Frog saunas, and shovels made from old guns
This week's underrated progress, solutions, and people...
Hey fam,
Exciting news! Hours after sending this newsletter out, and perhaps right while you’re reading this, I’ll be filming our next Community Mission.
What are those?
Well, each month, we find and help a person who’s working on an awesome project that deserves more attention. I make a video about their work to elevate it, and use funds raised by your paid subscriptions to The Hopemakers newsletter to help build something that their project needs!
These are just getting started, but I’m confident we’ll build them up to be fantastic documentaries, with real-world impact driven by our community here (AKA, you!).
Check out the last episode or submit a project you think deserves our help right here, and stay tuned for more info coming very soon…
Here’s what’s going right:
The pastor transforming guns into garden tools
When Mike Martin was working as a young adult pastor, his friend was shocked into questioning why he owned his weapon after the tragic Sandy Hook shooting, so Mike went with him to a blacksmith, dismantled it, melted it down, and forged the metal into a rake and shovel.
He found so much healing by the physical act of destroying the violent device to create something useful and peaceful, that he started a nonprofit called RAWtools and set up a collection program exchanging donated pieces for a free tool or a grocery card.
By dismantling over 6,000 guns across Colorado, Philadelphia, North Carolina, and New York, he started noticing a physical release of tension as survivors witness their weapons get destroyed and reborn as equipment, art, toys, jewelry, and even a shovel that helped plant trees in honor of lost victims.
And through hosting collection events in safe spaces like churches or synagogues and listening to locals, the process sparks a bigger conversation around solutions to violence while turning trauma and grief into hope and healing.
Would you want something like this in your community?
The scientist who made frog saunas to save a species
Anthony Waddle grew up in Las Vegas and was obsessed with tadpoles and animal trivia, which makes sense as he became the first in his family to get a PhD and moved to Melbourne to study conservation.
But there, he encountered a deadly fungus called Chytridiomycosis that’s caused the extinction of around 90 amphibian species while threatening hundreds more.
Since many frogs prefer temperatures above what the fungus can tolerate, researchers had tried to install heated ponds or increase sun exposure in the past without success… until Dr. Waddle led a team that used bricks inside a greenhouse to act as “frog saunas” for endangered Australian green and golden bell frogs.
And unlike other experiments, this time, the allure of the warm saunas during winter was irresistible enough to attract and help the little guys clear their infections and even build future immunity.
While it’s not a catch-all solution, it is a glimpse of hope that the incredible ingenuity of scientists can overcome some of the trickiest problems we face.
What do you think of out-of-the-box solutions like these?
What else?
🌊 The High Seas Treaty to protect international waters has finally entered into force after two decades of deliberations, enforcing a legal framework for 143 countries that have signed so far to protect our massively diverse ocean biodiversity lying in waters outside of a country’s borders. (High Seas Alliance)
💨 The largest offshore wind farm in the US can resume construction alongside at least two others, after judges overturned the government’s quote, “arbitrary and illegal” suspension of these clean energy projects each set to power hundreds of thousands of homes. (Spencer Kimball|CNBC)
🐮 Veronika has become the first scientifically documented case of a cow using tools, checking off all three rules to qualify: 1. The tool is an extension of the animal’s body, 2. It allows the animal to do something it otherwise couldn’t, and 3. The animal changes the orientation of the tool to do its job. (David Grimm|Science)
🪳 You can name a roach after your partner (or ex) for Valentine’s Day at the Bronx Zoo.
🥯 A popular Brooklyn bagel shop got plug-in batteries to save money on electricity. (Maria Gallucci, Jeff St. John|Canary Media)
🎓 kelly.j.davis from our community fulfilled their dream of graduating college with a degree in environmental soil and water. Excited to hear what they’ll accomplish next!
We build a better future together… so what’s your story?
This newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. Over 1 million people are in our community across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by hitting reply. Brand illustration by Andrea Miralles. Thanks for helping spread some positivity, and see you next week for more.
Love the cow and her back scratcher!!
The frog sauna concept is genuinely brilliant. Kinda wild how basic bricks in a greenhouse worked where heated ponds failed, somtimes the simplest fix is the best one. I help out at a wildlife rehab center and weve had similar moments where cheap low-tech beats expensive equipment. Makes you think about what other conservation issues could be solved with creativity over cash.