We’ve got good news: bad news wasn’t the only news in 2022. At BrigthVibes, we create beautiful stories to amplify the good in the world. That’s our motto, that’s our mission. Because the news can sometimes be very saddening, we keep you covered with good news and inspiring stories all year long. These 12 are the best good news stories of 2022, brought to you by BrightVibes.
- Brazilian parachutist Luigi Cani went skydiving while scattering more than 100 million (!) seeds from 27 species of trees native to the Amazon forest. With a speed of over 300k per hour, he dropped the seeds to recover a deforested part of the Amazon with the higher goal of recovering the environment.
- Spain’s Mar Menor to become first ecosystem in Europe with its own rights. A law will pass that gives the saltwater lagoon ‘a legal personhood with rights’. It will get protected rights and any citizen can go to court to defend it.
- The James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s premier space science observatory, produced another stunning image. It caught the birth of a protostar which forms a fiery hourglass. Really mesmerizing!
- Patagonia’s billionaire owner gives away company. All the company’s profits are invested in our planet to help fight the climate crisis. Founder Yvon Chouinard stated: “Instead of going public, we are going purpose. The earth is our only shareholder. We can save our planet if we commit to it.” What a brilliant move!
- Big news from the oceans around the world. The Ocean Cleanup, which we wrote several stories about, approaches 200,000 kg of plastic collected from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In July 2022 they passed 100,000 kg of plastic collected from the GPGP, which has almost doubled by now. Amazing work and keep going, guys!
BREAKING: more than 100,000kg of plastic removed from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).
— The Ocean Cleanup (@TheOceanCleanup) July 25, 2022
Thank you to our determined offshore crew and supporters worldwide; together, we have now officially cleaned up 1/1000th of the GPGP. pic.twitter.com/DLWPNkspcr - In March of this year, Chile announced it will create a huge national park to protect hundreds of glaciers that are melting due to climate change. The new Glacier National Park is “a fundamental step that the country is taking to combat the destruction of nature”, stated President Sebastian Pinera.
- Guess who’s back, back again! Fin whale numbers bounce back in Antarctic feeding grounds. Researchers reported the return of large fin whale feeding aggregations to historical feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean. A big sign that the population is recovering. A very fairyTALE story 😀
- This year, Gary Bencheghib won Asia’s Nobel Prize. Gary was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his impact and emergent leadership in fighting against plastic pollution. With his foundation Sungai Watch, he cleans the rivers and mangroves of Bali from plastic pollution. By now, they collected over 800,000 kg plastic by installing barriers in rivers and organising beach cleanups. Keep it up, Gary and team!
- Sustainable electronics company Fairphone is changing the world of smartphones for good. The Netherlands-based company produces the world’s first fair, sustainable, modular and self-repairable smartphone and wants you to use your phone for as long as possible. A big wow! that changes our perspective on the industry and our buying habits. (There’s a whole thread on this, so have a look if you’re interested.)
- In the Seychelles, green turtle numbers five-folded after decades of protection and monitoring. The green turtle is one of the largest among sea turtles and nests in more than 80 countries. Now the population has grown numbers again in the Seychelles.
- More countries are embracing the 4-day workweek. In the UK, 100 companies implemented it even as the new standard. It turns out that it’s more productive than working 5 days and the best is… employees work 4 and get paid for 5 days. Win-win!
- The final one is another big win, this time for nature. At COP-15, 188 Nations agreed to protect a third of the planet by 2030. The agreement is a big step forward and of huge importance as our planet’s biodiversity is under great threat. Check out the article to see what steps will be taken to protect biodiversity and our planet.
This may not be the overview you would expect from the news of 2022, nor is it your usual Spotify or other kind of ‘wrapped’. Though, we hope that you enjoyed reading the positivity. That you got touched by some of the beautiful stories that we created. That you got inspired and take the good advice to heart and, hopefully, even take action. In 2023 we will keep on making even more beautiful stories… to amplify the good!
Have a bright(vibes) festive season, and we hope to see you back in a happy new year!