Science

Cities are finding big hope in absurdly tiny patches of green

A garden the size of a parking spot is doing wildly more than gardening.

If I made you guess what a pocket garden is, you’d probably guess right. (Especially if you’re a fan of Parks and Rec.) Unlike most city fixes, which come with traffic cones, budget meetings, and equipment that beeps in reverse, these little green spaces can squeeze into the scraps a city already has.

As Matt Simon reports, planners are filling tiny courtyards, sidewalk corners, and other overlooked spaces with native plants, shade, and places to sit. It sounds cute. Maybe even suspiciously cute. But researchers are finding that these mini-oases can punch way above their weight.

And yes, sometimes all it takes is a few plants, a little shade, and the urban equivalent of “we had this weird empty corner, so we did something with it.” 

Do you have a GOOD picture to share?

Send us your best images, and we may feature them as the image of the day. Be sure to tell us a bit about your pic.

Yesterday's Results

In yesterday's issue, we shared why your nervous system may still be at work long after you've closed the laptop.

And we asked: What follows you home from work most often? 35.1% of you chose replaying conversations.

• Replaying conversations (35.1%) 🏆

• Unfinished tasks (29.9%)

• Tomorrow's to-do list (21.6%)

• Nothing. Work brain clocks out with me. (13.4%)

Me? I spend my evenings thinking back over these newsletters!

Innovation | Courtesy of Upworthy

Local

The best argument yet for telling your kids to go outside

There’s more to biking than just good health.

Look, I think we can all agree kids need to get off the couch and get out of the house more. We can all think of a dozen reasons. But I bet none of those reasons would be so they can rescue their neighbors. And yet, that's exactly what happened. Gunner Skidmore and Kohen Chick, both 13, were out on a perfectly ordinary bike ride through Fruitland, Iowa, when Kohen spotted something off in a yard they were passing.

What they found was an elderly woman lying on the ground who, as Erik Barnes reports, had fallen the night before after feeding her horse and couldn't get herself back up. No phone, no water, no food, just a long night outside spent slowly dragging herself toward the front yard, hoping someone would notice. By the time the boys rolled past, she'd been stranded for more than 16 hours. "She was like scared," Kohen said. "You could just tell because like her face, she was covered in all these bugs and stuff."

What the boys did next earned them an award from their county, and somewhere in Iowa there's a lasagna pan involved.

On September 30, 1882, the Vulcan Street Plant in Appleton, Wisconsin, began operating as America’s first hydroelectric central station, using the Fox River to generate electricity for two paper mills and the home of mill owner H.J. Rogers. Rogers had been inspired by Thomas Edison’s new electric power systems, but instead of burning fuel, his plant harnessed the river flowing past his doorstep.

On the exact same day, 53 years later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Hoover Dam, a pretty spectacular demonstration of how far the idea of turning moving water into electricity had come in barely half a century.

Do you have something GOOD to share?

We’re always on the lookout for uplifting, enlightening, and engaging content to share with readers like you. If you have something you think should be featured in the Daily GOOD, let me know!

💬 From the group text…

This young man heard his own laugh for the first time at four-and-a-half years old and got into the most delightful feedback loop!

Join the Group Text! Send us your social media gold.