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The power of positivity and how to calculate your carbon footprint.
I’ve often wondered, like many journalists do, whether telling stories of progress in the midst of all this collapse is a dangerous distraction. But then I remember: realistic optimism isn’t naïve. It’s armor. It helps us face a challenging, sometimes frightening future with resilience.
–Angus Hervey, Fix the News
Dear Reader,
It can feel tempting to tune it all out, can’t it? And yet, chances are you wouldn’t be here — reading a daily newsletter focused on climate — if you didn’t care deeply about our planet and believe that we can create positive change. As Eric Holthaus, author of The Future Earth (available on Amazon and Bookshop), has put it, “We were born at just the right moment to change everything.” Which is exactly what loads of people are doing — mending the world in myriad wonderful ways — though the headlines tend not to blare about that. As Fix the News founder Angus Hervey put it: “Here’s another way of looking at it. In June 2025, while the United States was busy bombing Iran, French Polynesia created the world’s largest marine protected area, Bolivia advanced legislation to ban child marriage, the Global Vaccine Alliance secured enough funding to vaccinate 500 million kids by 2030, Indonesia announced that it had reduced childhood stunting by half, Ireland shut down its last coal plant, the European Union upheld a ban on bottom trawling (inspired by David Attenborough), and England and Wales decriminalised abortion. Guess which story dominated headlines?” Of course, there are plenty of incredible, promising things taking place in America, also. We publish solutions-focused stories every day on Bluedot Living, because we’re committed to “realistic optimism.” (Check out this essay about what happens when you trade “doomscrolling” for “hopescrolling.”)
So take heart, dear Reader. Positive stories aren’t a distraction, they are as much a part of our reality as the depressing ones. And positive stories are armor, fortifying us to take action to create the world we want.
Positively,
Dot
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