Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. No mow FOMO We’ve long been sold on the benefits of even very small wild patches — we’ve covered how to restore your yard’s biodiversity, London’s Wild West End project, sidewalk gardens in the Netherlands and more. So Editorial Director Rebecca Worby was pleased to read about how “No Mow May” is boosting the biodiversity of gardens in England. As the Guardian reports, encouraging wildflowers to grow can help to bring back pockets of grassland.  “The more [the garden grows], the more addicted I get to it,” one gardener told the Guardian. “I just like to see what comes up.” Becca says: Happy No Mow May! Would be great if other places picked this up … and then kept it going all year. Family matters Thanks to New York state’s paid family leave law, more birthing parents are now taking paid postpartum leave in New York City, according to a Gothamist story shared by Executive Editor Will Doig. New data from the city’s health department shows that parents faced fewer barriers to taking leave, such as not being able to afford it and fear of losing their jobs.  However, there is still plenty of room for improvement: Lower-income residents on Medicaid remain less likely to take paid leave than those on private insurance, and racial disparities persist, with white or Asian or Pacific Islander (API) parents the most likely to take paid leave. Will says: New York has worked hard to become a more family-friendly city over the last several years, so it’s good to see that its paid leave law is doing what it’s supposed to. What else we’re reading Colin Jost and Pete Davidson Can Offload Their Boondoggle Ferry by Sinking It, Artificial Reef Experts Say — shared by Rebecca Worby from The City Why this tribe is buying up hundreds of acres of farmland — and flooding it — shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas from NPR Offshore wind farms take shape along Rhode Island’s coast, even as Trump wants to stop them — shared by Rebecca Worby from AP News In other news… In this month’s edition of The Spark, our newsletter about creating positive change, we explored the ways that death teaches us to connect. There is no solution for grief, of course, but we learned about people finding solace in unexpected places — like deaf cafes and grief discos. Want to receive The Spark in your inbox? Subscribe to receive our weekly and monthly newsletters here. The post What We’re Reading: No Mow May Gets Wild appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.