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• You can now order another four free COVID-19 tests for your household!
• ​National Public Lands Day is tomorrow (September 28) in the U.S. — keep reading for good public lands news and ways to celebrate!

Today’s Top Good News Story

Local parks in the U.S. just got a record $254 million investment from the Interior Department

Overseen by the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the National Park Service, the Interior Department announced a record $254 million investment into 54 projects in 24 states for the redevelopment or creation of new local parks.

It’s the single-largest grant investment made from the department’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program.

A major component of the ORLP is to provide safe outdoor spaces for historically marginalized communities — and it’s part of the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to have 40% of the benefits of all federal funding flow to “disadvantaged communities.”

Why is this good news? Neighborhoods where residents predominantly identify as people of color have access to an average of 44% less park acreage than predominantly white neighborhoods — and it’s similar for low- vs. high-income neighborhoods. This historic investment aims to change inequity — and is especially good news ahead of National Public Lands Day (tomorrow!).

→ Read more

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More Good News

​Just in time for autumn leaves, Virginia’s 43 state parks all now feature special viewfinders for colorblind visitors. The viewfinders are equipped with special lenses from EnChroma that help those with red-green color vision deficiency experience an expanded range of colors.

​After the city’s clean air zone went into effect, 4 in 10 kids started walking to school in London. When London restricted the volume of high-emitting vehicles roaming city streets, it knew it would bring quieter streets and cleaner air — but this benefit was a surprise.

​Barcelona is converting its subway trains into power stations to fuel electric vehicles. Four electrolineras — Spanish for “electric gas stations” — went up in July whose powers are generated by the city’s trains.

take Action

Celebrate National Public Lands Day!

Tomorrow (September 28) is National Public Lands Day, the largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands in the U.S.

From national parks, memorials, and monuments, to wildlife refuges, conservation areas, trails, wilderness areas, seashores, lakeshores, and more, public lands are all around us — nearly 40% of the country is public land.

This annual holiday aims to celebrate the connection between people and their community’s natural spaces — here are some ways to join in celebrating:

🏞️ Enjoy a fee-free day at all national parks!

🏞️ Become a volunteer at a local or national park.

🏞️ Grab a clean-up kit and pick up litter in your nearby public lands.

🏞️ Urge your elected officials to protect public lands.

🏞️ Read good news about national parks and public lands.

🏞️ Read a book or watch a documentary about public lands.

🏞️ Learn what Indigenous lands you live on.

🏞️ Learn how to #RecreateResponsibly.
​

→ ​​More ways to celebrate National Public Lands Day

*Some of these recommendations may include affiliate links, which means if you buy anything from this email, we may get something in return at no extra cost to you. (Thanks for your support!)

More Good bits

🍿 Dylan and her dad saw it first, but now we can all watch Will & Harper — it’s streaming on Netflix starting today!

🌱 A farmer’s paradise… in Iceland?​

🐝 It’s been a good year for the bees.​

❤️ While we’re stuck with active shooter drills, we can at least improve them.​

📱 A journalist in Gaza just won an Emmy for her reporting.

What’s good?

This week’s most-clicked story was the one about the world’s first vertical strawberry farm opening in Virginia!​

What story did you like reading the most this week?

Hit “reply” and let me know!

— ​​Megan