42 Positive Environmental Success Stories — May 2026

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 pick two positive headlines a day, ranging from renewable energy and preservation to eco-innovation, and arrange the articles according to their publication date. We also include some dates related to nature and wildlife for your calendar.

Environmental and Animal Awareness Days In The Next Month

30 Days Wild – (Monday 1st to Tuesday 30th June 2026) The UK's largest nature challenge, 30 Days Wild, encourages people to register and engage in a single “random act of wildness” each day for the duration of 30 days in June.

World Refill Day – (16th June 2026) World Refill Day, encourages people to part ways with single use products and embrace the reusable revolution from water bottles, cutlery and packaging.

Clean Air Day – (18th June 2026) Clean Air Day is the most extensive campaign against air pollution. This annual event is designed to facilitate a positive transformation in public awareness and action regarding air pollution.

Positive News Round up — Friday, 1st May

A biotech business has submitted a worldwide patent application to upcycle coffee grounds into a flavor enhancer that could be used to enhance plant-based meat. (Plant Based News)

During a holiday, an 8‑year‑old girl noticed a sea turtle caught on a hook; her family contacted Oak Island Sea Turtle Protection, who helped rescue one of the world's most endangered species. (Good Good Good)

Positive News Round up — Monday, 4th May

Through climate education, Madagascar is relating classroom instruction to the daily environmental crises that students in the Diana region deal with, such as coral reef decline and deforestation. (Happy Eco News)

In the 37-year history of the award, the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize winners—who honoured six grassroots environmental leaders—became the first all-female cohort. (Happy Eco News)

Positive News Round up — Tuesday, 5th May

Georgia State University's campus clothing exchange is reducing textile waste and demonstrating how students can combat fast fashion and prevent clothing from ending up in landfills. (Happy Eco News)

A male jaguar was photographed for the first time in ten years using camera traps placed high in Honduras' Sierra del Merendón mountain range. (Good Good Good)

Positive News Round up — Wednesday, 6th May

In the heart of Cuba, a solar-powered charging station gives life to a desolate island. (AP News)

Two sisters from Gaza are transforming rubble into bricks to assist rebuilding their community. (Optimist Daily)

Positive News Round up — Thursday, 7th May

According to a Carbon Brief analysis, record electricity generation from wind and solar has prevented the UK from needing gas imports worth £1.7 billion since the start of the Iran war. (Carbon Brief)

Boyan Slat, a Dutch inventor, thinks that for less than $1 billion (£750 million), the global ocean plastic crisis could be significantly alleviated in the next 15 years. The Ocean Cleanup, his nonprofit organization, is already using technology that prevents waste from entering the ocean. (Positive News)

Positive News Round up — Friday, 8th May

Pandora, a well-known jewellery manufacturer and retailer, has announced that it will be adding carbon labels to all of its lab-grown diamonds. The carbon footprint of each product will be displayed on Pandora.net along with additional details. (Edie)

Based on data released by GlobalData, Egypt installed about 800 MW of solar power in 2025, raising the countries cumulative solar capacity from 2.1 GW to approximately 2.9 GW. (PV Magazine)

Positive News Round up — Monday, 11th May

By incorporating about 1% of cigarette butt material into the brick mixture, researchers have devised a method for recycling discarded cigarette butts. This preserves the bricks' structural integrity while reducing energy consumption and reusing waste. (Good Good Good)

In South Korea a startup, Ecopeace has deployed a new ferry combining cleaning up oil spills and transporting people at the same time. (Good Good Good)

Positive News Round up — Tuesday, 12th May

According to the fourth annual review by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), three-quarters of UK pension providers have set a net-zero target. (Edie)

The 'Knitting Nannas' are a British group that have made and sent newborn blankets to a rhino, toys to monkeys, and tiny jumpers to penguins. (Good Good Good)

Positive News Round up — Wednesday, 13th May

Data collected by the International Renewable Energy Agency found that 91% of new renewable energy projects commissioned in 2024 were less expensive than any fossil fuel alternatives. Additionally, solar power was 41% cheaper and onshore wind projects were 53% cheaper,  (Good Good Good)

In a bid to lower food waste, Lidl is redistributing surplus produce via the popular food-sharing app, Olio. (Edie)

Positive News Round up — Thursday, 14th May

Nashville Zoo just celebrated the birth of its 50th Clouded leopard cub, deemed 'one of the most elusive cat species' in the world. (Good Good Good)

Choughs, a bird which has legendary ties to the area, has made a comeback to the rocky cliffs surrounding Tintagel Castle on the north Cornwall coast, decades after it vanished. (The Guardian)

Positive News Round up — Friday, 15th May

Is No Mow May helping insects and bees, or is more made of it then needed? (The Daily Optimist)

At least 1,500 species that are essential to maintaining the integrity of the seabed are thriving in Scotland ten years after bottom trawling and dredging were outlawed. (Good News Network)

Positive News Round up — Monday, 18th May

Here are the benefits of carpooling. (Yale Climate Connections)

Here are the best environmental photos from 2026. (Yale E360)

Positive News Round up — Tuesday, 19th May

Human hair can be recycled in a surprisingly efficient way by a French company called Capillum. Hair is collected and transformed into a biodegradable mulch that keeps hungry deer away from young trees. (Upworthy)

Here are the remarkable ways in which salt can help transform the environment. (Good News Network)

Positive News Round up — Wednesday, 20th May

To find threats to hedgehog habitat, researchers employ an AI model developed by the University of Cambridge that is based on detailed satellite imagery. (Silicon)

The Fish & Wildlife Conservation (Florida) reported a 4% rise in leatherback turtle nests and an additional Kemp’s ridley turtle nest, one of the world’s smallest and most endangered sea turtle. (Good Good Good)

Positive News Round up — Thursday, 21st May

Two elephants are getting a new life by moving to sanctuary in Portugual in Lisbon where they can 'roam freely, bathe and socialise in compatible groups'. (Optimist Daily)

Volunteers from the Emerald Isle Sea Turtle Patrol intervened to save a sea turtle that was in danger of extinction after a fisherman unintentionally hooked it. (Good Good Good)

Positive News Round up — Friday, 22nd May

Hamburgers, gas-powered vehicles, and low-cost flights are no longer advertised on Amsterdam's billboards and tram shelters. Public advertising for meat and fossil fuel products has been banned in the Dutch capital, making it the first in the world to do so. (Optimist Daily)

One of the biggest manufacturers of smartphone cases in the world has created a seaborne drone carrier to remove plastic debris that are heading to the ocean. (Good News Network)

Positive News Round up — Monday, 25th May

Inside the French city that champions its trees. (Reasons To Be Cheerful)

The Friends of Sausal Creek nonprofit was established thirty years ago, last week by Mr. Michael Thilgen and his neighbours, with the goal of restoring the waterway from its Oakland Hills source to its San Francisco Bay terminus. (Good News Network)

Positive News Round up — Tuesday, 26th May

A former juvenile turtle, who was weight a pound, was unable to swim. Thanks to the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s Turtle Conservation Center team, it is ready to swim, having reached 220 pounds (99.79 kg). (Good Good Good)

North Carolina's red wolf conservation efforts are showing promise for one of the most endangered wolves in the world, as the wild population has increased from a few to almost thirty individuals. (Happy Eco News)

Positive News Round up — Wednesday, 27th May

A team of scientists discovered that the amount of various “forever chemicals” in seabird eggs has significantly dropped over the past 55 years. (Good News Network)

Bronx Zoo welcomed a new foal to its herd of endangered Przewalski’s horses. (Happy Eco News)

Positive News Round up — Thursday, 28th May

Purchasing buttery Dutch pancakes with cigarette butts? In an effort to raise awareness about littering, one food truck is providing that deal at festivals in the Netherlands. (The Guardian)

Researchers have manage to create a plastic made from hemp that rivals PET. (Optimist Daily)

Positive News Round up — Friday, 29th May

After a seven-fold increase in population during the most recent growing season, conservationists are celebrating the remarkable recovery of Kentish milkwort, a significant and distinctive British flower. (Good News Network)

Recently, Papua New Guinea declared that it would exclude all fishing and extractive activities from an area of the Bismarck Sea that is nearly the size of the United Kingdom, approximately 214,000 square kilometers (82,600 square miles). (Optimist Daily)