{"id":16386,"date":"2023-01-30T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/?p=16386"},"modified":"2023-11-29T15:30:09","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T15:30:09","slug":"monthly-good-news-5-january-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/monthly-good-news-5-january-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Monthly Good News #5: January 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It\u2019s the final post in which I can say Happy New Year! Soon, we\u2019ll be in February, and then it\u2019s just a normal month again. So, while we\u2019re still in January, let\u2019s remind you of what Monthly Good News is about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, it\u2019s my personal attempt at reminding you that Earth is not an inherently bad place to be and humans are striving for better every single day. The core message here is PEOPLE DON\u2019T TOTALLY SUCK, HAVE A NICE DAY, and I try to convey that to you by rounding up as much good news from the prior month as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is January\u2019s. Even in a month in which it\u2019s super cold and kind of sad and everywhere you look you\u2019re being taught how to make your <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/sustainable-new-years-resolutions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">sustainable new year\u2019s resolutions<\/a>, there are still good things happening and good news being made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So here\u2019s the news:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Green energy has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessgreen.com\/news\/4062806\/uk-renewables-overtake-gas-uks-electricity-generator-winter#:~:text=Renewables%20has%20overtaken%20gas%20to,2022%20to%2013%20January%202023.\">overtaken gas as the UK\u2019s leading source of electricity<\/a> this winter, sparing the country from an even worse energy crisis<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More than 200 ultra-rich people (millionaires and billionaires) have called in <a href=\"https:\/\/costofextremewealth.com\/\">an open letter<\/a> for higher taxes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/oem.bmj.com\/content\/80\/2\/111\">study of 7,000 people<\/a> reveals a correlation between exposure to nature and lower use of prescription drugs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Welsh Football Association has announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.faw.cymru\/en\/news\/equal-pay-agreement-reached-between-faw-national-teams\/\">gender pay equity<\/a> for anyone playing for their national team; the men\u2019s team agreed to a 25% pay cut, while the women\u2019s team received a 25% pay rise<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Blossoming fruit trees are returning to Birmingham as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.positive.news\/society\/the-plan-to-create-a-ring-of-blossom-around-birmingham\/\">the first of 600 new trees<\/a> are planted<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It was announced that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ifaw.org\/uk\/press-releases\/no-indian-rhinos-poached-first-time-45-years#:~:text=(Guwahati%2C%20India%20%E2%80%93%2017%20January,as%20a%20global%20conservation%20success.\">no rhinos were poached<\/a> in Kaziranga, the world\u2019s largest rhino reserve for all of 2022<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The UN shared its findings that the <a href=\"https:\/\/ozone.unep.org\/system\/files\/documents\/Scientific-Assessment-of-Ozone-Depletion-2022-Executive-Summary.pdf\">ozone layer is on track to fully recover<\/a> within 40 years<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Scientists identified a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earlham.ac.uk\/news\/exotic-wheat-dna-could-help-breed-climate-proof-crops\">\u201cclimate-proof\u201d wheat<\/a> that can offer higher yields in hot weather<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/far-reaching-ban-on-single-use-plastics-in-england\">England has announced a plastic ban<\/a>, halting the production and sale of single-use plastic cutlery, plates, trays, bowls and certain types of polystyrene cups and food containers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Housing developers in England will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwt.org.uk\/news-and-stories\/news\/wwt-welcomes-government-decision-that-will-put-mini-wetlands-in-towns-and-cities-across-england#:~:text=In%20a%20long%20fought%20for,people's%20homes%20and%20businesses1.\">required to make mini wetlands<\/a> on developments such as rain gardens and ponds<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>France has demanded that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/en\/environment\/article\/2023\/01\/02\/disposable-cartons-for-french-fast-food-restaurants-are-almost-gone_6010063_114.html\">fast food entities provide reusable tableware<\/a> for food being eaten onsite as a way to cut down on fast food packaging<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In Spain, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/jan\/03\/tobacco-companies-cleaning-up-cigarette-butts-spain\">tobacco companies will have to pay<\/a> for the clean up of cigarette butts, one of the most commonly littered items in Europe<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For the first time ever, researchers have turned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.happy-headlines.com\/blog-posts\/researchers-have-converted-plastic-greenhouse-gases-into-sustainable-fuels\">plastic waste and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels<\/a>, using only a solar-powered reactor<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There are already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.happy-headlines.com\/blog-posts\/8-countries-are-already-net-zero\">8 net-zero countries<\/a> in the world<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Los Angeles and San Diego <a href=\"https:\/\/www.happy-headlines.com\/blog-posts\/los-angeles-san-diego-have-banned-plastic-foam\">banned plastic foam<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In 2022, <a href=\"https:\/\/ofv.no\/bilsalget\/bilsalget-i-desember_2022\">79% of cars sold<\/a> in Norway were electric<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br>In conclusion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People don\u2019t totally suck, you know. Have a nice day.<br><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>By Bethany Climpson, Sustainability Engagement Assistant<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The core message here is PEOPLE DON\u2019T TOTALLY SUCK, HAVE A NICE DAY, and I try to convey that to you by rounding up as much good news from the prior month as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":331329,"featured_media":16390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4138,66,86],"tags":[334,3822,3994,1822,1954,2014],"class_list":["post-16386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monthly-good-news","category-sustainability-engagement","category-whole-earth","tag-canterbury-christ-church-university","tag-good-news","tag-positive-news","tag-sgo","tag-student-green-office","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"authorName":"Bethany Climpson","featuredImage":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/669\/2023\/01\/Welcome-to.png","postExcerpt":"The core message here is PEOPLE DON\u2019T TOTALLY SUCK, HAVE A NICE DAY, and I try to convey that to you by rounding up as much good news from the prior month as possible.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/331329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16386"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16398,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16386\/revisions\/16398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}