As a means of staving off self-isolation boredom, these delighted seniors and their nursing home caretakers played a game of real-life Hungry, Hungry Hippos.
In a video that was published by the Bryn Celyn Care Home in Maesteg, Wales last week, four elderly women in wheelchairs were filmed giggling away as they were rolled around a room similarly to the classic children’s game.
Quote of the Day: “Be of good cheer. . . You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles.” – Helen Keller
Photo: by Nathan Dumlao – public domain
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
The Lesson: “That’s when I realized that there were two types of people in the world: those who see what they want, and those who can only see what’s getting in the way of what they want.” In this engaging video, motivational speaker Simon Sinek lets us in on his five rules for changing your future one step at a time. From achieving your heart’s deepest desires to gaining respect and becoming a leader, Sinek uses an intriguing metaphor to break down the mental changes one must adopt in order to follow his advice for changing your life.
The Speaker: Simon Sinek is the marketing consultant, bestselling author, motivational speaker, and critically-acclaimed mastermind behind Start With Why: an organization made up of other business moguls dedicated to helping others find their passion and leadership stride. His TED talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Others, has been ranked as their third most popular talk of all time.
Podcast: Motivation Madness produces motivational and inspirational videos to help their 1.5 million subscribers get through life. Featuring a wide variety of prominent public speakers from a range of philosophical and motivational perspectives, the series aims to help you “live your dreams and not let anyone stop you from doing what makes you happy.” To learn more, check out their YouTube channel, Facebook, or Instagram page.
(WATCH the inspiring talk below)
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Dozens—perhaps even hundreds—of children in self-isolation are set to receive messages of comfort from none other than Spider-Man himself.
That’s because Jake Johnson, the voice actor who played Peter Parker in the recent superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, has offered to record personalized voice messages for kids who may be having a hard time coping with the novel coronavirus quarantines.
Earlier this week, Johnson published an Instagram post saying: “Since the quarantine, a lot of parents have DM’d me saying they’ve been watching Spiderverse with their kids. A lot.
“So, here’s my idea. If your child is home from school and wants a quick encouraging message from Peter B. Peter, then send me an email with their name and I’ll try and send over a short voice note.”
Since demand for the messages is likely to be high, Johnson apologized in advance for any emails he might fail to respond to—but he still hopes his post will encourage families and kids to stay home during the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Johnson—who has also starred in the television comedy series New Girl and Jurassic World—says that parents can request a comforting voice message from Spider-Man by emailing their child’s name to [email protected].
This is just one of many positive stories and updates that are coming out of the COVID-19 news coverage this week. For more uplifting coverage on the outbreaks, click here.
A particularly resourceful dog owner in Cyprus has come up with an ingenious way of walking his pup while still staying inside during the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Vakis Demetriou posted a video to Facebook last week depicting his happy canine companion taking a stroll through the streets of Limassol with his leash carried by a flying drone.
Since Demetriou uploaded the video to social media last week, it has been viewed more than a million times.
The devoted dog dad hopes that his video will help to lift the spirits of internet users during the turbulence of the pandemic—and remind people to stay home until the virus is under control.
“Stay home safe,” he wrote, “but don’t forget your dog’s happiness…”
(WATCH the video below)
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Last week, we published a list of ten positive updates on the COVID-19 outbreaks from around the world.
Since the article has been viewed millions of times, we thought we would go ahead and publish another round-up of optimistic occurrences to keep your spirits up.
So here is another list of reasons why the global situation is not as bad as the mainstream media might have you think.
1) World Health Organization (WHO) Officials Say There Are Now 20 Coronavirus Vaccines in Development
Although there are still a number of logistical and financial hurdles that will need to be overcome in the race to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine to the public, WHO representatives say they are working with scientists around the world to test and develop 20 different vaccines.
“The acceleration of this process is really truly dramatic in terms of what we’re able to do, building on work that started with SARS, that started with MERS and now is being used for COVID-19 ,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead for WHO’s emergencies program, said at a press conference in Geneva last week, according to CNBC.
The collective body of research is particularly “remarkable” since the vaccines are in development just 60 days after a number of international scientists decoded the virus’s genetic sequence and shared it with the rest of the world.
One of the vaccines—which is already being tested on a number of American volunteers in Seattle—has already illustrated the “unprecedented speed” with which the medical community is working together to develop a vaccine.
A #USask research team and collaborating scientists from across the country have been awarded $1 million to develop animal models and test vaccine candidates for effectiveness and safety against the new #coronavirus. @VIDOInterVachttps://t.co/SXanfcxgvs
Multiple businesses and schools have donated their recently rediscovered face mask treasure troves to hospitals in need. Other major tech companies such as Facebook and Apple are donating millions of masks and medical supplies to US healthcare facilities. Chinese companies are passing on their own stashes of face masks to European countries newly impacted by the virus. Taiwan is reportedly donating 100,000 masks to the United States.
3) As American Cities Close Up Amidst Outbreaks, Pollution Plummets
The United States is now benefiting from the same environmental silver lining to the pandemics as China and Italy: as cities encourage self-isolation, air pollution is plummeting.
Over the course of the last few weeks, satellite imaging has revealed significant reductions in air pollution—particularly across California, Seattle, and New York City.
According to CNN, environmental scientists are estimating that the improvement in air quality could collectively save as many as 75,000 people from dying prematurely.
4) As Physicians Worry About Potential Ventilator Shortages, Researchers Develop Several Low-Cost Solutions
In a stroke of genius, one scientist from the University of Minnesota says he went “full-on MacGyver” to build a makeshift ventilator in a matter of hours. Although his team has revised his design over the course of several prototypes with the hopes of eventually submitting it for FDA approval, he says that the inexpensive ventilator is one that he “would be comfortable with someone [using to] take care of me in an ICU or in an operating room.”
The compassionate medical research continues in Italy as a pair of engineers have taken it upon themselves to 3D-print free respirator parts for their local hospitals. As of last week, the Isinnova startup engineers told Forbes that they had successfully printed more than 100 parts.
“We are releasing this material with the intent to provide those with the ability to make or manufacture ventilators, the tools needed to do so in a manner that seeks to ensure patient safety,” they wrote. “Clinicians viewing this site can provide input and expertise and report on their efforts to help their patients.”
Isinnova’s Christian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli—Photo by Isinnova
5) Communities and Countries Opening Up New Lanes of Free Entertainment for the Masses
In addition to Italians singing songs and playing music together from their balconies, homeowners have begun projecting classic films onto building fronts for the neighbors to enjoy.
As a means of keeping self-isolated people amused during global shutdowns, many online services have made their services free to the public as well.
For starters, Amazon has unlocked more than 40 new children’s shows for all of their customers to watch for free, regardless of Prime membership. Audiobook platform Audible has also released a number of free audiobooks for users to stream from their devices.
“For as long as schools are closed, we’re open. Starting today, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids,” reads the Audible website. “All stories are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet. Explore the collection, select a title and start listening. It’s that easy.”
More than 2,500 art museums and galleries have also partnered with Google to offer free virtual tours and displays of their collections to art lovers around the world.
If you prefer cuter online content, then you can check out this handy list of zoos and aquariums offering livestreams of their animal residents.
If that’s not enough, patients as old as 90 have managed to recover from the virus as well.
As Chinese cities gradually reopen to the public now that they have gotten the virus under control with less than 10 new infections reported each day, other countries are expected to experience similar recoveries during the coming months.
7) Nobel Prize Winner Who Correctly Predicted COVID-19 Trends Says ‘We’re Going To Be Fine’
According to a recently-published interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nobel laureate and Stanford biophysicist Michael Levitt has been “remarkably accurate” in predicting China’s recovery from the virus since he began researching the infection rates back in January.
Levitt, who won the 2013 prize for developing complex chemical models of calculation, says that as long as countries continue to practice safe self-isolation measures, the numbers show that they are already beginning to experience slow signs of improvement.
“What we need is to control the panic,” he told the news outlet. “We’re going to be fine.”
It’s hard to quantify just how many resources are being contributed to the cause, but suffice it to say that it’s a lot—in fact, here’s just a quick list of celebrities giving back to their communities that we published last week.
Oakland is closing schools bc of COVID-19. We support this decision but are concerned a/b the 18,000+ kids that rely on school for 2+ meals daily. @eatlearnplay is donating to @ACCFB to ensure every child has access to the food they need. Join us & donate https://t.co/nDqF7OoO0Zpic.twitter.com/nFp0w1eFqH
There are even more stories of kindness and compassion being reported from around the world every day—so remember to keep your chin up during the weeks ahead and remind yourself that this situation might not be as terrible as your social media feed might have you believe.
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People around the world are finding more and more positive ways to help their neighbors during the COVID-19 outbreaks—from buying groceries for elderly people in self-isolation or sharing toilet paper with those in need.
So when these two young siblings from Columbus, Ohio heard that their 78-year-old neighbor Helena Schlam was self-isolating herself in her home last week, they knew they wanted to do something special for her.
After 9-year-old Taran Tien and and his 6-year-old sister Calliope made sure that Schlam was stocked up on groceries, they took it upon themselves to host a spontaneous concert for the senior on her front porch.
Taran and Calliope donned their nicest concert clothes before carrying their cellos over to Schlam’s porch. For 30 minutes, the youngsters played everything from children’s tunes to Bach suites—all while maintaining a safe distance from Schlam’s front row seat 10 feet away.
“I haven’t been out of my house for five days, and I won’t be out anytime soon,” Schlam told The Columbus Dispatch. “This was a delightful break for all of us. I love all the kids and I love music. It was such a real gift.”
The children’s mother, Rebecca Tien, later told CNN that she couldn’t have been more proud of her kids for reaching out to their neighbor during such uncertain times.
“It was one of those moments where you feel like you’re a part of something incredible,” she said. “It was also a good way to remember the value of connection, especially at a time like this when everyone feels disconnected. Just to know we were a part of something so sweet, even just for a minute, meant a lot.”
Jackie Borchardt, another local community member, captured a sweet video of the porch concert as she was passing by Schlam’s house. Since she published the footage to Twitter last week, it has been praised by several thousand social media viewers.
“This is what American values are all about!” wrote one Twitter user. “We help one another in crisis!”
This is just one of many positive stories and updates that are coming out of the COVID-19 news coverage this week. For more uplifting coverage on the outbreaks, click here.
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Quote of the Day: “The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.” – Alfred North Whitehead
Photo: by Abigail Keenan – public domain
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quote of the Day page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
A new piece of legislation introduced and passed in Virginia’s State House aims to optimize solar and offshore wind resources as a way of replacing fossil fuels like coal, to offer cleaner—and cheaper—energy to the population.
The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) is the largest sustainable energy bill ever introduced in the commonwealth. The bill moves to transition Virginia’s energy economy to 100% renewables by 2050—one of Governor Ralph Northam’s campaign pledges.
The two affected power companies, Dominion Energy and American Electric Power, have until 2045 to retire electric generation powered by fuels that emit carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
Companies that fail to meet these 100% renewable timelines will have to pay a deficiency tax or purchase carbon offset certificates.
To try and safeguard workers from being laid off due to these deficiency costs, or to provide opportunities for workers who do lose their jobs, the VCEA would take some of the deficiency payments and deposit them into a fund that would finance new training programs for a renewable energy workforce for the modern grid.
“Beginning in 2026 and every three years thereafter, the Commission is required to adjust the required energy efficiency goals for the successive three years,” reads the legislation. Efficiency is part of the VCEA plan to reduce power costs for middle and low-income houses in the state, which legislators hope will amount to $3,500 dollars in savings over 30 years.
Furthermore, monthly rate caps of 6% for power will be placed on low-income earners and families as part of the Percentage of Income Payment Program that will help ensure the grid transition doesn’t burn the pockets of Virginia’s most financially vulnerable.
The VCEA wants to expand consumer ownership and decentralization of the grid by encouraging more rooftop PV solar panels. This will help speed the transition to 100% renewable by reducing grid demands and increasing grid robustness.
The reason rooftop solar can contribute to these goals is by allowing homeowners to generate some of the power they need, while sending the rest into the grid. Each time a new house is powered by solar panels, more renewable energy is available to everyone else in the grid, representing something similar to the Social Security welfare system, but for electricity.
This has the added benefit of increasing grid durability, since there will be many-fold more generators of power for plants to draw from decreasing the chance that things like natural disasters—the 2011 Virginia earthquake, for example—will topple the grid and knock out power for everyone.
According to Lake Research Partners, 73% of Virginians want state lawmakers to move towards advanced energy investments outlined within the VCEA, and it makes good economic sense for the average family in one of the union’s wealthiest states.
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A surgical procedure that was just undertaken at the Beilinson Hospital in Israel could change the way cancers are treated.
For the operation, a man’s lung was removed, cleaned of cancerous tumors, and placed right back again—something that’s only been done a few times in history.
The patient, who was in his mid-40s, was hospitalized after a tumor in his left lung blocked the main artery, leading to its collapse. Upon admittance to the Rabin Medical Centre in Petah Tikva, doctors originally thought that his lung would need to be re-sectioned while he embarked upon the dangerous road of waiting for a transplant.
However, the new procedure has the benefit of not only avoiding the sometimes years of deterioration that patients in need of lung transplants have to endure before a suitable donor is found, but also saves them from the ravages of chemotherapy.
A large team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, and technicians were prepared for and participated in the surgery, one that requires several hours and is exceedingly complex.
“If we were to have simply cut out the lung alone, awaiting a transplant, the patient’s condition would continue to be life-threatening,” Dr. Yuri Faischowitz, Director of the Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit at Beilinson told Dr. Itai Gal of Ynet News.
Lung cancer X-ray – Photo by James Heilman, MD, CC license
During the operation, the man continued to breathe out of his good lung while his other was disconnected, cleansed from the tumor, and reconnected after inflating it as a way of making certain it was still working and the tissue was still healthy.
“The new method may change the way patients treat cancer in the world,” says Prof. Dan Arav, who participated in the surgery along with Faischowitz. And it can be applied to other organs and other forms of cancer.
Lung cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, but death rates of the malady have gone down worldwide since the 1990s. This new procedure may offer hope to patients who would have have had few options before.
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Many people would be familiar with the idea of Native American-owned casinos—but what about movie studios?
Last year, the Tesque Pueblo Tribe of New Mexico was looking to move out of their old casino building into a bigger space—and while in the process, they realized the 75,000-square-foot facility that they were leaving behind would make a perfect movie studio.
Thus was born the first ever Native American-owned production studio and location set in history: Camel Rock Studios—where the Tom Hanks post-Civil War drama News of the World was filmed
Located in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico, the beautiful plot of Tesque Pueblo land has now been the backdrop for over 20 films that needed its rolling desert hills, including Cowboy and The Man from Laramie.
The Pueblo of Tesuque Development Corporation has invested $50 million in expanding the facilities at Camel Rock Studios to include a movie ranch with standing sets, prop studios, a filming-equipped water tank, and 1,000 parking spots, which anyone who has been part of a movie production would agree is a huge plus.
Photo by Camel Rock Studios
“Casinos, inherently, if you take out all the games, are big empty spaces,” Timothy Brown president and CEO of the Pueblo of Tesuque Development Corporation told Variety. “So we had an events center that we did concerts in and large parties that was a big vacant space. Once we removed all the casino equipment and furniture from the casino area, that became another large vacant space, and then with any business we had an entire administrative area with cubicles and offices that became perfect for their offices to move in.”
Along with Hollywood’s enduring love of western films, Camel Rock and the Tesque Pueblo Nation are looking to take advantage of a filming boom in New Mexico, with recent successes behind shows like Breaking Bad luring more projects to the area.
“You don’t realize it but this area looks like a lot of places in the world…especially the Middle-East, with the mountains and how rugged it is,” Brown added, explaining the Tribe’s thinking.
Netflix even made Albuquerque its U.S. production hub, purchasing Albuquerque Studios as part of a plan to spend $100 million in filming and production for original material in the state over the next 10 years.
Pueblo of Tesuque Governor Robert Mora, Sr. said that he hopes the economic benefit from the studio will go toward much-needed healthcare projects for the Tribe, such as a universal coverage option.
“The other thing I’m hoping is that one of the big film companies will find a good home here so they’re not searching for locations. Here you have one-third of New Mexico to work with,” said Mora.
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A Chinese company has shipped crates containing tens of thousands of respirator masks to Italy in her time of need.
And it has done so with the artistic flair of a true Italian romantic.
Consumer technology giant Xiaomi mailed the shipment to the Italian Civil Protection Department, and they stapled to the side of the crates an ancient line of poetry from the Roman philosopher Seneca:
We are waves from the same sea, leaves from the same tree, and flowers from the same garden.
Siamo onde dello stesso mare, foglie dello stesso albero, fiori dello stesso giardino
The European country has had a terrible time of the pandemic, and Xiaomi International (pronounced Sheeow-mee) announced the donation on its Facebook page March 5, saying the company felt a responsibility to a market which had welcomed them so warmly when the smartphone maker expanded into Italy two years ago.
“Since we arrived two years ago, we have felt loved and deeply integrated into the life of the country. This is also why we felt the duty to support Italy in the management of the COVID-19 epidemic, by donating a first important quantity of FFP3 masks.”
They also uploaded the photos showing the lovingly prepared crates in their post.
The company’s chief financial officer called it a “source of great pride” to be able to offer the help, and praised the Italian government’s “excellent job for the benefit of the whole community.”
Medical shortages of masks, test kits, respirators, and other goods are one of the major reasons why a country might find it difficult to control an outbreak, and the quality of the FFP3 masks sent from Xiaomi are the most effective available.
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As a particularly mystical part of Great Britain that is home to a rich collection of folkloric fables (they even have a dragon on their flag), Wales is exactly the place you’d want to go if you were looking to find an enchanted woodland.
Now, a new initiative led by Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford is set to turn a large part of Wales back into the kind of magical place described in their beloved history.
The Welsh government is now working to plant a national forest that would run the length and breadth of the land, connecting existing protected woodland environments with large scale tree-planting projects meant to restore natural Wales and fight climate change.
“We have a responsibility to future generations to protect nature from the dangers of our changing climate, but a healthy natural environment will also offer protection to our communities from the dangers we ourselves face,” Drakeford said.
Additionally, ancient hardwood forests of Europe provide other valuable ecosystem services like the storing of carbon from the atmosphere in their roots. These deep root systems also secure the soil and prevent erosion which can degrade local waterways and shorelines.
The forests will also provide habitat for endangered iconic Welsh animals, like the black grouse, Scottish wildcat, red squirrel, and the magnificent capercaillie.
Capercaillie by David Palmer, CC license
“The National Forest will be a Wales-wide asset, and communities across the country will be able to take part,” said Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government Hannah Blythyn.
The inspiration for the project was drawn from a hiking trail that attracts millions of tourists every year called the Wales Coast Path—and the maps will be drawn up over the coming months by businesses, landowners, and other interested parties.
£5 million ($5.7 million) has been allocated to complete the project, while another £10 million will go towards accompanied tree-planting programs through the Glastir farm grants program.
The Glastir Grants are one of a number of pieces of legislation meant to put a stop to diminishing natural wilderness, resources, and wildlife in the country while also attempting to modernize the agricultural sector in the face of a changing climate.
Farmers can apply for Glastir grants if they undertake tree-planting operations, or projects that prevent flooding, secure and regenerate soil quality or wildlife, or improve the farming and husbandry standards for domesticated animals and plants—and even when they restore heritage tourism opportunities.
Mr. Drakeford visited Gnoll Country Park in Neath, where the UK’s Woodland Trust is currently creating the largest new woodland in the charity’s history called the Brynau Wood, saying it will be an “amazing place for people to enjoy healthy outdoor exercise” as well as a mark towards a “healthier, more resilient environment”.
This is just one of a handful of large-scale projects aimed at restoring or protecting Welsh wilderness. Last week, work began on planting 1 million seagrass seeds off the Welsh coast in order to restore Welsh seagrass beds—a coastal marine plant that soaks up many times more carbon than trees.
“While the plan to create a National Forest for Wales is a Welsh government initiative, the Woodland Trust is very much in support of this,” Rory Francis, Communications Officer at Woodland Trust told GNN. “We were actually working to promote the idea even before the Welsh government and the First Minister personally, adopted the idea.”
Brynau Wood is not Woodland Trust’s first foray into Welsh forests. In 2016 they purchased one of the country’s oldest woodlands, the Coed Felinrhyd rainforest in Snowdonia, an ancient oak forest dating from the last ice age and named in Mabinogion—the 12th century Welsh mythological story.
Woodland Trust also manages another forest called Coed y Felin, a new native-species woodland where announcement of the project was celebrated on March 12, as an example of what kind of forests will be included in the national forest.
Speaking to BBC, Prof. Mary Gagen, a climate scientist at the University of Swansea said that the national forest project was a genuinely positive announcement.
“But what’s great is that this project also looks at habitat restoration, at retaining the trees we have at the moment, protecting our ancient forests and connecting areas so wildlife can use them,” she said.
Currently the government plans to start planting at a rate of 4,900 acres a year, increasing quickly to 10,000 acres per year.
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Quote of the Day: “Is life not a thousand times too short for us to bore ourselves?” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Photo: by Juan Gomez – public domain
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Anyone who pays attention to mainstream media, especially these days, has experienced “scaremongering”—but what about “caremongering”? Even as I write this article my spelling software suggests that I change caremongering into scaremongering—because there has never been such a word.
Well that’s no longer the case, since Toronto residents Mita Hans and Valentina Harper set up the first of what now totals 35 Facebook “Caremongering” groups to help out people in Canada during the coronavirus epidemic in Halifax, Ottawa, Ontario, and Annapolis County, Nova Scotia.
People are joining the groups to either ask for help or offer help—particularly to people most susceptible to or most at-risk of the more serious symptoms of COVID-19.
Between the 30,000 caremongers of the 35 groups, a “Candemic” attitude has served to reinforce the image of the Canadian kindness.
“Scaremongering is a big problem,” Harper tells the BBC. “We wanted to switch that around and get people to connect on a positive level, to connect with each other.
“It’s spread the opposite of panic in people, brought out community and camaraderie, and allowed us to tackle the needs of those who are at-risk all the time—now more than ever.”
On the Toronto Caremongering Facebook group, 10,000 members regularly write either one of three typical posts: #ISO which stands for “in search of,” #OFFER posts, where people offer goods or services to people trapped in self-isolation, and #SHOPS which gives info about shops that are open or stocked.
However, there are also discussion posts like introductory video that Harper posted earlier this week about how learning the Cree language can be something that people can do while self-isolating.
“I think there is an international belief that Canadians are so nice,” she said. “And I think there is something Canadian about this because as our population is small as a country, there is a tendency to look out for each other, even if there are a few bad apples who buy all the toilet paper!”
This is just one of many positive stories and updates that GNN is churning out with their COVID-19 news coverage this week. Click here to see more uplifting coverage.
Heeding health officials’ orders to #StayInYourHouse, you may be, at this point, only telling inside jokes. (Hah!)
But with his 51 million fans on Twitter, Jimmy Fallon was able to pull in responses from all over the globe for his Tonight Show #Hashtags segment, even though he is stuck at home— and he got some of the funniest responses, to date.
While sheltering in place, Fallon has begun producing homemade episodes for YouTube, calling them Tonight Show: At Home Edition. They feature camerawork by his wife, and occasional segments with his two young daughters. (Not only is he raising people’s spirits, he has also raised tens of thousand for a different charity each day, starting with FeedingAmerica.org.)
For his home edition of #Hashtags, Jimmy tweeted to fans asking them to describe their quarantine in six words. Fallon kicked off the hilarious social media trend by describing #MyQuarantineInSixWords: “Fine. You can paint daddy’s nails.”
@Richachoubey joined the fun by summarizing her days at home this way: “Yes Netflix, I am still watching”.
LOL. Here are some of the other brilliant #hashtags from pent-up folks on Twitter…
Day one: ate all the snacks.
Oh, how we can RELATE!
Longest day of my life, everyday.
Expelled my kid from home school. (RFLAO)
Flattening the curve, fattening my curves.
Funyuns for dinner. Ok, breakfast too.
Is 7 Hot Pockets too many? (Jimmy answered, No.)
There’s not enough wine for this.
And, perhaps the best of all, by MunaNawabit1: Very close to befriending a volleyball. 🤣
Thanks to Jimmy and The Tonight Show for the images—and making us laugh our sorrows away. See the thread, which is still going strong on Twitter, for more laughs.
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12 innovators have joined food and beverage leaders to tackle one the largest sources of unrecyclable waste: the takeaway coffee cup.
Each year, 250 billion to-go cups that serve coffee and tea from places like Starbucks are produced to satisfy the world’s love of hot drinks on the run. These fiber cups have a thin plastic lining to prevent leaks, and keep water from absorbing into the material—but that also removes any opportunity for the cups to be biodegradable.
The materials are recyclable that create these goblets of goodness and convenience—but only if separated—and combined with the low demand for such resources means it is worth next to nothing.
In response to this massive challenge, NextGen Consortium, a multi-year partnership led by Starbucks and McDonald’s launched their first big initiative—NextGen Cup.
The first step in NexGen Cup was an open design competition where innovators submitted ideas for sleeves, straws, cups, lids, liners, and other components of the hot-cold fiber takeaway coffee cup that would make it reusable, recyclable, or biodegradable, to eventually be available on a massive scale.
The 12 winners, announced in February 2019, shared a prize of $1 million, as well as personalized scaling-up, growth, and logistical support from members of NextGen Consortium which include other massive companies like Wendy’s, Nestle, and Closed Loop Partners.
Photo by Earth Cup
Last month they launched two pilot programs at independent coffee shops in California. In one case, customers in San Francisco and Palo Alto were given “smart” reusable cups made mostly from recyclable plastic and printed with RFID chips or QR codes for tracking. They could then drop their empties into collection containers at key locations, for washing and reuse. The tracking can help determine where there is the greatest need for collection containers, and how many are not using them.
Like a bike share program but for coffee cups, Cup Club is already replacing millions of takeaway cups in the UK, while Recup in Germany, has implemented a deposit-system that simply adds a small extra fee to any coffee cup which is returned to the buyer after the cup is deposited in any registered collection point.
The second test launched in California is using new compostable and recyclable single-use cups in Oakland.
The NextGen Cup challenge winners included entire take-away cup systems like Game Changer Cup from Finland and Earth Cup from France, and others who tackled the issue of creating a more sustainable or biodegradable cup liner, like Colombier BioBarrier Coating from the Netherlands, and US/Belgium partnership Solenis LLC.
Know Your Zone: This is your planting zone if you live in the US
It’s perhaps a bizarre and somewhat arrogant habit we humans have developed; surrounding our houses with a plant species that isn’t native, doesn’t produce food, and usually requires expensive and sometimes unsustainable amounts of water to keep alive.
We’re talking about lawns, of course; and because 2019 was one of the hottest summers on record, here are some useful tips to getting the most out of your lawn while saving yourself the most money on water and minimizing your impact on local water resources.
Wherever you are in the world, there are plants that have adapted to grow and thrive in the soil and climate you reside in.
1) Plant native grasses or grasses that live in conditions of drought.
For instance, I grew up in zone 7 (find your U.S. zone) in the U.S. mid-Atlantic states, and our back yard (in full sun) was planted with zoysia grass. It tolerates drought and foot traffic from kids and volleyball games, without needing large amounts of fertilizer or much watering at all. It is thick and luscious, and it turns the color of straw in the winter.
Therefore, if you want to save water and still keep your lawn healthy, select a species of grass native to your region, as they will be most resilient to changes in temperature and moisture.
Alternatively, you can try planting grass species that evolved in regions that receive very little water. In Arizona, residents of Phoenix who prefer a green lawn use midiron grass or Bermuda grass species. The Arizona capital regularly sees temperatures in triple digits, and gets a measly 8 inches of rain a year so drought tolerant grasses help residents save water. Kentucky blue grass is another variety that’s good—especially for seasonal climates that also occasionally suffer droughts.
2) Take advantage of the most biologically-diverse organisms in the US—flowering plants.
If you’re trying to create a healthy garden that you don’t have to water often, the U.S. has 18,000 species of native plants, 16,500 of which will flower during the year. Take advantage of this natural diversity and specialization and find which flowers are native to your area with a simple Google search.
Flowering plants have evolved to deal with the challenges of the climate they live in, so not only will they be more resistant to local weather patterns, but more favorable to local species of bees and other pollinators!
3) If you already have foreign plant species in your yard that need water, plant some trees!
In USDA-backed research looking at the limits of utilizing trees for energy efficiencies, researchers found that one large mature tree shading a house can have a “net cooling effect of 10 room-sized air conditioners operating 20 hours a day,” and can save 20 to 50% of the energy used to cool your home. Furthermore, in winter the effect is much the same—by dispersing chilly winds with its branches, large sheltering trees can help reduce your heating costs.
If these shade tree benefits can be achieved on a home, why not also a garden? If the species you are growing in a pot or in your lawn do well in partial sunlight, consider shading them with a tree, the lack of evaporation from the sun’s heat or from blustery winds will reduce the amount of water they lose.
4) Get smart with your watering habits.
Saving money and local water resources can be as easy as getting a little smarter with your lawn watering habits. For starters, avoid watering your lawn from 12 noon to 6 pm—the hottest time of the day. Instead, get up around 6 to 8AM, or do so at night. This will prevent the water you use from drying out in the sun and wind.
Other than that, adjust your sprinkler head so it doesn’t hit the sidewalk, and mow your lawn often. Grass that’s allowed to grow too tall begins to focus its energy elsewhere, resulting in stunted growth and room for weeds to grow. Finally, be careful not to over-water your lawn, as most only need 1 inch per week, spread over a 2-3 days.
5) Collect the water that nature gives you.
Rather than always using the water that comes from the pipes, water that falls from the sky costs nothing and doesn’t deplete any local aquifers. In an area where it does rain sparingly, purchase a rain barrel to collect rain that’s not falling on your lawn or garden to water them with later.
Many cities and counties will pay you to buy a rain barrel or simply distribute one for you if you ask. Check your local regulations and see if they have a rain barrel program. If they offer you a rebate or tax credit for purchasing one go out and buy a pressurized rain barrel system with a cistern or other cool features—it’s on the state’s dime anyway.
6) Install a drip irrigation system.
This kind of delivery mechanism for your lawn irrigates the roots of the grass directly, rather than relying on the water to come down through the earth. Less water therefore is needed to nourish your lawn because less is wasted from evaporation. While you could hire a contractor to install a drip irrigation system, it makes for an interesting DIY project over a weekend.
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Episode #3 of our quarantine-inspired good news podcast: Geri and Anthony talk about the unique ways people are getting toilet paper; the Starbucks-evidence of progress in China; a breakthrough in faster testing for coronavirus; quality quarantine tips for things to do at home—and other good news.
