Good News! 7 Positive Environmental Stories from September

4. Remittances are Saving Forests in Nepal

In the beautiful country of Nepal, migration is having an unexpected impact on the country's forests.

Back in 1992 only 26% of Nepal was covered in forest. By 2016, forest coverage was up to 45%, making Nepal the exception to the global trend of deforestation. 

Two factors have made this possible. Policy changes over the past 30 years have returned forest ownership to nearby communities who took better care of the forests, reducing illegal logging and improving forest management.

Also, over the years, more Nepalese have been moving abroad for greater economic opportunities. As they send money back home to Nepal, their families become less dependent on agricultural or resource intensive industries and move towards more urban livelihoods.

While the pros and cons of out-migration are debated, the regeneration of forests definitely falls into the 'pros' column. 

5. Telethon Raises Millions for Tree Planting

Dubbed the first to focus on climate change, a danish telethon was able to raise over $2.8 million to plant trees in the Scandinavian country and abroad.

Over the course of a single evening enough Danes donated to plant nearly 1 million trees. Overall that may seem like a small amount, but the fact that people cared enough to get trees planted is inspiring! It's definitely good to see that people around the world are interested in protecting and restoring our forests.

According to the European Commission, some 83% of Danes consider climate change to be a very serious issue, and planting trees is a great way to bring it to halt!

6. Bugs to the Rescue: Upcycling Food Waste for Car Oil and Agriculture

Advancements in science can be awe-inspiring... and sometimes a little gross.

Researchers at UC Davis are developing a way to take food waste and feed fly larvae which can then be turned into protein powder, animal feed, and even oil/lubricant for cars! By taking food waste and turning it into a new product (known as upcycling) this process is working to reduce and eliminate a few major environmental challenges: eliminating food waste, reducing the amount of agriculture required to feed livestock animals, and even reducing dependence on some petroleum products.

There are going to be a lot of bugs in our future, apparently.

7. Greta's Done it Again!

The climate strikes kicked off by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg continue to grow. Over the course of climate week, up to 7.6 million people came out to demonstrate for improved climate policies - the largest climate demonstrations in history. In comparison, the protests against the Iraq war in 2003, some of the largest ever, saw somewhere between 6 and 11 million people participating. 

Up to 6,000 actions took place over the week in 163 different countries from Canada to New Zealand (where the turn-out was an astounding 3.5% of the population). There were plenty of funny signs, and amazing pictures to get you in the mood to make a change. 

Mass mobilizations such as these show just how dedicated people are to protecting the planet, but now is the time to take action! Stop using plastics, reduce your meat consumption, plant trees, or bike to work. We can talk the talk, but we have to walk the walk to make a real difference.