46 Positive Environmental Success Stories - May 2024
The media has an important role to play in combatting climate doom. Therefore, this monthly news round up of positive environmental and climate change news, is designed to spark joy and show that progress is being made. We select two positive news headlines a day from renewable energy and biodiversity to eco-innovation and more. We organise all the articles by the date of publication and provide some environmental and wildlife dates for your diary.
Environmental and Animal Awareness Days In The Next Month
World Environment Day (5th June) is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach, celebrated annually on 5 June since 1973.
World Oceans Day (7th June) is to inform the people of the impact of human actions on our oceans. They achieve this by developing a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, as well as mobilising and uniting the world's population on a project for the sustainable management of the world's oceans.
World Refill Day (16th June) is a global campaign to prevent plastic pollution and help people live with less waste. Refill Day's website offers tips and an app to get started.
World Sea Turtle Day (16th June) is a day used to honour and highlight the importance of sea turtles.
Plastic Free Beauty Day (17th June) highlights the 142 billion units of packaging every year the beauty industry creates. They are calling all brands, consumers, and retailers to join them and reconsider their use of plastic.
Positive News Round up — Wednesday, 1st May
The fifth-largest solar project in America, by the time it's fully built, is moving closer to completion (2026). The first phase of the project should begin sending electricity to the grid this fall (Canary Media)
Eurostar has promised its trains will be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2030. (Euro News)
Positive News Round up — Thursday, 2nd May
B&Q has revealed they have installed collection points to recycle unwanted plastic plant pots. Dropped off pots will be collected and processed into new pots. (Edie)
Amsterdam is utilising blue-green roofs, which absorb rainwater and allow it to be used by building residents to water plants and flush toilets. (The Guardian)
Positive News Round up — Friday, 3rd May
British Gas has developed an online calculator helping homeowners compare the CO2 a heat pump offers. Their calculator tool can be found here. (PV Magazine)
One-in-five new cars sold this year will be battery-powered, with China leading the transition. (Canary Media)
Positive News Round up — Monday, 6th May
A ban on whaling has allowed the Antarctic blue whales numbers to start recovering. The information came from a nearly two-decade study of whale songs recorded in the Southern Ocean. (Yale Environment)
Scientists have discovered what could be the first known smooth hammerhead shark nursery in the Galápagos. (Euro News)
Positive News Round up — Tuesday, 7th May
A solar module recycling process has been developed, transforming lead into less toxic lead monoxide. It has been developed by researchers from India. (PV Magazine)
Switzerland has recorded an increase of 81% from the same period a year earlier in the number of PV installations. About 603 MW were registered for funding in the first three months of the year. (PV Magazine)
Positive News Round up — Wednesday, 8th May
Renewable energy accounted for more than 30% of the world's last year. This is the first time the milestone has been reached, thanks to a rapid rise in wind and solar power. (The Guardian)
Florida is set to make the intentional releasing of balloons illegal to cub microplastics and marine pollution. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to make it illegal. (The New York Times)
Positive News Round up — Thursday, 9th May
A 71% increase has been witnessed in the number of second hand pure electric cars sold, year-on-year. (Edie)
American households electricity will be supported by more renewables. The current forecast is a 3% rise in 2024, with 60% of this growth served by utility-scale solar. Among other renewable sources, wind contributes 19% of 2024 electricity generation growth, and hydropower contributes 13%. (PV Magazine)
Positive News Round up — Friday, 10th May
Wind and solar generated more than a third of the EU’s electricity in April. Coal contributed just 8.6% of the energy mix, compared to 30% in 2023. Gas provided 12.1% of the EU’s electricity — a 22% decline year-on-year. (Euro News)
Conservation efforts, vaccine, and reintroduction efforts are having a positive impact on the number of Brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba). Brazilian government agencies and other conservation organisations, launched a nationwide population management plan, which supported relocating animals to areas where their population has vanished or declined. (Mongabay)
Positive News Round up — Monday, 13th May
The Attorney General for Michigan, Dana Nessel, announced that she plans to sue fossil fuel companies for knowingly contributing to climate change, harming the state’s economy and ways of life. (Grist)
Tim Farron, is seeking to make water company bosses criminally liable for sewage spills. Tim represents the Liberal Democrats party and is their environment spokesman. (iNews)
Positive News Round up — Tuesday, 14th May
Scientists from India have designed a lead-free perovskite solar cell which boasts an efficiency rate of 23.61%. (PV Magazine)
A site designated to host a coal power plant will now home a solar facility supplying 160 MW of PV in Bangladesh. The plans have been agreed by The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and China Huadian Corp. (PV Magazine)
Positive News Round up — Wednesday, 15th May
A herd of 170 bison could help store CO2 emissions equivalent to removing almost 2m cars from the road for a year. The bison were reintroduced by Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania in 2014 and reside in Romania’s Țarcu mountains. (The Guardian)
A proof of concept shows how 1,000 °C can be reached using solar power. Researchers from Switzerland used synthetic quartz to trap solar energy at temperatures over 1,000 °C (1,832 °F). This will help demonstrate a potential role in providing clean energy for carbon-intensive industries which are dominated by fossil fuels. (Techxplore)
Positive News Round up — Thursday, 16th May
The UK's largest consumer-owned wind farm is powered up in Scotland. The wind farm in South Ayrshire is part owned by more than 5,600 people and small firms, with the potential to power around 20,000 households and businesses. (Sky News)
Chanda, an 18-year-old from Zambia, is educating her classmates, many of whom are part of the deaf community, on the impact of climate change. Chanda explained that her role is made difficult due to her prosthetic legs no longer fitting, sign language isn’t a recognised official language in Zambia, and many climate-related terms are not included. (AP News)
Positive News Round up — Friday, 17th May
Plans to develop a 2GW pumped hydro storage project will provide enough clean energy to power one million homes each year. The plant located near Loch Ness in Scotland will also create at least 600 on-site jobs over a six-year construction period costing £3bn. (Edie)
President Joe Biden's new American Climate Corps is designed to address climate change while providing green jobs and potentially alleviating climate anxiety among young people. (Daily Climate)
Positive News Round up — Monday, 20th May
Uber drivers in London will receive a £5,000 grant to help them switch to an EV. The money can be used to purchase a new or used vehicle, benefiting drivers who do not own an electric vehicle (EV). (Euro News)
A new satellite platform will monitor deforestation worldwide. The satellite will provide near-real-time detection of disturbances in all types of vegetation around the world. (Mongabay)
Positive News Round up — Tuesday, 21st May
Utrecht, Netherlands, has become a global leader in sustainable urban design, by putting green roofs on its bus stops. Since launching in 2019, 316 bus shelters have been converted, setting a precedent for other cities to follow. (Positive Eco News)
In an attempt to boost the sale of EV's could swappable batteries be the pivoting point? ManMohan S Sodhi, wrote that India has created a considerable market for (autorickshaws) with swappable batteries, due to government subsidies. (The Conversation)
Positive News Round up — Wednesday, 22nd May
Virgin Media O2 has channelled £500,000 into community-led projects helping to prevent electronic waste and deliver positive social outcomes. The funding is being provided as part of the business’s ‘Time After Time’ project, which is in its second year, helping to give devices like smartphones and laptops a second life, while providing digital access to those in need. (Edie)
The Borrowdale rainforest in the Lake District has declared as a national nature reserve. To celebrate the coronation of King Charles, five nature reserves will be created each year for the next five years. (The Guardian)
Positive News Round up — Thursday, 23rd May
Scientists from Switzerland have been studying making chocolate more sustainable and have found a way to make chocolate healthier and more sustainable. Researchers from ETH Zurich federal technology institute have discovered using the cocoa pod husk can replace granulated sugar. (Euro News)
3.5 million acres of desert has been given a new federal designation to help protect vulnerable wildlife such as the Mojave Desert tortoise. This land will hopefully help the desert tortoise population, which is on California's endangered list. (LA Times)
Positive News Round up — Friday, 24th May
Despite being unsuccessful, a campaign to put Snæfellsjökull on the ballot has raised an awareness of environmental stewardship. Despite the glacier being roughly 700,000 years old, campaigners warn it could vanish altogether within the next half a century. (Positive News)
A solar carport from a French startup offers renewable energy and shade for your car. The concrete structure used is self-weighting and requires no foundations, reducing the construction time. The company claims a 500 kW installation can be completed in fifteen days. (PV Magazine)
Positive News Round up — Monday, 27th May
A Scottish safari park has announced the birth of two female lemur pups native to Madagascar. Sadly, less than 1,000 black-and-white ruffed lemurs remain in the wild, making them endangered. However, conservation efforts and educating communities in Madagascar could play a role in this animal's future. (The Guardian)
Chester Zoo (UK) has opted to switch oil for a heat pump to keep the rhinos warm, despite some early concerns made by one of the keepers, she explained there was “no problem with putting them in any of the other rhino houses.”
Chester Zoo, also utilises heat pumps in its sun bear enclosure, butterfly house and event venues. The zoo plans to further expand their air-source heat pumps in buildings housing giraffes, ostriches, reptiles, and invertebrates. (Bloomberg)
Positive News Round up — Tuesday, 28th May
B&Q announced their commitment to sell only peat-free plants by 2026. This commitment builds on their previous successes of ceased selling peat entirely in 2008, launching a range of peat-free bedding plants in 2014 and in 2023, their entire bagged compost range will be 100% peat-free. (Edie)
Household grocery greenhouse gas emissions could be cut by more than a quarter (26%) by purchasing more environmentally friendly alternative food and drink products. The research conducted by The George Institute for Global Health and Imperial College London found, in one example, swapping a frozen meat lasagna for the vegetarian option—could push the reduction to as much as 71%. (Phys)
Positive News Round up — Wednesday, 29th May
Badger Trust and Wild Justice are asking Defra (The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) to delay the badger cull, until after 4th July. This allows the next successive government to make the decisions and listen to charities campaigning against their cull, presenting scientific information. I wrote about the badger cull here if you want a long read. (Badger Trust)
Artist supply manufacturer, Winsor & Newton, has been awarded the B Corp status. The company has committed and is reducing their hazardous waste, no longer transporting goods by air, increased the use of recycled materials in its packaging, and its UK and French manufacturing sites are powered by green energy. (Positive News)
Positive News Round up — Thursday, 30th May
Out-of-home adverts for high-carbon products, including fossil fuels, are set to be banned by The City of Edinburgh Council. Members also agreed to a ban on adverts promoting airlines, airports, cruise holidays, cars, and vans that produce tailpipe emissions, zero-emission SUVs and promoting the price of petrol and/or diesel. (Edie)
East Harlem, a New York City neighbourhood, is installing green roofs on bus shelters along 125th Street. We also reported on the Netherlands (21st May) who have been converting bus shelters into green habitats. (Positive Eco News)
Positive News Round up — Friday, 31st May
The top ten countries generating the most amount of solar power have been revealed. Currently, China continues to dominate with The United States in second place, followed by India and Japan. (Canary Media)
The Conservative party (UK) has pledged that Persistent fly-tippers will lose their driving licence and even face prison time. However, the Conservative party have weakened many of their environmental pledges since taking power. (iNews)
