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Originally reported and written in July 2022, this story has been republished as part of our archival content. While pursuing a Bachelors in Business Administration (BBA) from England’s Bath University, an important part of Harshit Godha’s day was eating avocado. As a fitness ent
The Better India · Jul 7, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Men’s grooming has always occupied a strange middle ground. Too much and you’re vain. Too little and people notice. For most men, the default settled around soap, a razor, and deodorant, and that was that. Dermatologists have been making the c
The Optimist Daily · Jul 7, 2026
Battered by energy shocks, private Pakistani investment in rooftop solar panels has skyrocketed to the point that they now contribute one-fifth of the total national power supply. The Guardian reviewed data on Pakistan’s energy sector from a variety of research-oriented think tan
Good News Network · Jul 6, 2026
Blind people have been offered fresh hope of seeing again after lab-grown cells restored retinal function in mice. When injected into mice with retinal disease, the special retinal blood cells integrated into the damaged tissue to regenerate blood vessels and restore retinal func
Good News Network · Jul 6, 2026
The Better India · Jul 6, 2026
No kanyaadaan. No emotional vidaai. Just two people choosing each other with equality, consent, and mutual respect at the heart of their wedding. ❤️ Instead of following rituals simply because "that's how it's always been done," this couple reimagined their marriage to reflect th
The Better India · Jul 6, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Shade from solar panels installed above two California irrigation canals reduced water evaporation by up to 70 percent and cut aquatic weed and algae growth by up to 85 percent over a full irrigation season, according to data from Project Nexu
The Optimist Daily · Jul 6, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For years, the go-to response to career difficulty was optimization. If work felt stagnant, or a job wasn’t coming through, the prescription was the same: update your resume, sharpen your skills, find a better angle. The assumption was that th
The Optimist Daily · Jul 6, 2026
A rare 1776 printing of the US Declaration of Independence — one of just 11 known to survive and the only copy outside the United States — has been discovered by a volunteer sorting historical letters and papers at The National Archives in Kew. As the Archives was preparing to op
Good News Network · Jul 5, 2026
After every harvest, Madhavi Guttikonda’s terrace garden is left with dried vines, old stems, weeds, and pruned branches. Most of us clear them away without a second thought. But Madhavi Guttikonda, the Andhra Pradesh-based home gardener behind the Instagram page @madgardener_mad
The Better India · Jul 4, 2026
In one of Australia’s premier wine regions, a woody tourist icon closed for 3 years has reopened to the relief of locals. The second-tallest “fire-lookout tree” in the world, climbing the Gloucester Tree is something of a rite of passage for locals and visitors to Australia’s far
Good News Network · Jul 3, 2026
A team of materials scientists in China have developed a solar-powered device that can produce freshwater from seawater with better economics than bottled water. By creating a weave of nanomaterials and organic polymers which were both durable and highly reflective, they created
Good News Network · Jul 2, 2026
A climate narrator is using OnlyFans to reach new audiences in unlikely places. It turns out, people listen The post Can provocative climate messaging on OnlyFans cut through social media’s noise? appeared first on Positive News.
Positive News · Jul 2, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You brought them home, stuck them in a vase, and two days later they were drooping. Happens to everyone, and it’s frustrating when you paid good money at the farmers’ market. The thing is, sunflowers aren’t that demanding. The difference betwe
The Optimist Daily · Jul 2, 2026
At 5 am, before the city of Noida fully wakes up, Ekta Nahar steps quietly onto her balcony. Her mornings do not begin with bright sunshine or an alarm clock, but with something we rarely experience as city dwellers. The chirping of birds. At first, it is just a few chirps. Then
The Better India · Jul 1, 2026
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. Not easy being green The saga of the algae-filled Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool contin
Reasons to be Cheerful · Jul 1, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Finally, Nepal has marriage equality. On June 18, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a binding directive ordering the government to guarantee equal marriage rights for gender and sexual minorities. The legal fight took nearly 20 years. The court a
The Optimist Daily · Jun 30, 2026
Across Asia, children are living past their 1st birthday at record rates that underscore just how successful the region has been at raising the standards of living. In India, China, and Indonesia—the world’s 3 most populous nations, infant mortality rates have fallen to record lo
Good News Network · Jun 29, 2026
A Critically-Endangered and critically important vulture species has been sighted in a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary for the first time in 10 years. After a poisoning incident decimated the local population of white-rumped vultures, there were substantial efforts made to increase
Good News Network · Jun 29, 2026
A shipwreck off the British coast, including a treasure of hundreds of gold coins, has finally been identified after 30 years. The 400-year-old ship discovered off the coast of Devon, England, has now been identified as the Dutch trading ship ‘Dom van Keulen’, which sailed from M
Good News Network · Jun 28, 2026
The Better India · Jun 28, 2026
As part of new wildlands protection law, the French Government has announced the creation of a new nature reserve in French Guiana spanning 370,000 acres. Called the Rocky Peaks of Armontabo, the reserve includes giant, isolated granite mountains surrounded by intact rainforest o
Good News Network · Jun 26, 2026
For the first time since the Middle Ages, Italy has more woodland than agricultural land. Forests now stretch across 60,000 square miles of the Italian Peninsula, overly concentrated in mountain areas, but which nevertheless represent the gradual reversion of cultivated land to w
Good News Network · Jun 26, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Up to 40 percent of food produced in Africa is lost between harvest and market. Not from drought or pest damage, but from the absence of one thing: refrigeration. The early numbers from solar-powered cold storage are hard to argue with. Provid
The Optimist Daily · Jun 26, 2026
The largest renewable energy infrastructure project in US history is fully operational. The SunZia project is expected to generate and deliver more power than the Hoover Dam and be a reliable energy to the western United States for the next 30 years. The approximately 3,650-megaw
Good News Network · Jun 25, 2026
You may have seen it during a regular grocery run. A packet of turmeric says 'organic'. A bottle of shampoo is labelled 'natural'. A bedsheet brand calls itself 'eco-conscious'. A snack packet highlights 'sustainably sourced ingredients', while another promises 'plastic-neutral p
The Better India · Jun 25, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You’ve probably spent more time than you’d like to admit wondering if something is off with your gut. Not dramatically wrong, just persistently uncomfortable. Bloated after meals for no clear reason. Sluggish in the morning. The kind of thing
The Optimist Daily · Jun 25, 2026
A group in Los Angeles is ensuring that the city’s famous beaches retain enough nature to protect wildlife and the city from harsher storms. “Your beach is still your beach, only better.” That was Tom Ford’s message to any Angelinos who might be indignant at the sight on his nonp
Good News Network · Jun 24, 2026
After a marathon effort to digitize each of the 7.4 million plant and fungi samples in its herbarium, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew has said the result will help “democratize knowledge” while leveraging AI’s incredible computation power to plan conservation strategies, discover n
Good News Network · Jun 24, 2026
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. Crunching the data When Kevin O’Leary — a.k.a. Mr. Wonderful of Shark Tank — decided to g
Reasons to be Cheerful · Jun 24, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM When the afternoon heat hits, and you’ve already had six glasses of water, sometimes the last thing you want is another sip of the plain stuff. Summer is when hydration actually matters most because the heat and humidity push your body to swea
The Optimist Daily · Jun 24, 2026
Most industrial processes need heat, and most heat comes from burning fossil fuels, but armed with €400 million in grants, the European Commission is hoping to change that. The commission has just seen the successful launch of its “industrial heat decarbonization project” auction
Good News Network · Jun 23, 2026
Some animals like salamanders can regenerate entire limbs, and by flipping a few genetic switches scientists have potentially unlocked innate human regeneration. The key is essentially to deprogram the natural response to build scar tissue and reprogram cells to build back bone,
Good News Network · Jun 23, 2026
139 years ago today, The Rocky Mountains Park Act passed Canadian parliament, establishing Banff National Park, the nation’s largest and most famous park. It was modeled on the law that created Yellowstone National Park south of the border just a few years before. Before, there h
Good News Network · Jun 23, 2026
The Better India · Jun 23, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM You probably have something on your to-do list that has been there long enough to feel embarrassing. An email you owe someone. A subscription that sneakily renewed again. A form you have been meaning to file since winter. Every week, it just s
The Optimist Daily · Jun 23, 2026
An English sports reporter has been reunited with a wallet that he never knew he’d lost more than 30 years ago. Among the time capsule treasures was a Leeds United membership card from the 1992-93 Premier League season when he used to cover the Whites for the Yorkshire Evening Po
Good News Network · Jun 22, 2026
For the last 12 years, Gopal, a potter from Uttar Pradesh, has spent his time, money, and energy watering roadside trees. What began with a few buckets of water has grown into a daily mission carried out with a 500-litre water tank. 🌳 He noticed that many saplings were being pla
The Better India · Jun 22, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For the first time, gig workers have binding international labour protections. The International Labour Organization voted June 12 to adopt a convention setting enforceable employment standards for platform workers in ride-hailing and food del
The Optimist Daily · Jun 22, 2026
British startup Bactery says its battery, powered by bacteria, uses nature’s microbes to generate an unending trickle of power—and by stringing the prototypes together they can generate a stream. Bactery founder and CEO Jakub Dziegielowski says the device complements standard ren
Good News Network · Jun 21, 2026
It’s estimated that 30,000 Scottish football fans descended on the city of Boson last week, and the ensuing shenanigans have been so generational that folk songs are being written about it. The World Cup-winning friendships that developed between locals and the Scots went viral o
Good News Network · Jun 21, 2026
What if the bench you're sitting on at an airport was once electronic waste? ♻️✈️ Brothers Vikash and Rahul have found an innovative way to tackle India's growing e-waste challenge by transforming discarded e-waste plastic into stylish, durable furniture. Their recycled products
The Better India · Jun 21, 2026
A woman was stunned when Britain’s longest dragonfly stopped to hitch a ride—on her thumb. Sarah Hawkes came across the striking Golden-Ringed Dragonfly when walking near the Ceiriog River in Wales. The insects can grow up to 4 inches (9cm) with a wingspan just as long. Sarah, wh
Good News Network · Jun 21, 2026
By afternoon in Agra, the heat settles heavily over construction sites, roadside corners and tree-lined stretches where birds gather in search of water. The summer temperature in the city often touches 40 degrees Celsius. The winds are harsh and unforgiving; people and animals st
The Better India · Jun 21, 2026
Chinese scientists have discovered the world’s largest “whale graveyard” in a trench deep below the Indian Ocean—and it teems with life. Bivalves, brittle stars, different kinds of worms, and jellyfish—many of which may be new to science, thrived in what the scientists suggested
Good News Network · Jun 19, 2026
An awesome study that could help clean up rivers world-wide at negligible cost leveraged fungi as a pollution control filter. The mushrooms in question were the very delicious and very helpful turkey tail, and the pollution in question was sewage: notably E. coli bacteria. The ri
Good News Network · Jun 19, 2026
While many in New York City expended every breath in celebration of the Knicks NBA championship win, many others will have held theirs—knowing what happens when passionate American sports fans win titles. Sure enough, the championship for the New York Knickerbockers in 53 years r
Good News Network · Jun 19, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Unlike Mother’s Day, which was swiftly embraced and made official in 1914, Father’s Day spent decades in limbo. Though it finally became a national holiday in 1972, the idea faced resistance for years—ironically, in a society dominated by men.
The Optimist Daily · Jun 19, 2026
In a valuable milestone for the conservation of the Sumatran tiger subspecies, 3 cubs born to a UK zoo have grown old enough to venture out from the maternity den into the enclosure. It’s thought there are less than 400 Sumatran tigers remaining in the wilds of Indonesia, and the
Good News Network · Jun 18, 2026
From the SpaceX Dragon capsule high above the Earth, astronaut Jessica Meir was left stunned and moved by what she was witnessing. As our own blue marble spun around to show its white underbelly, a blast of solar wind had ignited the Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis, which sp
Good News Network · Jun 18, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A dam fell in Iceland last December, the first the country has ever deliberately dismantled. The structure on the River Melsá had long since stopped generating power. Sheep were living in the old powerhouse. “It wasn’t providing any electricit
The Optimist Daily · Jun 18, 2026
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. Networking Sixty-eight quadrillion miles: That unfathomable number represents the estimat
Reasons to be Cheerful · Jun 17, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The California grid has a timing problem. Solar runs from mid-morning through early evening. Demand peaks later. Batteries have bridged part of that gap for years, but only about four hours’ worth. On June 1, a project in Kern County doubled t
The Optimist Daily · Jun 17, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The question seemed reasonable enough: what heat adaptation interventions were already working in Africa’s low-income communities? Lara Dugas, an epidemiologist, and climate scientist Mark New had received funding from the Wellcome Trust’s Hea
The Optimist Daily · Jun 16, 2026
“They said, ‘Cricket is not for girls.’ Deepti Sharma let her performances answer instead. 🏏✨ From practicing on the grounds of Agra to becoming one of the biggest stars in women’s cricket, her journey has been built on grit, discipline, and unwavering belief. Behind her success
The Better India · Jun 15, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM An impressive $14.7 million from the city. $1.3 billion in economic investment returned. $1.4 billion in energy savings. 11,000 jobs created. Those are the results of the Philadelphia Energy Campaign’s first decade, according to a 10-year econ
The Optimist Daily · Jun 15, 2026
A “princely grave” with Celtic connections has been found during construction in Germany. Found in Bad Camburg in the German state of Hesse, the assemblage of gold, armaments, and the iron wagon fittings elevate the discovery to one which has but 2 comparable examples in the whol
Good News Network · Jun 14, 2026
Every summer, before it reaches gift boxes or official addresses, Zardalu begins where it has always belonged: in the orchards of Bhagalpur. The light-yellow mango is known for something people remember even before they take a bite: its fragrance. For generations, this rare varie
The Better India · Jun 14, 2026
As you hold any fabric that has been crafted by artisans across India, gaze at the motifs printed on it. There is a story behind each one of them. While one legend says that a bamboo pen ‘kalam’ was used to come up with the chintz motif pattern, another tells of how the paisley p
The Better India · Jun 13, 2026
The French Polynesian government recently announced it will fully protect 200,000 square miles of ocean, an area about twice as large as Arizona that’s teeming with ocean life. Located near the Austral, Marquesas, and Western Society islands, this new marine preserve, called the
Good News Network · Jun 13, 2026
A new energy-efficient desalination system produces fresh water without chemical additives and transforms leftover salts into useful materials. Communities from California to the Middle East currently rely on desalination plants to convert ocean water to fresh water. But, common
Good News Network · Jun 12, 2026
While most travellers head to popular hill stations when the summer heat sets in, the northeast holds some of the country's earliest and most extraordinary sunrises. India spans nearly 30 degrees of longitude — by the time its first light reaches Mumbai or Delhi, it has already s
The Better India · Jun 12, 2026
On most mornings, the line in front of Masaka City Hall forms before the door opens. There are those in search of jobs and others looking to grow small businesses. A few come with complaints about broken streetlights, unsafe roads or neighborhoods they feel city leaders have forg
Reasons to be Cheerful · Jun 12, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM What if scraps from a dinner could become a habitat? That’s the basic premise of the Shells for Shorelines program in a meaningful sense: the shells of oysters eaten at restaurants in Orange County can become the foundation on which new oyster
The Optimist Daily · Jun 12, 2026
A globally-important colony for seabirds has been sold to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to ensure the 100,000 gannets and 10,000 puffins that live there will benefit from top-notch conservation management. Owned by the Scottish noble Dalrymple family for 320 years
Good News Network · Jun 11, 2026
The clothes hanging in Lydia Wendt’s loft atelier in Los Angeles’ Fashion District shimmer in earthy tones: an orange sleep set dyed with California poppies, a coral lounge set colored with madder root, undyed tees in off-white cotton. Pointing to the dark disk of a dried sunflow
Reasons to be Cheerful · Jun 11, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Every orange you eat comes with a second product most people toss without thinking. The peel is packed with limonene and other essential oils, citric acids, flavonoids, polyphenols, and antimicrobial compounds. Gardeners have been finding uses
The Optimist Daily · Jun 11, 2026
As May drew to a close, a US district court issued a ruling that the federal government’s attempts to undercut Endangered Species Act protections for the sake of coal mining were illegal. Coal mines had been allowed to rely on a streamlined process that did not require an analysi
Good News Network · Jun 10, 2026
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. Fill your cup During the World Cup, soccer fans who come to watch games at Toronto’s FIFA
Reasons to be Cheerful · Jun 10, 2026
From the hills of Meghalaya to the biggest stage in South Asian football, Sanfida Nongrum has turned determination into history. The daughter of a driver, Sanfida grew up with big dreams and the determination to chase them. Through years of hard work and perseverance, she earned
The Better India · Jun 10, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Monterey Park voted 86 percent to 14 percent last Tuesday to permanently ban data centers from the city. It is the first US city to do it through a ballot initiative. Campaign organizer Steven Kung called it “a landslide victory.” On the reaso
The Optimist Daily · Jun 10, 2026
This rather charismatic mollusk is the white abalone, a Critically-Endangered species of sea snail that’s Wanted: Alive in the state of California. That’s because it hasn’t been seen in 5 years after populations declined 99% since the 1970s. On May 12th, 2026, a research mission
Good News Network · Jun 9, 2026
Seeking to preen and pamper its beaches ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics, authorities in 2 Los Angeles districts needed to figure out how to get thousands of pounds of trash out of the LA and San Gabriel rivers. They turned to the best in class; a man who among those whose passi
Good News Network · Jun 9, 2026
For most people, grief slowly fades into memory. But for Marathi actor Sayaji Shinde, it took root in the soil of Maharashtra and grew into forests. Years ago, when his mother was in her final moments, he stood beside her and made a promise. He told her he would plant 5,000 nativ
The Better India · Jun 9, 2026
If you’ve travelled by train in India, you have almost certainly used this invention. You are on an Indian Railways train, somewhere between stations, and you step into the washroom to wash your hands. The tap does not turn or twist. You simply push it with a short, firm press an
The Better India · Jun 9, 2026
This wasn’t just a wedding, it was a movement. 🌿💚 When Neha Kasturi and Shankar B celebrated their special day with 2,000 guests, they made one bold decision: no single-use plastic. From digital invitations and banana leaf plates to biodegradable cutlery, composting systems, an
The Better India · Jun 9, 2026
A new campaign is using sport’s global reach to stop one million pieces of plastic reaching seas and rivers The post The Commonwealth Games relay taking aim at ocean plastic appeared first on Positive News.
Positive News · Jun 8, 2026
Last month, a California condor flew into Oregon before returning after several hundred miles to its home in Redwoods National Park, becoming the first condor recorded in the state since 1904. Taking a closer look, condor conservationists among northern California’s Yurok tribe c
Good News Network · Jun 8, 2026
At the edge of the Little Rann of Kutch lies Dasada village, where a riot of colours is brewing. Several members of the Mir community sit with a spread of beadwork before them. They will turn these into stunning accessories, which will then find their way to metropolitan cities a
The Better India · Jun 8, 2026
Also, 120 years ago today, President Teddy Roosevelt signed into law the Antiquities Act. The Act was intended to allow the President to set aside certain valuable public natural areas as park and conservation land. The 1906 act stated that it was intended for: “… the protection
Good News Network · Jun 8, 2026
As one settles down for a meal at FarmLore, a farm-to-table dining experience in Bengaluru, a good time awaits. Not only will the food exude a sort of finesse and delectability that will be spoken of for days following the meal, but the very authenticity of the experience is some
The Better India · Jun 7, 2026
Before-and-after photos from Herefordshire, England, show how nature’s beauty has returned to a riverside previously obliterated by a local farmer. The farmer used an 18-ton digger to dredge a section of the River Lugg near Leominster, and stripped every tree from a mile-long str
Good News Network · Jun 6, 2026
Orca sightings in the North Sea are creating excitement for tourists and fishermen—some of whom can’t remember ever seeing them before. Researchers report in 2025 there were five verified sightings off the Northumberland coast in northeast England, after having been rarely seen f
Good News Network · Jun 6, 2026
Europe’s rivers flowed more freely, scientists hailed a new pill for pancreatic cancer, and a ‘lost species' was found, plus more The post What went right this week: reconnecting Europe’s rivers, plus more appeared first on Positive News.
Positive News · Jun 5, 2026
Europeans breathed easier, silenced US scientists hit back, and a healthy diet was linked to lower dementia risk, plus more The post What went right this week: the good news that matters appeared first on Positive News.
Positive News · Jun 5, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Chances are you’ve probably already had this conversation with someone. Maybe more than once. Morning shower people and night shower people tend to hold their positions, and nobody really changes anyone else’s mind. But when you actually ask t
The Optimist Daily · Jun 5, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For years, the conversation about children and screens has been aimed squarely at children. How much time, what content, and at what age? Sweden’s public health agency has now turned the question around. This past Monday, the agency issued new
The Optimist Daily · Jun 5, 2026
Rising living standards, shorter working hours and a liveable climate are achievable, say the authors of a new study The post Radical change can lead to a fairer and greener world, says new report appeared first on Positive News.
Positive News · Jun 4, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Street trees reduce urban heat. That much is established. What’s less settled is whether they’re enough on their own, or whether the way a city plants matters as much as how much it plants. New field research from Melbourne, Munich, and Hong K
The Optimist Daily · Jun 4, 2026
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. Marketable skills With few jobs available, youth in the U.K. are taking their skills to m
Reasons to be Cheerful · Jun 3, 2026
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Zebra striping, the practice of alternating each alcoholic drink with a non-alcoholic one, is catching on: 34 percent of UK adults reported trying it in 2025. The strategy does help. Just not quite in the way people think it does. The actual m
The Optimist Daily · Jun 3, 2026
New research suggests vast underwater seaweed forests could play a much bigger role in slowing climate change The post Greenland sheds new light on underwater carbon sink appeared first on Positive News.
Positive News · Jun 1, 2026
New life-changing inventions, a global triumph for renewables, and England’s first Dutch-style ‘cycle street’, plus more The post What went right this week: life-changing inventions, plus more appeared first on Positive News.
Positive News · May 29, 2026