Good News Friday

/ Post by Polar Bears International

It’s Friday and we want to share some good news. There’s a lot of doom and gloom out there regarding climate change – and there should be. It’s a serious problem that we all need to be taking action on.

But on Fridays, we like to highlight some of the good news, and focus on what people and communities are doing right now to reduce their carbon footprint and help polar bears.

• After suffering a string of mishaps, Shell has announced it will be suspending all its Arctic drilling operations for 2013, again delaying an effort on which the oil giant has spent $4.5 billion. That doesn’t mean they won’t drill in 2014, but it’s a start.

• This year marks the 20th anniversary of Energy Star. Over the past 20 years, Americans, with help from Energy Star, have saved nearly $230 billion on utility bills and prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to those from more than 350 million vehicles. Watch the video below.

• The estimated 80% of Kenyans that are not on a grid rely solely on kerosene to light their homes. But a pay-as-you-go home solar system promises to deliver clean, affordable lighting to rural areas.

• Wednesday was International Polar Bear Day and it was a huge success. Classrooms, zoos, and individuals took our Thermostat Challenge and lowered (or raised) their thermostat two degrees, depending on where they live. Our Twitter feed was crowded with the #polarbearday hashtag, and Facebook was jumping. Over at My Planet, My Part, participants were posting photos of their actions all day long. We’re hoping everyone turns this one-day challenge into a fulltime thing!

• This March residents of New York City’s five boroughs will have the opportunity to receive free trees for their yards and neighborhoods courtesy of the New York Restoration Project, which aims to plant a million trees in the city by 2017, and Toyota, which sponsored 4,500 trees for this year’s effort. The New York Restoration Project (NYRP) was founded in 1995 by actress Bette Midler to help make the city a greener and more sustainable place. The MillionTreesNYC effort is a collaboration between NYRP, the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and other organizations.