Japan's stinkiest new sport (no. 165)
Plus 22 good things that happened this week...
Hey fam,
Did you know that people are nearly twice as likely to share negative news on social media? (1.91x to be exact).
Together, we’re changing that stat :)
Negative news feels more abundant than ever these days, so I hope this week’s roundup can give you a little boost. I know I need it!
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This week’s good news
Friday, September 5
🐰 120 solar-powered robot rabbits that mimic natural movements were placed around the Everglades to combat invasive Burmese pythons by drawing them out from their hiding spots, as efforts ramp up to get rid of these snakes that don’t belong in the area (Curt Anderson and Cody Jackson|AP)
🚃 Kids in Ireland can now ride public transportation for free thanks to a new program making buses and trains more accessible for over 263,000 children across the country (Emma Kilcawley Hemani|Irish Sun)
🦭 A team of marine biologists are sailing across 26 islands for two months to protect critically endangered monk seals by educating locals on the harms the seals face and actions people can take to protect them, mostly by avoiding their habitats or making excessive noise (Apostolos Staikos|Euronews)
Monday, September 8
✈️ A plane with wings covered in solar panels that fully power its flight broke an unofficial record by reaching 31,237 feet or 9,521 meters on a 5 hour flight over the Swiss Alps, showing what air travel could become (Solar Stratos)
🐦 Expert just re-found a rescued bird! 25 years ago, an orphaned Glaucous-winged gull was brought into a wildlife hospital and taken care of for a month while it learned to fly, swim, and forage, then released into the wild, and the same bird was spotted, happy and healthy after all this time (Elin Molenaar|Wildlife Rescue)
✉️ A series of mesmerizing sculptures were made from junk mail by artist Jessica Drenk who mimics natural rock formations that take millions of years to form with junk that’s used for just moments, creating this stunning and thought-provoking art (Kate Mothes|Colossal, Jessica Drenk)
Tuesday, September 9
🌞 Even with some powerful people trying to stop it, solar energy is now so advantageous that global installations are up 64% this year, remaining the world’s fastest-growing electricity source, where each year smashes the previous record (Ember)
🇳🇿 New Zealand’s population just went from 5 million to 695 billion, in a fun new campaign estimating their total number of living things, excluding bugs and slimy things since that number would be too high to say out loud, in a reminder that humans are just 0.001% of the nation’s population and we must protect the rest too (NZ DOC)
🏡 When a 97-year-old landlord named Richard Reetz passed away, he donated all of his 20 units on 10 properties to a nonprofit in Wisconsin in a legendary move to help people in need get stable housing (Kamrin Baker|GoodGoodGood)
Wednesday, September 10
🛍️ A fully secondhand shopping mall in Sweden where all products are donated by the public is a successful experiment that just turned 10 years old, with the ReTuna mall showing the circular economy can work in real life by reimagining shopping while addressing excess waste (Mary-Ann Ball|The Conversation)
🦫 A study spanning 54 years just confirmed what we already knew, that beavers are badass by acting as ecosystem engineers to drastically increase habitat biodiversity, modifying areas to be nearly 10 times more suitable for a variety of species from moose to voles to diving beetles (University of Helsinki|EurekAlert)
🪸 Some of the most resilient and thriving coral reefs in the world in the Philippines are now protected thanks to a new law creating a marine protected area which will limit the speed of ships, prevent overfishing, and protect the abundance of species within the Pacific Coral Triangle known as the Amazon of the Sea (Oceana)
Japan’s hottest new sport
A new sport out of Japan called Spogomi is gaining popularity, which is literally picking up as much trash as fast as possible, and the World Cup qualifiers just took place between 1,458 competitors across about 20 countries.
Invented in 2008 by Kenichi Mamitsuka to get more trash picked up through competition, the name is a combination of the word “sport” with the Japanese word “gomi” which means rubbish.
To play, teams of three must stick together for an hour to collect as much litter as possible within a designated public area without running, and then 20 minutes to correctly sort it by type, combining luck, teamwork, good eyes, and knowledge of waste.
Cigarette butts are worth the most points, while bulky or dangerous items aren’t allowed, and you lose points if you go out of bounds, sort the trash incorrectly, or pick up a banned item.
The US qualifiers just took place in Santa Monica with 30 teams collecting 362 pounds of trash, and the winners were IDT who will join the other nations from all six continents at the World Cup in Japan in October.
And just imagine if this sport took off, combining fun competition with social good and education.
I legitimately want to enter next year… Would you play?
Community wins 🤝
siixgrains teamed up with their dad to build a backyard pond with native plants, providing a safe space for local wildlife and seeing all sorts of news species… even some toads laying eggs!
🪱 snoupsnake just started a compost bin.
✏️ oclueless29 decided to walk or bike to school instead of driving for the rest of the year.
🦎 perceived_possum has been removing invasive lizards on their property and already seeing the native species return.
How are you making the planet better? Tell us in a comment for a chance to be featured in next week’s newsletter!
What else?
🐸 Frog romance aided by humans is saving a species. (gifted)
🚌 Czech Republic to give free menstrual products at schools.
🧑🍳 Libraries are teaching communities how to cook!
🌃 A few cool ways (pun intended) to lower city temperatures.
🦣 Mammoth bones found in Mexico are changing history.
This newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. Over 1 million people are in our community across Instagram, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, and Bluesky. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by emailing jacob@jacobsimonsays.com. Main illustration by Andrea Miralles.
See you next week for more!
Thanks, I needed that!