Good news for once
This article was originally published in German. The English version is an automatic translation and may contain errors. The German original is authoritative.
"I am very frightened, we did not expect this" (Spiegel, 20.09.21) about a volcanic eruption in the Canary Islands.
"Bushfires: number of koalas in Australia declining rapidly" (zeit.de, 20.09.21) following the wildfires in Australia.
"Legally highly questionable" (tagesschau.de, 20.09.21) is the work of the FIU money laundering investigation unit.
All of these news stories from around the world have one thing in common – whether you look through the Tagesschau, in daily newspapers or via online media for your headlines: most of them are bad. This is because the human brain reacts more strongly to bad news than to good news. According to Dr. Maren Urnen, this can be traced back to the Stone Age, when missing a sign of bad weather could cost you your life. A missed piece of good news, on the other hand, is annoying for humans, but not essential for survival. Therefore, humans are more susceptible to bad news and tend to suppress good news from their brains more quickly.
When you then cannot stop and click from one piece of bad news to the next, this is called "doomscrolling". This often leads to us sitting helplessly in front of our screen or newspaper and wondering what we can actually do. Because we humans, as social beings, benefit just as much from helping others as the people being helped do, by feeling good about ourselves in the process. This aspect is lost when you are affected by doomscrolling, because it then seems to you as if you cannot do anything against all the bad things on earth anyway. There is not much left for us when we find ourselves in a cycle of doomscrolling: on the one hand, we should become aware that the world seems so much worse to us in these moments than it actually is, and choose our preferred media channels based on what suits us.
On the other hand, you can also deliberately surround yourself with good news. There are now even news sites such as @goodnewsmagazine on Instagram or nur-positive-nachrichten.de, which specialise in bringing good news to the world.
Before you sink back into the wasteland of bad news, you can now follow some good news from around the world from recent times here:
Bicycle car park in Amsterdam
Cars have become a rarity in Amsterdam city centre. Most residents get around by bicycle, and that is exactly why 100,000 new parking spaces are now being created in the form of a bicycle car park. This is to be built in the water without damaging any habitat in the process. Quite the opposite: the car park is to be built in such a way that it supports the functions of life in the water. Even during the construction work, which is to be completed by 2025, the underwater part of the semi-floating structure is to be disturbed only minimally.
Kiwis singing and not just with Harry Styles
Similar to Harry Styles' song, this is not about the kiwi fruit, but about the New Zealand bird. The kiwi is considered the national symbol of New Zealand and is still considered highly endangered. Nevertheless, wildlife conservationists on the Kiwi Coast in the north of the island have been able to hear their call again, which suggests that the kiwis have recovered enough to feel safe. They build their nests on the ground due to their inability to fly, which makes them easy prey for introduced predators. Thanks to the protection zones established by conservationists in 2016, the kiwi population has already risen again to 70,000 in the wild.
Thrift shopping now also at C&A
In Hamburg Altona at C&A, second-hand fashion is now being offered as a pilot project. Through a cooperation with the online fashion shop for used clothing "Carou", second-hand brands are now also hanging in the store. Whether this will continue and be expanded to other branches depends on how the project is received by customers.
Nevertheless, C&A already had sustainable fashion made from organic cotton beforehand, and their "We take it back" programme, which has been running since 2018, in which you can exchange your discarded clothes for a 10% voucher, also speak to their action against fast fashion.
Whether you are affected by doomscrolling or not, a few pieces of good news cannot hurt anyone. If we give them a little more attention, they not only bring us joy, but also remind us directly that not everything in the world is as bad as it may seem at first glance when diving into the media jungle.