Back in the summer, in this space, I presented a brief collection of good news stories from a few websites. Tonight, it’s time for another round.
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tonight’s feature presentation: good news
What follows is a random sampling of good news from around the intertoobs. Hopefully something here will bring a smile to your face tonight.
From GoodNewsNetwork: Kids With Autism Can Now Browse The Zoo Stress-Free 1 Hour Before it Opens
For kids on the autism spectrum just trying to enjoy animals at the zoo, large crowds and noise can be too stressful to maneuver.
That’s why the Taronga Zoo in New South Wales, Australia will now open one hour early on special Access Taronga days so guests with autism can enjoy the park without the general public.
The Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in a couple of days. This zoo, as with others that I personally visited last year, is heavily invested in conservation. Many of their animals are rescues, being given care and treatment necessary to continue their lives. The zoo emphasizes education. And as we see from the story above, they give special care to their visitors who themselves have special needs.
From Huffington Post: This Company Turns Plastic Bottle Trash From The Ocean Into Clothing
The New York City-based startup [Bionic Yarn] turns used old plastic bottles, some of which were recovered from ocean shorelines, and turns them into yarns and fabrics for clothing.
The company, whose creative director is recording artist Pharrell Williams, has partnered with several different apparel brands ― including G-Star and O’Neill ― since its founding in 2009 to incorporate its yarn into a variety of products, from denim jeans to snowboarding jackets.
…
In the past three years, Bionic Yarn has transformed about 7 million plastic bottles pulled from shorelines, company co-founder Tim Coombs told The Huffington Post in an email.
theguardian reports that the “Great Pacific garbage patch”, already known to emcompass a huge area of the ocean, is far bigger than previously imagined. Although Bionic Yarn has reportedly been collecting its waste plastic from shorelines, not the deep ocean, perhaps there is an opportunity here for harvesting raw material while helping the environment even more.
From Huffington Post: Smokin’ Calendar Features French Firefighters Posing For Charity
Some very shirtless firefighters from France got their Zoolander on for Le Calendrier Des Pompiers 2017, or The Calendar of Firefighters 2017, which was shot by French photographer Fred Goudon.
A portion of the project’s proceeds will go towards Pompiers Sans Frontières, or Firefighters Without Borders, an international NGO that helps people around the world affected by crises such as natural disasters or armed conflict, according to a Huffington Post translation of the group’s website.
Nothing pornographic in the link above, just shirtless men with, shall we say, smokin’ bodies. It’s for a good cause. And charity, too.
In the voice of George Takei: Oh, my!
From Huffington Post: This Woman Is Feeding Thousands In Need By Couponing Like A Boss
Lauren Puryear, 29, of Woodbridge, Virginia, is clipping coupons to feed thousands of people in need, reports news outlet NJ.com.
So far she’s fed over 5,000 people on a shoestring budget, securing rock-bottom deals on food items through couponing. Puryear hopes to feed 30,000 people by her 30th birthday, on Sept. 14, 2017.
She told NJ.com that she can feed 150 people for as little as $20, depending on the items.
I’ve seen a couple of those shows on the teevee like Extreme Couponing. It’s weird seeing people rack up carts full of stuff at a grocery store and paying zero or next to zero for the load. Here in Canada, we don’t have the same couponing frenzy. Coupons up here have restrictions that make that sort of thing pretty much impossible: one coupon per item, and so forth. We don’t have double coupon days, or other factors that contribute to the frenzy.
On those shows, I’ve seen people who end up with the equivalent of a warehouse in their garage, storing several lifetime’s worth of shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, and other items. A lot of it seems to be wasted effort; kudos to Lauren Puryear for doing some good with her efforts.
From sunny skyz: This Response From LEGO To A 7-Year-Old Who Lost His Figurine Is Everything
A 7-year-old named Luka wrote LEGO an email after losing one of his favorite figurines asking if they could send him a replacement. This is how LEGO's wonderful customer service team responded...
You can read the child’s original email, and LEGO’s response, in full at the link above.
Congratulations to LEGO for its gesture to make a little kid happy.
top comments for Wednesday october 5, 2016
From Tamar:
Great comment summarizing the VP debate results from vanguardia, in “Open thread: Kaine vs. Pence, the debate is over … so let’s talk about it.” by Joan McCarter.
From annieli:
This is an amusing thread started by Mother Mags in Jen Hayden's story on the Wikileaks meltdown by Alex Jones “What happens when conspiracy nuts get ‘Wikirolled’? An epically insane meltdown for the ages (video)”
top mojo for tuesday october 4, 2016
top photos for tuesday october 4, 2016