The year in cheer

January 4, 2022 9:19 AM

192 ways the world got better in 2021 from Reasons to be Cheerful.
posted by Bella Donna (47 comments total)

Here's one example:
After Nassau County in New York removed race from social welfare forms, the percentage of Black children placed into foster care dropped 36%.
posted by Bella Donna at 9:32 AM on January 4, 2022 [21 favorites]

I hadn't heard about, but like this one:
A policy in Quebec that charges companies for generating packaging that must be recycled generates $250 million for the province’s cities per year.
posted by meinvt at 9:44 AM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

Thank you!
Here is just one of the things I had no idea was a thing:
40,000 hair salons in the U.S. donate their clippings to be turned into mats that absorb up to nine times their weight in oil spills.
posted by Glinn at 10:33 AM on January 4, 2022 [5 favorites]

Aw, David Byrne!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:40 AM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

I actually subscribe to the Reasons to be Cheerful newsletter, but I don't usually manage to read the darn thing, it just sits in my inbox, so it's great to have this year-end recap.

A few of my favorites:

After a town in Arizona converted a juvenile detention center into a youth hangout, juvenile arrests in the county dropped by 55%.

Overfishing has been eliminated in 91% of U.S. fish stocks.

In the past eight years, the number of worker-owned co-ops in the U.S. has increased 36%. The business model offers employees, on average, more than $7 more per hour than standard businesses.

Paris is greening its public housing — in its tallest residential building, energy bills have fallen by 47%. (Win for the planet, win for the residents!)

A program in Montana connecting medical patients to lawyers has helped more than 130 people find financial and legal stability during their recoveries.

In North Carolina, a former prison has been turned into a farm run by at-risk teenagers, and 95% of the youth involved with the program have avoided recidivism.

And wow, I did not know about this:

New legislation is capping phone call costs for incarcerated folks at 14 cents per minute, and some states are offering free video calls and emails.


I can always use some good news, but especially right now.

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this with us, Bella Donna!
posted by kristi at 10:42 AM on January 4, 2022 [16 favorites]

Thanks so much for this! The smiles on the faces of both dog and man in the photo illustrating "incarcerated men in California are training dogs in a program that has saved and placed more than 680 rescued pooches into homes" made my day.
posted by rpfields at 10:44 AM on January 4, 2022 [8 favorites]

lol gold stars!
After New Zealand put gold stars on the bins of folks who properly sort their cans and bottles, the amount of material able to be recycled went up from 48% to 80%.
posted by Glinn at 10:44 AM on January 4, 2022 [33 favorites]

Now do one for 1939.

I really don't think the occasional post of positive things or good news will make everyone forget all the bad stuff we face.

This post was a great thing to see. Thank you.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:45 AM on January 4, 2022 [29 favorites]

80% of Napa Valley winemakers are using owls to control their rodent populations.

I don't know why this one makes me feel especially cheerful. I guess I just like owls!
posted by pangolin party at 11:03 AM on January 4, 2022 [11 favorites]

Hey fellow Swede, it takes all the strength I have on some days to fucking get up at all. Dropping by to shit on my cheery post is a mean thing to do. I nearly posted a warning at the end of the FPP to encourage people to not shit on my post but hoped I would not need to do that. Oops.

Hit-and-run snark is not helpful to those of us trying to keep ourselves together in this terrible time. I appreciate your posts and comments on MF generally, but I do not appreciate this. You think a bit of cheer on a dark day is bullshit? Then get the hell out of this thread and go be gloomy somewhere else. There are plenty threads for completely understandable gloom. This is not one of them.
posted by Bella Donna at 11:04 AM on January 4, 2022 [129 favorites]

El Paso Community College used its pandemic relief aid to forgive $3 million in student debt.

Palm Beach State College, the community college my son attends, used CARES Act funds to give every student $1000 this fall. No means testing, no forms to fill out, no requirement that money be used on tuition or books, just - here's $1000. That's the kind of thing that can make a huge difference for a lot of students at a school where there's enough food insecurity that the college runs its own food pantry.
posted by Daily Alice at 11:07 AM on January 4, 2022 [24 favorites]

40,000 hair salons in the U.S. donate their clippings to be turned into mats that absorb up to nine times their weight in oil spills.

I remember hearing about the science of this a while back, must be at least ten years, but I hadn't heard it had been valorised.
posted by biffa at 11:08 AM on January 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

Thanks for this post @Bella Donna. I subscribe to the email newsletter but never get around to reading it so I love seeing all this good news I missed last year.
posted by COD at 11:24 AM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

Thank you for this. A nice way to orient my outlook as the holiday feeling fades away and I’m staring the workaday world in the face again. Much appreciated.
posted by profreader at 11:56 AM on January 4, 2022 [4 favorites]

Well, I'll think to that.
posted by y2karl at 12:05 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also,

And wow, I did not know about this:

New legislation is capping phone call costs for incarcerated folks at 14 cents per minute, and some states are offering free video calls and emails.

Oh, the humanity!

It's way past about fuckin' time, too...
posted by y2karl at 12:08 PM on January 4, 2022 [5 favorites]

I love this so much!

These three are my favourites:
One month after receiving a one-time cash gift of $5,800, 50% of homeless people moved into stable housing and 70% of them became food secure.

After New Zealand put gold stars on the bins of folks who properly sort their cans and bottles, the amount of material able to be recycled went up from 48% to 80%.

By comparing current satellite imagery with aerial photos from World War 2, researchers have found that the islands of Micronesia and parts of Kiribati have increased in total area by two to three percent.
posted by Braeburn at 12:28 PM on January 4, 2022 [5 favorites]

It's very easy to forget that news organizations THRIVE on bad news, regardless of political orientation. I has made us unable to judge the state of the world fairly. From a few years ago, this thread ...the World is better than ever, demonstrated how resistant we are to good news. For example, I work in an architecture firm that's serious about sustainability. Every day, people are making positive contributions to the future of our species in both big and little ways. But that is not news. It's imperative for one's mental health to remember that there is a lot of good going on, because even though humans suck, they are also magnificent.
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 12:28 PM on January 4, 2022 [24 favorites]

This is really cool.

If we were placing bets, I'd bet against Optim Energy. Not 'cause the idea is impossible, but because the founder's technical explanations sound like absolute nonsense. It could be they've hired someone who built something that actually works, but if so, they sure don't understand why it works. Everything about it screams "scam."

But, 191 (maybe 190) out of 192 is still pretty good. Thanks!
posted by eotvos at 12:32 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

I didn't read the entire thing, but

President Biden

Is a vast improvement.
posted by freakazoid at 1:25 PM on January 4, 2022 [12 favorites]

Yes, what a good way to start the year!! Thanks BD.

I have to say, I've seen **none** of these stories before. Which says something about media coverage of good news and my own tendency to click on the bad news.
posted by storybored at 1:28 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

Wow! My community college gave me $2,500 in cash over the course of 3 semesters from pandemic aid money- no means testing or anything at all. It was great- nearly set the balance for what I paid for my coursework!
This:
After decades of efforts, China has gone from 30 million cases of malaria to zero, essentially eradicating the disease.
This. Is. Wild! And amazing. Amazing! China seems to have it's public health shit together. Thanks for the lovely post, it feels good to participate in this.
posted by erattacorrige at 1:29 PM on January 4, 2022 [7 favorites]

I'm so glad to hear about community colleges giving students financial support. I taught at community colleges for many years, and I really believe in their mission. The cards are stacked against so many CC students, though—they routinely hold jobs, or are parents, or are otherwise pulled in many directions by many responsibilities while struggling with courses their high school education poorly prepared them for.

I love direct cash payments. They can make such a difference in people's lives.
posted by Well I never at 1:34 PM on January 4, 2022 [7 favorites]

MetaFilter: I guess I just like owls!

Last year a great grey allowed us to get close, it observed us at the tee-off (disc golf) and we stared back, then it flew off. Not sure if it was the same great grey that same fall, just months ago, but we saw its enormous shape perched high in the branches of a tree

Years ago what I think was a great horned did a fly-by over my old dog's head, she might have looked like prey from afar but a bit big on closer inspection. It happened so fast. I have a pic from a few years ago, wing marks in the snow, could've been an owl? I don't know ravens drop like that. Just those times make me grateful, not even counting the deer I saw through my window today. thanks for the post, BD
posted by elkevelvet at 2:04 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

Thank you for posting this!
posted by oulipian at 2:04 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

Why are the hair mats being made through donations and non-profits when oil spills are caused by some of the wealthiest companies in the world? If the oil companies pay a proper price for the mats then Clean Wave can pay the salons and maybe that means cheaper haircuts for all.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:05 PM on January 4, 2022 [9 favorites]

That permeable pavement in NY City is really interesting. I would have though freezing temperatures would have reduced it to rubble in a few winters but they are using it for streets etc so they must have figured out a solution.
posted by Mitheral at 2:16 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

0n a personal note, the pandemic isolation introduced me to the two hour strip of That 70s Show on the Laff channel. Here I thought the concept was the total suck and never watched it came out. How wrong I was. Except about some of the first season and all of the last.

But, otherwise, what a revelation. It reminds me of what Mhzchoice Euro cop shows in that, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis apart, the actors look like real people rather than models with guns -- or in its case, whatever -- and the quality of its writing is way above the usual Amero dreck.

It amazes me it got made -- I can't imagine it being green lighted in the latter day neo-Puritan teens and aughties -- what with all the sex and drugs.

And Debra Jo Rupp -- what a revelation!

Will watch again.

Plus after a couple of months ruminating about what kind of sucky name is Topher anyway? I had the eventual Well, Duh! experience...

*embarrassed awkward Kitty Foreman stilted laugh...*
posted by y2karl at 2:17 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

I noticed a nice change during Seattle’s week of snow. It stayed cold enough that some streets were white snow the whole week, just packed down by the occasional cars — but not black with exhaust three feet to either side. Over a week! When I was a kid the black stains were visible in a morning!
posted by clew at 3:15 PM on January 4, 2022 [6 favorites]

Sweden has delivered the world’s first batch of steel produced without fossil fuels, and industrial quantities of it could be on the market within five years.

This is awesome, using hydrogen and presumably wind energy. Swedish steel rules!
posted by clavdivs at 3:34 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

I suppose the context around this one is not joyful, but I’m still super happy it happened:

300 women showed up to a women-only party in Nigeria to dance without fear of sexual harassment.

Thank you for sharing, BD. The world is dark, but not entirely without many glowing points of light.
posted by obfuscation at 3:35 PM on January 4, 2022 [5 favorites]

This made me really happy today, Bella Donna. I appreciate you sharing it so much!
posted by corey flood at 3:55 PM on January 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

You know what, I don't think I ever put together that Topher is short for Christopher. Ty for that one, y2karl.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 4:17 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

This is awesome, using hydrogen and presumably wind energy.

Possibly the hydrogen is more from hydro at this stage by the looks of it. Not clear whether nuclear plays any role. Sweden gets roughly equal amounts of electricity from hydro & nuclear.
posted by biffa at 5:01 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

I am the queen of the Negative Nancy Club and even I would like to see some good stuff listed somewhere for a change.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:06 PM on January 4, 2022 [4 favorites]

Thanks, BD!
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 5:09 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'm chasing Swedish windmills!
posted by clavdivs at 5:33 PM on January 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

I'm chasing Swedish windmills!

Don't go chasing Swedish windmills; just stick to the turbines and propellers you're used to.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 7:46 PM on January 4, 2022 [12 favorites]

I really enjoyed this, thank you.
posted by medusa at 8:51 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

Why are the hair mats being made through donations and non-profits when oil spills are caused by some of the wealthiest companies in the world?

I agree with this so much. It is both completely fucked up that oil companies do what they do and also heartening that others step in to the breach to help clean up the mess because somebody needs to. Basically what Carmody’sPrize said better.
posted by Bella Donna at 9:52 PM on January 4, 2022

Thank you so much for this. I tried really hard to turn off my yes-but brain while reading and just enjoy the experience and to be honest the sheer volume of lovely bits of hope helped because eventually something strikes a chord and the niceness chips away at the resistance. Then there were delightful parts I missed like the New Zealand sticker thing which made perfect sense and delighted at the same time. And also just a reminder to make my corner of the world the best it can be and that sometimes that's all I can do and that's okay.
posted by mkdirusername at 5:56 AM on January 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Here's some more good news, via Crooked Media's What A Day newsletter:

Twenty-five states and 56 local jurisdictions will raise their minimum wage in 2022; many of those hikes went into effect on January 1.

A new California law requiring grocery stores to donate surplus foods to food banks has gone into effect.

The DC Council has approved legislation to stock free pads and tampons in school bathrooms. (Washington Post, but wasn't paywalled for me.)

Sokhary Chau, the new mayor of Lowell, MA, has become the first Cambodian American mayor in the country.
posted by Bella Donna at 6:57 AM on January 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

On a personal note...last year Mrs. Example and I finally, after years of working toward it, got our UK citizenships and passports. The sense of relief at the prospect of never having to deal with UKVI ever again was palpable.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 8:33 AM on January 5, 2022 [7 favorites]

My condolences and congratulations. Now two mints in one!
posted by y2karl at 10:20 AM on January 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

This reminds me of the book "Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think" by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:03 PM on January 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

Oh -- apart from this mild remark -- are my pessimistic lips sealed.

You want fries with that?
posted by y2karl at 1:57 PM on January 5, 2022

That is a disturbing flower.
posted by leotrotsky at 5:55 AM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]