2021 And 2022 Aren’t All Bad News, And I Share Some Good News To Tip The Balance (30 New Pics)
Before the pandemic started and bad news took over the headlines, I started an experiment. I wanted to draw the news. Mainly because I like to draw in multiple styles - and news are always different - but also out of passion for editorial illustration. So I created an Instagram page where I illustrate stories that, for some reason, cannot be photographed. Science findings, landmark events or weird news that could easily get lost in our feed without some compelling image below their headlines.
When Covid came knocking, I focused on positive pieces. I illustrated good news on a weekly basis, covering stories from more than 25 countries and 2 planets. A completely unnecessary endeavor, but how does life look with just the necessary?
It's called @unnewscessary - a gallery with 100+ artworks that document what went well in the past 2 years. Scroll below to see 30 of them and follow the project to experience news differently.
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Finally. Pets deserve to be treated like children( in the sense they are family)
And their life depends on you making good choices.
Load More Replies...I started it in October 2019, when no one could've predicted what was about to come. The fact that a pandemic is followed by a war seems absurd to me. I'll definitely illustrate the good news emerging from the conflict, but it's a thin line to walk on. There's a huge amount of fake news and disinformation and what seems like a perfect subject now can be discredited tomorrow. Moreover, stories about people killing people for whatever reason cannot be qualified as good news. There's a tight filter to be applied on.
Oh yes! Nature heals and soothes AND reminds us of our place in the fabric of existence.
Absolutely brilliant. I suffered through horrendous depression for years. Moving to, living in and exploring the Rockies allowed me to open my mind my heart and my soul to the true beautys of the world. Oh, and btw my friends Bud and the Mushies were a great help as well. ;)
Maybe you should introduce us to "Bud and the Mushies"?? Sound like some top individuals!!! ;)
Load More Replies...Love it. Maybe they'll soon have the right to prescribe effective C-19 treatments instead of sending people home with Tylenol after they've waited to be seen for 6 hours.
Yeah but I bet your employer still won't give you paid time off for that. (At least for sure here in the US)
If nothing breaking comes out this week, the next post will probably be a science story. Something super-colorful. I'm keeping tabs on the war but people need to see other stuff as well. If the following base grows enough, I want to turn Unnewscessary into a collaborative project. Meaning I will invite illustrators from around the world to draw new artworks. That's one of the reasons I chose to illustrate in multiple styles - so they'd feel free to add their vision.
This is wonderful news. The abuse animals suffer at human hands makes me cry to even think about it.
It's needed everywhere, Romania just took the first proactive step, well done Romania
Load More Replies...My new full time job is four days a week (from 9:00 am-5:30 pm), and I can honestly say that the extra day off is a game changer! The company operates in Ireland, where a 5 day week is still the standard, but my boss actually care about the mental health of his staff and he can see that people are more motivated in the workplace when they can look forward to and extra day off. Plus, the job gets done anyway and with less stress!
Thats great! I worked for some time 4d and ita wonderful. Then you have 1 day to do chores, 1 to socialise and 1 to be lazy.
Load More Replies...4 day work week is only ever sold as 10 hour days when I've seen it.
It depends. I worked 4d of 8h in the netherlands, most of my coworkers were doing it as well.
Load More Replies...Yall should make baby steps and start with paid annual leave for all workers. Even so called third world countries let their workers rest once in a while lol
Load More Replies...I asked my boss to do this, I work Mon-Fri office hours, but only half days wednesdays and fridays as boss doesn't want to work a full week. I suggested going to 4full days a week and 3 days off. He said no, he'd rather just cut my hours and have me work 3 full days and one half day, on top of no raises in 5yrs and I just found out i'm paid almost half what the other assistant gets in the office even though we do the same job. Anyone else out there need a bomb-ass assistant? I'm desperate to get outta this office.
This might not reach my country before I retire....but I'm glad it's catching on.
I work 4 days a week in USA, but they are 12hr shifts. Add commute time and such, takes whole day. I find it more stressful having 4 off days to do a week's worth of child stuff, house work, etc. Seem to never have relax time
WE ALL WANT 4 DAY WORK DAYS!! PLEASE HOLD YOUR OPINIONS TO YOURSELF
Load More Replies...I think nowadays I draw more from imagination and the ideation process got a bit faster. I'm also more confident on final artworks and I rarely ask for feedback before posting. I don't know if that's a good thing, though.
The drive to illustrate a worthy story stayed the same. Last year I was thinking of calling it quits after completing 100 artworks because the IG algorithms favor video content, and the page reach plummeted. But the thought that I'd read a good story and I won't be able to turn it into a visual piece was scary. I'm hooked, I guess.
As for myself, I feel good. I renovated my house and now I hope it won't get nuked. Work is piling up these days so I swing between client projects and Unnewscessary. Hopefully, I won't get bored.
I have been doing this. I have had phone calls and emails and personal messages from many of the people involved. Last night I got a call from a woman in absolute tears, telling me that my contributions had allowed her to save the lives of 30 people. I was trying to downplay it because I'm just here, safe in my living room, but she was insistent, and then her daughter messaged me and told me the same thing. And they sent me pics and more stories. It has really worked. I have learned so much about the circumstances of refugees and volunteers. It's overwhelming. But it has been worth every penny. (And by the way, my donations were only 3 figures, not a massive, massive amount at all).
Does this really work? Like, is that source of income accessible to them if they're in a refugee camp, or do they need cash?
I read one article on it that shared info from the AirBnB host - they were currently using all their available space to house refugees and really appreciated having the extra money to try and get supplies for everyone.
Load More Replies...I've done this twice now. And I've also "bought" a few things on ETSY, telling the artist to save the item to sell again when things are better.
I've "bought" from ETSY as well. I've told them to consider it shipped already and if they still have my info and want me to have the item to feel free once things are settled to get back in touch. I wish there was more i could do.
Load More Replies...How are they certain the rent does not funnel directly to some wealthy and greedy mass property owner? I'd rather donate to an organization that I can be sure is using the funds to actually help people.
We're getting messages directly from people who are incredibly grateful. You help any way that makes you feel better. But this is working.
Load More Replies...Had Malaria in Malawi twenty something years ago. In hospital for 4 days. Told me I almost died. Found out last year that I actually had a small stroke from the high fever. It was not diagnosed at the time. In hindsight, something that I thought was over in a few weeks caused lifelong issues that I blamed on other things. I was so lucky to walk out of the hospital with my life. I understand 100%, that it was because I was a tourist. So many are not so lucky. I am so happy to hear of a vaccine. Should have happened so many decades before now.
I'm not really a Trump or Biden supporter at this point but this illustration is hilarious
Until he decides to step out of politics, I'm afraid we do have to hear about him.
Load More Replies...At least Trump could pronounce words and complete sentences. Trump, also, did not portray cowardess.
We do that here in KC as well. We have a number of hotels\motels that do the same. We also have day shelters that open up when the tenp drops below a certain point and we have city busses that park so the homeless can get inside and stay warm. We have a number of places that feed people; NourishKC is this old chef's gig. https://nourishkc.org.
Here motels are used for emergency housing BUT people are still made to pay for it (not market rate but still) T_T
especialy for women who were in an abusive relation ship or got raped
Load More Replies...I don’t agree with abortions but good for them(I’m only 16 but I am quite religious).
While I don't personally believe in abortion but at the same time I don't know much about Argentina so I guess we'll see if it is good for their country.
In 2021 a large cargo ship (the Ever Given) got stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking one of the world's busiest shipping routes. One of the ways they tried to get it out was by using a tiny little excavator to dig around the ship so that it could get a little clearance to move, and there were a lot of jokes on the internet about such a tiny solution to such a large problem.
Load More Replies...Looking at images of Trump give me such a indescribable feeling. How was such a terrible man once our president?
I hate him too but this post isn't about Mr pumpkin
Load More Replies...Facilities have been built for it a year ago, the method was first announced three years ago.
Load More Replies...One of the walls in recycling is the stabilizers used in different plastics, it’s been a huge issue. Take a water bottle for instance, the cap is a totally different plastic than the bottle. At one point recyclers asked miners to help sort out the issues, since mining involves tons of overburden, making this is a great development
I wish it processed styrofoam too. So few recycling centers will take it and it’s so bad for the environment.
There is way too much Styrofoam in the world. I take a folded up piece of foil with me when I know I am going to a restaurant that serves huge portions. I used to just ask them to wrap half in foil in the kitchen, but they usually brought it in a Styrofoam box. I think it is possible that they can press this into bricks too, but I'm not sure.
Load More Replies...I know they have found some kind of algae that can digest plastic completely and what is left over can be recycled or will actually decompose naturally. I feel like that should be a priority.
Decomposing it should be a priority over a 100% recycling rate? The latter is much more preferable.
Load More Replies...It's just heated water. You can use electricity.
Load More Replies...But is the process eco-friendly to actually do it? I mean, I don't know but are toxins released, more fossil fuels burns to generate the steam.. and is it cost effective?
Yes, at least what I've read says it's carbon neutral in the places I've read about. Many small businesses around the world have started making plastic bricks, the material is 100% recycled, the process is clean and relatively simple (I think you can find DIYs on the internet) and in places where plastic litter is everywhere, it could make a huge difference in peoples (and animals) lives.
Load More Replies...I basically have a playlist on Spotify now full of nature sounds to help me sleep. I've been having extremely vivid dreams for months now and it's actually really exhausting, after trying so many solutions to try to prevent dreams, this has actually worked the past few weeks. An hour before bed. I always listen in the morning instead of turning on the news.
That's like a random word generator tossed out a sentence. I love it!
Wouldn't be surprised if somebody in a lab got bored and played around with the app
Load More Replies...Cyto-AiSCAN. Totaly worth the read. https://www.ces.tech/Articles/2021/May/The-AI-Pastry-Scanner-That-Is-Now-Fighting-Cancer.aspx
Load More Replies...I am a little skeptical, only because they don't really seem to ever completely clean up the messes they make when they dump oil in the Gulf of Mexico...I think big oil just writes it off as the cost of doing business.
Who would have thought that a little feathered, hollow-boned creature could be such a bad ass? Well, besides me. I love birds.
I love birds as well. My spirit animal is a house sparrow!
Load More Replies...This is uplifting news? It's not like the bird set out to break a world record to get attention for his project to help the homeless and commercial endorsements to help pay for it.
I'm torn between thinking this is a good thing, and being disappointed that it's even needed
I am enraged that this is even needed. What Taliban thought is in many aspect against islam.. Look now.. Taliban failed to even feed their own people, and have nerve to demand donation money currently saved in US Bank. Those shameless guys is stupid in many level
Or that people there demand that the west should help them again - we trained them and gave them everything to build their nation, only for them to get overrun within 2 weeks without any resistance
Load More Replies...Now they have to figure out how to get the machine to the next typhoon, while it’s still typhooning !
Baby steps. The Catholic Church has 20 centuries of secrecy and self-preservation to overcome.
Load More Replies...Meanwhile there's a huge backlash movement in Catholicism to make sure no one like Pope Francis ever becomes Pope again. So look forward to what good things he's tried to do becoming completely fruitless after his death. I'm not saying he's doing enough for the pedo rape and other crimes of the Catholic church, but clearly he at least is trying to act like a Christian a lot of the time, compared to his predecessors who seemed to act more like Mafia dons.
While calling childree people selfish, specially if we have pets. He also refuaed to allow nuns to get higher positions in the church. And he is the head of a mafia that helps pedos. He is not the good man that media pretends. He is just less abd than the previous one.
Load More Replies...One battle at a time, folks. One battle at a time.
Load More Replies...Because you can immediately tell that they are intelligent and have empathy. Those are incredible attractive qualities.
Load More Replies...Look, men already get beards . Us more mature ladies need the mask to hide neck chins .
Yeah unfortunately the majority of people where I live don't wear masks anymore but really did go on and on and on in an over the top way for months about vaccinations. Which is fine. But I do not understand their cavalier attitudes and lack of concern now regarding wearing masks. Especially as the efficacy of vaccinations is declining and we are approaching winter. The numbers in my area are a thousand a day at the moment. And that is from those that report because thats not a requirement either. Prior to this our numbers were extremely low. Like 10 to 30 a day in the worst periods. A suburb in Australia and not that far from Sydney.
"Study". A survey of 43 women in one university is not a bloody study. 3b8d7c5231...a65f09.jpg
This would be very welcome, but a source for this factoid would be equally welcomed
So many followed their Dear Leader's call to rise up and destroy the American government, and were utterly betrayed by their Orange-skinned God and his party. I'm sure being called 'evil liberals conducting a false flag operation' by these cynical shitbags was a real eye-opener for a few of them. And others may have raised eyebrows at his gleefulness at the potential murder of his Evangelical Christian right-hand man, Mike Pence, during the Capital invasion. I also suspect a lot of key QAnon people have died from the 'fake' COVID19 virus. Maybe drank bleach and who knows what else at the behest of their corrupt and selfish narcissist king.
Load More Replies...Same. The articles I read show more casual believers being "freed" after Trump was discredited, but if the pandemic taught me anything is that some people are morons and that it takes just one itty bitty particle to spread and mess everything up.
Load More Replies...I believe some, but not many. People are still supporting their dear leader even though he's shown multiple times to he will throw you under the bus if it means he saves his own skin.
In fact, it is. There were studies in the matter can-humans-destroy-the-globe (Google finds you them, if you are interested), which conclude, that humans can't physically destroy the Earth, even if they try it with everything possible at one time. What they can destroy, it's their livable environment.
Load More Replies...I’m glad Ill be dead then (posibly) can’t say the same for my children.
They also (possibly)... your grandkids (if you'll have) on the other way....
Load More Replies...This was a fantastic achievement. I was jumping around my lounge when she won.
How is this good news for anyone but her? I mean, good for her, and all that, but this does not belong here.
Nowadays parents are looking at their teenage daughter, then at Greta, Malala, and Emma, then back at their teenage daughter again . . .
Pigs are at least as intelligent as dogs, and that's without any kind of training. I suspect they would be considered a lot smarter if we gave them the opportunity to show us.
I had a pet pig, a huge saddleback sow, she could bark like the dogs, learnt to herd race horses without panicking them & would sleep with her head on my lap every chance she got. After having her, I was never able to eat a pork product, she was just lovely, gentle & the perfect companion, she also loved a beer in the evening & being hand fed strawberries
Load More Replies...Great. Not only can my three year old nephew kick my butt at video games but soon a pig will as well.
Much more reassuring than cats being capable of using joysticks.
Did whoever it is stop or get medical attention for his psychiatric problems? That would be uplifting news, not the fact that some poor lunatic got fined.
I wonder if they mean taking naps no more than 20 minutes long? That has been known to boost performance. But once you pass 20 minutes you start going into other parts of the sleep cycle and waking up from that can leave you groggy and you have trouble concentrating. But you should definitely let yourself go through the full 4+-hour sleep cycles at night. Not sleeping enough will make you very sick.
read the caption on Ig for full context. Or don't and spend the rest of your life commenting in vain
Load More Replies...At least creative swearing at being woken up after 20 minutes of sleep
Well, I'd come up with a creative way to boof someone in the face, I suppose
I paint as a hobby and am constantly finding new projects to do as a way to express myself and my creativity. If you wake me up, the house better be on fire otherwise it will be very soon.
Interrupting my sleep after a few minutes can lower your longevity.
'may have' is not news when it comes to science. Wake me up when they have a solidly supported theory.
They seal stuff in packages that contain Co2, which suffocates the bacteria
And based on supercritical CO2, the process sounds like it would be very cost-effective. This is absolutely huge, should be top of the list.
Read the explanation provided by ABHinc. It's (a) not for america only, believe it or not you are not the entire world (b) it's CO2, not frankenfood. You drink it every day in your coca cola and other sodas including all natural fizzy mineral water. (c) Golden rice GMO saved thousands from starvation in indonesia and other places where there are nutrient deficiencies in soils etc., so stop thinking the entire world agrees with you about your "all natural hand-picked organic" religion. There is zero difference that you can detect and no scientifically-established proof of anything harmful. (d) If you REALLY want to worry about american diet, rally against macdonalds and KFC and burgerking who sell hormone-infused meats grown as mass-exterminated cows grown on levelled amazon forest.
Load More Replies...I agree, but I think the point of this is not to encourage less fresh food, but to make what we are already doing safer and more sustainable. Unfortunately, fresh food is also unavailable to people in certain areas or income brackets so it can still be good
Load More Replies...Quieter, but not completely silent. Hummingbirds do make sound when flying
Load More Replies...I need my fan to make a louder, more flappy noise. Can they study crows for that?
Cheers for this, these fonts and colour combinations are not great for dyslexics!
Load More Replies...Cleaning SWIMMING water, not cleanest tap water or natural lake water. Iceland, Norway, Finland and Scotland usually top the Cleanest Drinking Water charts.
An Italian mobster got caught after his tattoos were recognized in his cooking videos
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/09/nuclear-fusion-heat-record-a-huge-step-in-quest-for-new-energy-source
That is one of the best news and should be way higher on this list. Nuclear (safe off course) fusion is the futur and if we manage to use it a lot of ecological problem could disappear !
Anti-nuclear nutjobs think every nuclear power plant is as poorly designed as Fukushima and as poorly managed as Chernobyl.
Load More Replies...I am Belgian and unfortunately that is not true ... Or a special condition but it was not true during lockdown. Our first lockdown left you alone with your home/familly and the second one allowed one contact per family (2 if you were isolated). That applied even for Christmas and New year eve
...Am I the only one who thought they figured this out years ago? Or is this like a Daily Mail repeat article?
It's important to remember how much joy we get out of all the different kinds of artists that we don't think about. People who design buildings, who make music, who create paintings and sculptures, who sing, who act, who dance, who design cups, saucers, plates, shoes, clothing... artists are part of every aspect of our daily lives, but we only recognize a very few of them who are launched into the fame stratosphere. But all artists need to be able to make a living wage and be recognized for the work they are doing.
Soooo agreed! We need to get away from this concept (and education path) where the only good jobs are STEAM (Science, Tech, Engineering and Math) are the only good jobs are those. Decades of devaluing the arts is having a negative impact on our society. There’re so many studies connecting the arts and benefits of using borne sides of our brains synergistically. Schools have been increasing STEAM class load and reducing the arts…some schools don’t even require*any* arts electives anymore (be it music, art, theater, etc). Some countries have been resisting this trend more than others, and we should celebrate it. But we as a society need to reinvest and CELEBRATE the value from the arts. As an example, a coworker mentioned recently in a team meeting they brought their spouse to the opera…I was the only one on the call excited for them, everyone else groaned…it’s become a culture problem! I teach music to kids for free as a way of giving back, but I wish it were more embraced by society.
Load More Replies...Stop with the pilots, we KNOW basic income programs help people. Start implementing Universal Basic Income permanently!
This has been done historically in the united states. If you look up WPA, you will find that many artists were paid for their work. It isn't the dole if you are being hired to create something.
Load More Replies...That's quite the standard speed in many european cities besides main traffic ways within the city
Load More Replies...80% of pedestrians hit at 50km/h will die, and people regularly drive over the speed limit. 30km/h is much safer.
This is a random fact, how is this a good news, particularly that happened in 2021-22?
Less car noise means birds can be more melodic rather than focusing solely on volume. Tuis in bush areas have more melodic songs than in urban areas
Green finch and linnet bird, nightingale, blackbird...
Load More Replies...Primavera Sound's trial for gigs with no social distancing finds no infection rate. I think.
Anyone remember all the bad news coming in about giant hornets, corona and I forgot what else? It just hit me that the bad news have not stoppt and we may face a WWIII.... I'm really getting end of the world vibes here.
Vicky, don't let these things get you down. We're all in it together.
Load More Replies...These were beautifully done - and the good news and interesting factoids were the icing on the cake. Thank you, happy posts are so helpful these days.
thanks, there's more to come. on a weekly basis (sort of)
Load More Replies...The fact that we need someone to translate the fonts, and that some of these are disturbing (not positive or wholesome) made this is really strange post. Yuck.
Kristin, I'll let you know when I'll need an editor
Load More Replies...I'd love to see one post here that doesn't include your Trump Derangement Syndrome or Anti American propaganda
Yeah, heaving forbid that people get worked up over a guy who claims to sexually assault women, fires top-level diplomats over tweets, ignores the constitution and democratic principals, lies more than any other president, promotes violence against journalists, promotes punishing the family members of transgressors, wants loyalty to him over loyalty to the country, refuses to relinquish financial holdings that made him have conflicts of interest in his decisions as a president (such as investments in Dakota Access Pipeline), using his power to punish states that had governors he didn't like, cozied up to Putin - one of America's biggest active enemies, ignored the advice of experts wrt COVID, and was involved in an insurrection against the government in 2020.
Load More Replies...Anyone remember all the bad news coming in about giant hornets, corona and I forgot what else? It just hit me that the bad news have not stoppt and we may face a WWIII.... I'm really getting end of the world vibes here.
Vicky, don't let these things get you down. We're all in it together.
Load More Replies...These were beautifully done - and the good news and interesting factoids were the icing on the cake. Thank you, happy posts are so helpful these days.
thanks, there's more to come. on a weekly basis (sort of)
Load More Replies...The fact that we need someone to translate the fonts, and that some of these are disturbing (not positive or wholesome) made this is really strange post. Yuck.
Kristin, I'll let you know when I'll need an editor
Load More Replies...I'd love to see one post here that doesn't include your Trump Derangement Syndrome or Anti American propaganda
Yeah, heaving forbid that people get worked up over a guy who claims to sexually assault women, fires top-level diplomats over tweets, ignores the constitution and democratic principals, lies more than any other president, promotes violence against journalists, promotes punishing the family members of transgressors, wants loyalty to him over loyalty to the country, refuses to relinquish financial holdings that made him have conflicts of interest in his decisions as a president (such as investments in Dakota Access Pipeline), using his power to punish states that had governors he didn't like, cozied up to Putin - one of America's biggest active enemies, ignored the advice of experts wrt COVID, and was involved in an insurrection against the government in 2020.
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