk / Shutterstock
In Kansas City, the largest U.S. city to adopt a zero-fare transit policy, bus ridership is about 24 percent higher than in other similar cities.
There are over 2,600 community-led seed libraries in the U.S., where people can “borrow” seeds, plant them, and later “return” them from their own crop in the next growing cycle.
In 2024, energy-efficient heat pumps outsold gas furnaces in the U.S. for the third year in a row — by 27 percent.
Conservation organizations have collaborated with authorities and local communities in Indonesia, Peru and Costa Rica to establish 30 surf-protected areas. The habitats surrounding surf breaks store 88.3 million metric tons of carbon worldwide.
Since 2004, TravelEyes has run more than 1,000 tours for over 20,000 travelers, connecting blind and visually impaired folks with sighted guests — and opening up a world of adventure.
In Awra Amba, Ethiopia, the community pays for young people to study at universities in cities. The college graduation rate is six times higher than that of the general population in Ethiopia.
Chattanooga, Tennessee, has transformed empty public school classrooms into 12 child care “micro-centers” for the children of school teachers and other staff.
In the last decade, Indian NGO Goonj has provided over 2,000 families with wedding kits made up of repurposed wedding dresses, shoes, glass bangles, cosmetics, bed sheets, suitcases, blankets, utensils and more. These kits help low-income families avoid wedding debt traps that are hard to recover from.
A bride-to-be admires a Goonj wedding dress. Courtesy of Goonj
By deconstructing a building instead of demolishing it, a project near Grenoble in France reduced CO2 emissions by 373 metric tons, the equivalent of producing 16,000 pairs of jeans or flying around the world 39 times in an airplane.
New York is providing unconditional cash support to 161 pregnant women who are homeless, at risk of losing housing, or facing domestic violence.
In North Carolina, the Healthy Opportunities Pilot provides assistance to nearly 30,000 low-income residents with deliveries of food, rides to doctors’ appointments and other services. Early research shows the state is spending about $85 less in medical costs per month for each person participating in the pilot.
Using “gravity batteries,” 20 million acres of brownfields and former mine lands in the U.S. could generate around 1,300 gigawatts of solar power annually — enough to power over 200 million homes each year.
England’s National Health Service has begun transporting urgent blood samples between London hospitals by drone, cutting journey times down from 30 minutes to just two minutes.
In the Kebun Baru area of Singapore, 10 murals — each depicting a distinctive Singaporean food-related item — are helping residents with dementia find their way home.
Two people painting a mural on a wall to help guide those with dementia. Courtesy of Dementia Singapore
In the last 10 years, Magdas Hotel in Vienna has integrated over 100 refugees into the job market. It currently employs 43 people from all over the world, with around 20 languages spoken on the team.
Once-dilapidated Route 66 motels are being transformed into affordable housing.
Following the 2017 Tubbs Fire, Santa Rosa created the Resilient City Permit Center to help residents get permits quickly. Of the homes lost in the fire, 80 percent have since been rebuilt.
According to Our World in Data, global emissions of local air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (which causes acid rain), nitrogen oxides, and black and organic carbon have probably passed their peak.
Two years ago, the New York City Housing Authority replaced steam radiators with 72 eco-friendly heat pumps at a Queens public housing complex. The heat pump window units yield an estimated 87 percent energy savings compared to steam heat.
Stockholm builds between 500 and 1,000 “tree pits” per year, helping trees thrive in paved-over urban spaces.
A mental health peer mentor program in Great Falls, Montana, is responsible for a 95 percent decrease in the number of sixth graders struggling with depression and anxiety that are presenting to the ER.
A school in Houston has planted nearly 20 acres of native prairies and grasses, which can absorb three to four times as much water as manicured grass.
Since its launch in 2016 at the Calabar Festival and Carnival in Nigeria’s Cross River State, the Wise Up Campaign has reached over 500,000 young people with HIV counseling and testing.
Wise Up Calabar volunteers perform an HIV prevention-themed song for the crowd at the Carnival Christmas Village. Credit: Ogar Monday
In 2005, the Clear Lake Water Authority in southeast Houston bought a former golf course and created five massive detention ponds to hold 100 million gallons of stormwater. This saved 200 houses in the immediate area from flooding when Hurricane Harvey passed through in 2017.
120 years after a bison herd was cobbled together from multiple herds in Texas and Montana, Yellowstone bison have finally become their own single, genetically healthy interbreeding population.
FallingFruit.org is an interactive, open-source map that marks more than 1.6 million edible plants in urban spaces around the world, from Berlin’s apple orchards to the mulberry trees of Los Angeles.
As the Los Angeles wildfires raged, Best Friends Animal Society pulled 90 cats and 41 dogs from local shelters to help free up space for four-legged survivors. Most of the shelter pets were immediately welcomed into foster homes.
In a practice that dates back centuries, communities around the world are creating their own currencies to keep local economies strong and resilient. In 2015 it was estimated that almost 400 of them are active in Spain alone.
Yemen now has an estimated 1.3 million beehives, some 100,000 more than three years ago.
A beekeeper lays out a net near an apiary. Credit: Adel Bishr
There are at least 4,449 Safe Spaces across the U.K., most in banks and pharmacies, that give domestic abuse victims a lifeline to seek support. A similar effort in the U.S. — Safe Places — has around 1,500 participating businesses, including hair salons and grocery stores.
Across the United States, at least 430 cemeteries now offer green burials, challenging the funeral industry’s environmental footprint while healing the land.
Since launching its net-zero program, Minnesota-based Sunrise Banks has received $5.5 million in deposits and has loaned out nearly $22 million. Projects eligible for net-zero financing include clean energy, energy reduction, efficiency updates, green buildings and clean transportation.
Deaf-in-Tech, a program designed to teach coding through sign language for Nigeria’s Deaf community, has trained over 1,000 individuals, mentored more than 250 people and helped 20 organizations develop disability-inclusive policies. At least 32 graduates are now employed in technical roles across various organizations, while more than 25 have secured internships.
Victor Oricha (standing), a Deaf-in-Tech facilitator, working with students. Courtesy of Deaf-in-Tech
The Central Himalayan Rural Action Group restored 716 freshwater springs between 2008 and 2019 in the Himalayan region. Since 2019, the organization has also helped develop the springshed restoration capacities of other NGOs, and their combined efforts have resulted in over 6,000 springs being restored.
To fund government operations, many cities, counties and states try to collect “room and board” fees from people who served time in jail. A Pennsylvania county ended the practice and forgave more than $65 million in lodging fees, allowing formerly incarcerated people to avoid building debt and move forward with their lives.
An immersion center in North Carolina is printing its own books to combat the loss of the 85 symbols that make up the Cherokee syllabary.
Since 2012, Thread Together has saved around 1.7 million unsold clothing items that would have ended up in landfills, and distributed them to those in need across Australia.
Gas-powered lawn equipment produces as much fine particulate pollution as 234 million cars. Now, rebates and other perks are encouraging Americans to go electric.
In Sri Lanka, a community of women conduct free swim and surf sessions for young girls and women. In its first six years, they’ve trained 150 women and girls to surf and swim.
Sri Lanka is one of Asia’s leading surf tourism destinations, but social norms and fears keep many women from participating. Credit: Ruaridh Kidd
Up to 5,000 people tune in every week to a Norwegian news magazine program made by and for people with learning disabilities.
Nearly 13 million tegel, or tiles, have been removed in the Netherlands since 2020, as Dutch citizens tear up sidewalks to plant flowers.
As scientists try to understand how music therapy can impact our bodies and minds, research has shown that music can reduce pain perception by 20 percent.
The ocean conservation nonprofit Force Blue works with more than 40 veterans to tackle everything from shoreline restoration and coral planting to turtle surveys and shipwreck assessments.
Over 300 blind and low-vision women have participated in free Hair & Care workshops, which help them feel more included, confident and self-reliant.
Over the last decade, a Nashville crafting thrift store has diverted more than one million pounds of arts and crafts materials from landfills, while providing over 37,400 hours of job coaching, volunteering and employment for adults with disabilities.
Focusing on how natural soundscapes affect human wellbeing, the University of British Columbia found that heart rates slowed by an average of 6.7 beats per minute when immersed in quiet environments.
Recording along the Hoh River Trail in Olympic National Park in Washington. Credit: Nick McMahon
A Penn State survey found around 70 percent of cargo bike riders spent $200 or less on repairs, accessories and maintenance over a year, and more than half of them use their cargo bike at least four times a week for errands or taking children to school and other activities.
82 percent of participants in a program promoting weekly conversations reported feeling less lonely, and 100 percent reported feeling a sense of community. Some said it was the first time they’d felt heard in years.
As more Nebraska schools teach special ed students right alongside their peers, the percentage of third graders with disabilities who were proficient in math increased from 18 percent to 29 percent, and the graduation rate for special ed students rose by five percentage points.
Barcelona’s service that helps residents exercise their “energy rights” prevented 168,762 households from having their power or water supplies cut off.
Over 15,000 military veterans have taken part in Heroes to Hives, a nine-month program that combines beekeeping education and training with mindfulness and therapeutic practices.
Strong, curved and fire-resistant SuperAdobe buildings — made of dirt, sandbags, wire and water — exist in over 60 countries, including Venezuela, Japan and Colombia.
A row of SuperAdobe structures. Courtesy of CalEarth
Thanks to a nationwide effort to house people, by 2020 just 0.62 people per 1,000 were homeless in Norway.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is in the process of building 62 miles of new bike lanes.
With an all-electric fleet of 30 buses, Zion is the first national park to fully transition to zero-emissions shuttles.
Unhoused San Diegans can join a weekly 20-mile bicycle ride, and eventually, after clocking 100 miles, receive a bike of their own.
A study found that for every 10 percent increase in visible street-level greenery, the risk of postpartum depression drops by more than 4 percent.
In an experiment in New Orleans, students who received a no-strings $50 weekly payment were more likely to attend school, build financial literacy and save money.
A mobile app and outreach program has helped 25,000 Pakistani women understand breast cancer risks and learn to do self-exams.
A tree-planting effort using the DNA of the world’s mightiest trees could help save the world’s last old-growth forests from extinction.
A French supermarket installed 50 square meters of in-ground solar panels in a corner of its parking lot to reduce its energy bill. In one year, the panels produced the equivalent of 7,000 hours of use for five cash registers.
About 50 percent of the data in Australia’s biodiversity database now comes from citizen scientists — everyday Australians sharing photos on the platform iNaturalist.
By avoiding electric fridges and using low-tech cooling caves, the Kashmiri village of Dudran saves an estimated 7,100 kilograms of carbon emissions annually.
Dudran village, also called the “Milk Village.” Credit: Safina Nabi
A program in California has repurposed over 75,000 pounds of what would be considered seafood waste to serve over 88,000 healthy school lunches.
The Port of Miami’s $125 million project to let cruise ships plug into onshore power has reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 2,470 cars from the road.
Over the last 13 years, Illinois has reduced invasive carp density in upriver areas on the Mississippi by 95 percent.
The IEEE Smart Cities Contest named a rural German village of just 1,750 residents the world’s smartest city for its innovations that connect residents — demonstrating that a town doesn’t need to be big to think big.
‘Plastic Cup’ competitions are cleaning up rivers in Hungary. Afloat on boats they built themselves, teams of volunteers have removed over 450 tons of plastic waste from the Danube River and its tributaries.
Around 4,000 solar panels have been installed across 28 social housing blocks in London’s Hackney neighborhood, producing one megawatt of energy — a fifth of the blocks’ energy needs.
Researchers in Texas found that people over age 50 who used computers, smartphones, the internet, or a mix did better on cognitive tests than those who avoided tech or used it less often.
Germany is arguably the “risky playground” capital of the world, home to about 400 play spaces where putting kids at risk is the point.
“I’ve made new friends and I don’t sit in front of the computer all day,” says one risky playground regular. Credit: Peter Yeung
In 2020, France’s ninth-largest city, Bordeaux, produced just three percent of its own energy. By the end of 2026, the proportion is set to reach 41 percent.
To give new asylum seekers a meaningful way to spend time and connect with the community, a group of Austrian locals and refugees convinced a municipal government to give them a 2.5-acre plot of land abutting a refugee center for an intercultural garden where folks can cultivate flowers and friendships.
A 2020 study found that almost 94 percent of families polled in India practiced some form of massage on their newborns — an age-old practice that modern medicine is now working to refine.
More than 129 cities and local governments across the U.S. — from San Francisco to New York City — have adopted policies to encourage or require all-electric buildings. Five states have also passed such policies.
An international initiative is breeding and releasing 50 to 75 endangered leopard sharks per year, an ambitious pace that could reestablish a viable population within a decade.
In 2021, just three percent of Moldova’s energy came from renewables. Now, the average is up to 25 percent — and can reach about 40 percent on particularly sunny and windy days.
A field of sunflowers in Moldova. Credit: Nomad Pixel / Shutterstock.
Thanks to interior mud walls, a high-rise apartment in India can stay about nine degrees cooler than the outside heat, helping cut electricity use and lowering carbon footprints.
Over 7,000 U.S. towns and cities have implemented pay-as-you-throw waste systems.
City-supported farms are making St. Louis more absorbent, and have kept nearly 100 million gallons of wastewater out of the Mississippi River.
More than one million balcony solar systems have been registered in Germany, allowing apartment dwellers and renters to participate in the green energy transition.
Moldova has seen the number of children living in institutional care drop from 17,000 to 700. By 2027, the goal is to have none.
More than two million New Yorkers voted in this year’s mayoral election — double the number of four years ago, according to The New York Times.
A nonprofit has repurposed more than 6,000 guns, turning them into garden tools and art.
A German nonprofit is working with 250 volunteers who provide their space, time and painstaking daily care to safeguard 35 endangered species — sometimes in their own homes.
A year after a dam in Washington state was removed, the water temperature transformed from 75 degrees — lethal to baby salmon — and returned to what it should be: Mid-50s in fall and spring, and about 62 degrees in the summertime.
A gang tattoo removal clinic in San Diego serves more than 50 unique clients per year, helping them start fresh, while also training the next generation of dermatology students.
One bucket of paint at a time, people are painting crosswalks across Los Angeles to protect pedestrians.
Illustration/animation by johavel / Shutterstock
The post The Year in Cheer appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
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