6 minute read
Positively Newsworthy Our pick of uplifting news to make you smile
positively newsworthy
GOOD NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE. POSITIVELIFE.IE
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“ “Fast fashion”... didn’t align with her values and Sojo was her way of making a change” 1 Solution Seekers
GEN-Z MAKING THE CHANGE.
by Alison McEvoy A London-based app is now making it much easier to save old or ill-fitting clothes from the scrapheap. Sojo is a web app that links people to talented seamstresses in their area to adjust and alter clothing;
“Users enter their postcode, choose a local seamster and the service they need and await collection of their garments by a bike courier. The clothes will be returned within five days, ready to wear,” comments Sojo creator, Josephine Philips. One customer raved that “it was like getting a new piece of clothing”. This is heartening, as it can be hard to resist the pull of cheap and chearful online shopping. However, it can be just as exciting to re-tailor and creatively adjust a piece of clothing that has been gathering dust in your wardrobe.
“Fast fashion is the term that Josephine uses to describe the massive fashion industries that churn out cheap clothing as fast as their underpaid and overworked employees can force their fingers to move. She realised that her clothing choices didn’t align with her values and Sojo was her way of making a change;
“..whether in charity shops, thrift stores or on [buying and selling website] Depop, I’d constantly find clothes that I loved that weren’t my size. I realised the solution was to alter them.” It is so amazing to see the newer generations seeking solutions to the injustices and unsustainable practices they encounter in the world, and making efforts to make things right from the epicentre of their own lives.
2 Knowledge is Power
3 Bees Buzz Back
THE GUT-BRAIN AXIS.
by Alison McEvoy
Since many of us are spending more time in our home kitchens, it might excite you to know that what you rustle up not once a fully belly, but also a good mood. There is a prolific amount of data emerging from scientific quarters about the gut-brain axis. While folk and traditional medicine has long been aware of this connection, it is really helpful to have modern language to talk about this connection, and some awesome people out there are coming up with modern solutions to the lack of understanding and practical support. The Good Mood Company is one such initiative. They have come up with a two-pronged, physical and digital approach to help people rebalance the health of the gut. More and more of us are coming to know that what is in the gut actually communicates with and affects the brain. ‘Bad’ bacteria will literally put you in a bad mood. Think crankiness, irritation and grumpiness until the little ‘baddies’ screaming out in your gut get their afternoon sugar fix! The ‘goodies’ will leave you feeling mentally and physically calm, satisfied and grounded. TThe Good Mood Company is a good place to start, and there are plenty of plain-talking books out there that will fill you in on what’s happening under your very own skin, between the gut and the brain.
While it can feel like we are tiny dinghies – regularly tossed, overturned and sunk by the tumultous winds and waves of the emotions – we can turn the tide with information, knowledge and awareness. This empowers us once more to stand stable at the helm of our lives.
THE UPSWING IN DUTCH CITIES.
by Aisling Cronin
A nationwide bee census in the Netherlands has revealed that a recovery in bee numbers is afoot, and highlighted how small-scale conservation projects in Dutch cities have sown the seeds for this recovery. Some 11,000 volunteers took part in the annual survey, which appeared to show an increase in bee numbers in urban areas. In recent years, the Netherlands has made some subtle changes to its cities to make them more hospitable to pollinating insects. Some of the tactics used to address declines in the bee population included the establishment of ‘bee hotels’ in parks and gardens, green roofs on bus stops, and wildflowers planted along grass verges. Koos Biesmeijer, head of Naturalis, a biodiversity charity behind the survey, said those efforts appear to be paying off. “We think numbers are increasing in cities, and that’s because of greater awareness among people,” he commented, explaining that many city dwellers had made efforts to attract bees. The Dutch bee census is now in its fourth year. While Biesmeijer warned that it was too early to draw definitive conclusions from it, he said that the initial results of the survey were encouraging. “If everybody does their bit, then you can really transform landscapes. If you put in habitats for them, bees can thrive.”
positively newsworthy the little things
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1 The Mother of us all
NATURE’S EMBRACE
by Alison McEvoy
It’s officially summer time. Trees that line streets, and the lucky ones that live in parks, and the luckier ones that inhabit forests, beside rivers, lakes, perhaps the sea...are filling up with foliage. The colour green is coming out in full force and it strengthens the heart to see. There is a very special place to me – the inner circle of a beauteous rose garden in my local park. I have been visiting that park my whole life long. The rose garden is the place where I have come to celebrate, to ruminate, to recover, to lament....all the various twists and turns my life has given me thus far. When my faith in humanity has been tested, the roses dripping with tender petals have reassured me. Behind such beauty there must be goodness...and all around us, especially in summertime, the beauty abounds. These days, I take my little boy to the rose garden. For a while, I step back and let Nature be his mother. Let the sun shine on him. The wind blow through his hair. The grass curl up around his feet. I have made the introduction, and I hope the meeting with Mother Nature will be a fruitful one for him his whole life long, as it has been for me.
2 Dream of Daisies
by Aisling Cronin
When we began to dream – before we ever stood atop the mountain, or heard the roar of a wish fulfilled –We sat on the ground (Childlike hearts Eyes of wonder) And made daisy chains.
When we next stand atop the mountain: Showered with glory Wishes fulfilled Promises kept And our mission complete Let us remember To sit on the ground And dream of daisies.
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