This Instagram account illustrates good news stories from the past year – 12 favourites

It’s been quite a year (when was the last time it wasn’t?) and this might just be the pick-me-up you need right now.

A rather fantastic Instagram account called The Happy Broadcast which illustrates 50 of the very best good news stories from the last 12 months.

Here’s what its creators told the good people of Bored Panda.

‘It’s an anti-venom to the vitriolic rhetoric that pervades our media.’

And here are a few of our favourites (you can see the whole lot here).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We’re a step closer to save White Rhinos from extinction! – Drop a 🦏 in the comments to celebrate this event. – Tag in the comments one of your friends that needs some good news. Seven eggs from the world’s last two remaining northern white rhinos have been successfully fertilized artificially, reviving hopes of saving the endangered animals. The world’s last male northern white rhinoceros, a 45-year-old named Sudan, died last year in Kenya, leaving only the two surviving female members, Najin and Fatu, of the species. The scientists said in a statement they had harvested 10 eggs from Najin and Fatu and that seven of those had been successfully matured and artificially inseminated. Source: Reuters (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #positivity #happiness #happy #motivation #friends #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #art #artist #goodmorning #positivenews #life #rhinoceros #whiterhino #sudan

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Sep 6, 2019 at 5:25am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sweden has rolled out several interesting new initiatives to tackle shortages of blood and keep its blood donors coming back to more consistent deposits. One approach that has caught the public’s attention is a service that sends donors a text message which tells them when their blood has been used. Donors will first receive a thank you message just after donating, but then later once their blood has been used to help another person, the donors are informed of that momentous moment. The service says the positive feedback to the donor about how they’ve helped out a fellow citizen encourages them to donate again. Source: TOC (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #positivity #happiness #happy #motivation #friends #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #future #art #artist #goodmorning #positivenews #life #sweden #blood #blooddonation #science #research #innovation #giveblood #payitforward

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Oct 14, 2019 at 5:38am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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You all know how much I love Africa and it’s strong and fierce people and this is another example of strength and love. Theresa Kachindamoto (so formidable, she has been nicknamed “The Terminator”!) was determined to take a stand against the tradition which took teenage girls and made them wives and mothers long before the age of 18. Kachindamoto used her chief role to nullify more than 1500 child marriages since 2017, sending the girls who were married off before being able to complete their education back to school. She took a bold step towards ending poverty in Malawi, where a 2017 UN statistic suggested that about 45% of young girls are unable to remain in school past eighth grade. Because of bold and brave leadership like this things may start to change. Art by the talented @samanthacurcio . Source: UN Women (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #positivity #happiness #happy #motivation #friends #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #future #art #artist #goodmorning #positivenews #africa #malawi #childmarriage #children #rights #education #action #school

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Nov 27, 2019 at 7:33am PST

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[ Swipe → for 🇫🇷 🇵🇹 🇪🇸 🇮🇹 ] A big thanks to this week’s guest artist @guascoriccardo . In a landmark victory, the Waorani people of Pastaza, an indigenous tribe from the Ecuadorian Amazon, successfully protected half a million acres of their ancestral territory in the Amazon rainforest from being mined for oil drilling by Big Oil companies. After setting an invaluable legal precedent for other indigenous nations across the Ecuadorian Amazon by accepting a Waorani bid for court protection to stop an oil bidding process, the court also halted the contemplated auctioning of 16 oil blocks that cover over 7 million acres of indigenous territory. Source: Captain Planet/Amazon Frontlines (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #instagood #photooftheday #happy #motivation #art #friends #repost #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #art #artist #illustration #goodmorning #positivenews #life #world #progress #amazon #rainforest #indigenous #tribe #nodrilling #oil #ecuador

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on May 27, 2019 at 7:19am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In 1979, 16-year-old Padma Shri Jadav “Molai” Payeng was devastated when he stumbled upon a pile of dead snakes, scorched to death by extreme heat on the banks of Majuli Island in Assam, India. The snakes, which came to the island by way of flooding from the Brahmaputra river, could find no shade to escape the heat. When he saw the snakes, Payeng told NPR he knew he had to do something about it or else even humans might “have to die this way in the heat.” And so, with an unquestionable love for his homeland and the most admirable dedication, Payeng planted one sapling on the barren land every day for the next 35 years. Payeng’s tremendous efforts have paid off 39 years later. Spreading over 1,360 acres, the woodland, named Molai Forest after Payeng, is about 1.6 times larger than Central Park. Source: Travel+Leisure (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #instagood #photooftheday #beautiful #happy #motivation #art #friends #repost #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #art #artist #illustration #goodmorning #goodnews #life #world #progress #planetearth #snake #india #forest #trees #woodland

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Feb 8, 2019 at 6:57am PST

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[ Swipe → for 🇫🇷 🇵🇹 🇪🇸 🇮🇹 ] Thanks to this week’s guest artist Nikolas Ilic @nikolas.ilic Back in 1973, out of concern that many of America’s native plants and animals were in danger of extinction, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act. The law enables regulators to designate species as either “endangered,” meaning that they’re at risk for becoming extinct throughout at least a significant portion of their range, or “threatened,” meaning that they’re likely to become endangered in the near future. The researchers, who looked at 31 different populations of marine mammals and sea turtles, found that 78 percent of the mammals and 75 percent of the turtles increased their population size after receiving protection under the Act. Sea turtles in particular benefited from the law, with their populations increasing by 980 percent! Source: How Stuff Works (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #instagood #photooftheday #beautiful #happy #motivation #art #friends #repost #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #art #artist #illustration #goodmorning #positivenews #life #world #progress #seaturtles #ocean #endangeredspecies #wildlife turtle #ocean

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on May 8, 2019 at 7:05am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[ Swipe → for 🇫🇷 🇵🇹 🇪🇸 🇮🇹 ] A supermarket in Thailand has replaced its plastic packaging with banana leaf wrapping. Banana leaves have been traditionally used in many Asian countries, Mexico, and Hawaii for packaging food, but Rimping supermarket in Chiangmai, Thailand is probably one of the first stores to use them on such a large scale. There are myriad benefits to using banana leaves over plastic packaging. For one, leaves are organic matter and will easily compost, unlike their plastic counterparts, which will take anything between 50 and 200 years to fully break down. Banana leaves, besides composting effectively, also add nutrients to the soil and will, over time, improve the capacity of the soil to nurture new plants and crops. Little steps make a big difference. Change is coming Source: The Epoch Times (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #instagood #photooftheday #beautiful #happy #motivation #art #friends #repost #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #art #artist #illustration #goodmorning #positivenews #life #world #progress #thailand #eco #banana #noplastic #plasticfree #plants

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Apr 3, 2019 at 6:52am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[ Swipe → for 🇫🇷 🇵🇹 🇪🇸 🇮🇹 ] A person with HIV seems to be free of the virus after receiving a stem-cell transplant that replaced their white blood cells with HIV-resistant versions. The patient is only the second person ever reported to have been cleared of the virus using this method. But researchers warn that it is too early to say that they have been cured. The patient — whose identity hasn’t been disclosed — was able to stop taking antiretroviral drugs, with no sign of the virus returning 18 months later. The stem-cell technique was first used a decade ago for Timothy Ray Brown, known as the ‘Berlin patient’, who is still free of the virus. 16 months after the stem-cell transplant, the patient stopped taking antiretroviral drugs, the standard treatment for HIV. In the latest follow-up, 18 months after stopping medication, there was still no sign of the virus. This breakthrough suggests first case was not a one-off and could pave way for future treatments . Source: Nature (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #instagood #photooftheday #beautiful #happy #motivation #art #friends #repost #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #art #artist #illustration #goodmorning #positivenews #life #world #progress #HIV #stemcell #transplant #breakthrough #HIVfree

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Mar 8, 2019 at 6:58am PST

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Chemical pesticides have turned out to be another man-made disaster, as its effect on humans and the environment has been found to be as deadly as on pests. So some farmers in China, Japan, France, and other countries looked back on the traditional way of controlling pests and found using ducks, to be the most effective way. This method of integrated farming, i.e. ‘rice-duck farming’ has been documented 600 years ago. Apart from eating the pests, the wading or waddling of the ducks through the mud oxygenates water and stirs up layers of soil. Their droppings act as a natural fertilizer. All these benefits make these ducks a viable alternative to pesticides! Source: Eco Friend (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #positivity #happiness #happy #motivation #friends #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #future #art #artist #goodmorning #positivenews #life #duck #rice #farming #china #japan #pesticides

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Sep 30, 2019 at 7:35am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A daytime disco for over-65s in the Korean capital Seoul is giving seniors a new lease of life. The event is the first of its kind organised by the local government and aims to tackle loneliness and dementia in the rapidly ageing country. Some seniors call it a playground, others say it is their medicine – or even better than medicine. Art by the talented @erinkimart . Source: BBC (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #positivity #happiness #happy #motivation #friends #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #future #art #artist #goodmorning #positivenews #life #southkorea #elderly #over65 #disco #dementia #seoul #music #seniors

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Sep 23, 2019 at 6:24am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rome is trying to become more environmentally friendly by offering free metro tickets to travelers who re-cycle plastic bottles using machines set up in three of the Italian capital’s stations. The initiative, which was launched in July, has proved so popular that 350,000 bottles have been recycled. It will soon be extended across the metro network and run until July 2020, the city’s public transport company ATAC says. Rome is the first capital city in the European Union to launch the scheme in metro stations. Similar schemes have already been adopted in Beijing and Istanbul. Source: Reuters (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #positivity #happiness #happy #motivation #friends #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #future #art #artist #goodmorning #positivenews #life #rome #recycling #plastic #metro #climatechange #italy #europe #noplastic

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Oct 4, 2019 at 7:24am PDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Despite its image as a paradise of fairness, women earn less than men. Now Iceland has become the first country in the world to enforce equal pay. Despite an equal pay act that dates back to 1961, Icelandic women still earn, on average, between 14% and 20% less than men. “The gender pay gap is, unfortunately, a fact in the Icelandic labour market and it’s time take radical measures; we have the knowledge and the processes to eliminate it,” Iceland’s Equality and Social Affairs Minister Thorsteinn Viglundsson said. Within four years from 2018, any public or private body in Iceland employing more than 25 people that has not been independently certified as paying equal wages for work of equal value will face daily fines. “The legislation will take some time to bed in, of course,” Valdimarsdóttir, the chair of the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association says. “There will be challenges. But it’s possible, and we can do it. Mainly, I’m just so proud we actually made it happen.” Source: The Guardian (link in bio) #thehappybroadcast #love #instagood #photooftheday #beautiful #happy #motivation #art #friends #repost #fun #style #illustration #inspiration #goodnews #art #artist #illustration #goodmorning #goodnews #life #world #progress #planetearth #equalpay #gendergap #women #salary #iceland #womensrights

A post shared by The Happy Broadcast (@the_happy_broadcast) on Feb 4, 2019 at 7:07am PST

Source The Happy Broadcast H/T BoredPanda