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Plus, how to get the most of your favorite candles.
Dear Reader,
This Feel-Good Friday is a whopper starting with this from Fix the News: “An astonishing new data dump from the WHO and UNICEF showing that between 2015 and 2024 humanity recorded one of the fastest expansions of basic welfare of all time: 961 million people gained safe drinking water, 1.2 billion gained safe sanitation, and 1.5 billion gained access to basic hygiene services, while the number of unserved fell by nearly 900 million. Coverage has risen to 74%, 58% and 80% respectively, while open defecation has dropped by 429 million people. Together, these figures represent an historic advance in human health and dignity.”
Let’s pause here for a moment and just relish this news. Can we imagine a day when every person on Earth has safe water? Sanitation? Is that John Lennon I hear singing in the background?
While this next bit of news might feel a bit anticlimactic, it’s actually very climactic. Something called Operation Green Shield deployed 1,500 officers across Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to arrest people accused of illegal mining, logging, and wildlife trafficking. The operation used satellite-based geolocation tools to share intel and data, and ultimately rescued 2,100 live animals (more than double that number in dead ones) and seized raw minerals, timber, fuel, trucks and bulldozers worth €55 million. Special thanks goes to the UAE for coordinating the effort.
And here’s a bonus Feel-Good Friday tip: Ready to upgrade a “smart” home appliance, including a water heater, that will save energy and, therefore, money? Check out the Energy Star Rebate Finder.
Joyfully,
Dot
If your candle jar (for collecting candle stubs) isn’t an innovative Arbor Made vessel with a silicone base, place the candle jar into a small pot and place the pot in a larger pot of simmering water until the wax melts, remove the wicks, then pour the melted wax into molds.
For more Bluedot Climate Quick Tips, click here.
