Mid week round up of good news nuggets.
A federal judge has thrown out a major Trump administration rule that scaled back federal protections for streams, marshes and wetlands across the US, reversing one of the previous administration’s most significant environmental rollbacks. US District Judge Rosemary Márquez wrote that Trump officials committed serious errors while writing the regulation, finalized last year, and that leaving it in place could lead to “serious environmental harm.”
An army of chewing gum removers are set to clean up Britain's streets with the aid of a £10-million fund set up by gum manufacturers. The money will be used to pay for street cleaning as well as educating people about the importance of disposing of litter and gum appropriately.
Berlin’s university canteens go almost meat-free as students prioritise climate: Students at Berlin's four universities are now swapping currywurst and schnitzel for seeds and pulses, as campus canteens in the German capital make heavy cuts to their meat and fish options. The 34 canteens and cafes catering to Berlin’s sizeable student population will, from October, offer a menu that is 68 percent vegan, 28 percent vegetarian, and 2 percent fish-based, with a single meat option offered four days a week. That's good news for the planet as research by academics at Oxford University found that cutting meat and dairy products from your diet could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73 percent.
There is now no country in the world that uses leaded petrol for cars and lorries, the UN Environment Programme has announced. Most high-income countries had banned the fuel by the 1980s, but it was only in July that Algeria - the last country still to use leaded petrol - ran out. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the eradication of leaded petrol an "international success story".
The Scottish Greens’ co-leaders, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, are to become ministers in the Holyrood government – the first time representatives of the party have been appointed to government in the UK. The Scottish government and Scottish Green party announced a power-sharing deal last month.
A tumultuous few weeks awaits El Salvador as it prepares to become the first country to adopt Bitcoin, the world’s most popular decentralised digital currency, as legal tender on 7 September. The plan of the president, Nayib Bukele, is to ride the Central American economy out of its current choppy waters on the back of a cryptocurrency wave.
If you're lucky enough to live somewhere warm and sunny, and you're looking for a cute little runaround, how about a beautiful, quirky, modified 1969 VW Beetle? It's being auctioned in Miami. For more info, click here
Across the developing world, homeowners, farmers, and businesses are turning to cheap, secondhand solar to fill power gaps left by governments and utilities. To meet that demand, businesses ranging from individual sellers on Facebook Marketplace to specialized brokerages are getting into the trade. Collectively, these businesses will likely play a crucial role in bringing renewable energy to the world's emerging markets - and keeping high-tech waste out of the trash.
Fun Fact: Electric eels are in fact not eels, and give a shock strong enough to knock out a horse. Their scientific classification is closer to carp and catfish. In the Tennessee Aquarium an electric eel’s tank has been hooked up to a computer programmed to send out a tweet whenever the eel produces enough electricity.
Dive in Deeper
Hummingbird Pool Party:
Enjoy the sight of thirty of these exotic creatures having a refreshing dip.