Each Friday, One Green Planet brings you the week’s top news. For those who don’t have a lot of time to look through the news each day, this is will be a great resource and an easy way to catch up! Here you’ll find different categories of news, a synopsis of the top stories, and links to each article published during the week.

1. Animal Rights and Welfare News

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As always we had a ton of news to cover in the world of animal rights and welfare. This week we saw happy and hopeful stories, as well as some grim and depressing ones. Some of the more notable stories included Meat Eaters Avoid Evidence of Animals’ Capacity to Think and Feel, New Study Finds, An Uninhabited Island is Home to 65 Traumatized Chimps After Years of US-Funded Experiments, Patron, Famous Bomb Sniffing Dog Receives State Honor From Ukrainian President, UK Moves Forward With Allowing Gene Editing of Animals and Crops, and NY Senate Advances Legislation to Improve Animal Welfare and Increase Penalty for Mistreatment of Animals.

Here are the other important animal stories of the week:

• Rats May Not Be As Dirty As We Thought, According to New Study
• Wild Animals Roam on 2,500-Acre Kenya Golf Course Which The Resort Says is A ‘Wildlife Sanctuary’
• Animal Virus Found in Man Who Received Pig Heart Transplant
• Decapitated Animals Keep Getting Dumped in Houston Neighborhood

2. Earth and Environmental News

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There were numerous stories about the environment this week which gave us hope for the future and reminded us how far we still have to go. Some of the more memorable stories included Smithfield’s Hog Farms Spilled Over 7.3 million Gallons of Waste Across Missouri, Report Says, Stanford University Receives $1.1 Billion For New Climate Change and Sustainability School, DOJ Reveals New Office Dedicated to Addressing Environmental Justice, Lithium Supply is Not Meeting Demand. What Are the Other Sustainable Alternatives?, Replacing 20 Percent World Beef Intake with Protein Alternatives Could Cut Deforestation in Half, New Research Finds, Two New Reports Expose World’s Largest Agribusiness For Massive Deforestation and Land Grabbing in Brazil’s Fragile Cerrado Region, Jalonne White-Newsome Announced as New Director of Environmental Justice for The White House, With Record-Breaking Heatwaves South Asia 10 Times More Exposed to Global Warming Threats Over Coming Decades, and James Cromwell Glues Hand to Starbucks Counter in Protest of Plant-Based Milk Surcharge.

Here are the other top earth stories of the week:

• New Law in Las Vegas Mandates Removal of ‘Nonfunctional’ Grass to Save Water
• SpaceX Site Could Be Linked to Decline in Various Bird Species
• John Oliver Addresses Horrifying Environmental Racism in the United States
• Another Dead Whale Washed Ashore Found to Have 33 Pounds of Plastic in Stomach
• Uzbekistan Will Allow Solar-Powered Crypto Mining
• Brazilian President Tells Leonardo DiCaprio to “Keep His Mouth Shut” After DiCaprio Tweets About Importance of Amazon Rainforest
• Donate Your Body To Florida Non-Profit That Uses Ashes To Save Coral Reefs
• We Are Planting Trees Wrong
• Art Non-Profit Opening $30M Eco-Friendly Headquarters in Miami

3. Plant-Based Food News

Source: Joaquin Corbalan P/Shutterstock

There was plenty of excitement this week in the world of plant-based food news, including Lindt Oat-Milk Based Chocolate Bars Now Available in The US!, French Deaf-Owned Plant-Based Food Chain Announces International Expansion, and Tübingen: The European Eco-Friendly Vegan Dream City.

4. Natural Health News

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There were some promising and educational stories this week in natural health news, including Scottish Doctors Urge NHS to Ban Meat From Hospitals, How to Reset Your Nervous System in 30 Seconds to Ease Anxiety, and Doctor Shares Signs You Need More Vitamin B12 in Your Diet.

5. Human Interest Stories

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This week we saw many human interest petitions, including Petition: Investigate Russian Soldiers Committing Sexual Assault, Petition: Tell Congress Not to Bail Out Jeff Bezos’ Space Program, Petition: Stop Organized Stalking and Electronic Harassment, Petition: Demand Free Menstrual Products in Public Schools, and Petition: Repeal Order Declaring April ‘Confederate History Month.’ In other news, Rome Bans Picnics After Detection of African Swine Fever in Wild Boar Population.

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based recipe app on the App Store to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that are raising awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
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• Sign a Petition: Your voice matters! Help turn petitions into victories by signing the latest list of must-sign petitions to help people, animals, and the planet.
• Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest news and important stories involving animals, the environment, sustainable living, food, health, and human interest topics by subscribing to our newsletter!
• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, donate if you can, grow your own food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!