2016 has certainly been a year to remember -- Donald Trump is our new President-Elect, the Kardashian/Jenner clan seemed to get more famous for doing more of nothing, rainbow hair made a fashion statement, a child was murdered by an alligator, a gorilla was killed because of a child, there were countless police shootings and a terrifying terrorist attack in France. Despite the bad in 2016, because I think we can all agree it was a tough year, it's important to reflect on the good that happened the past 12 months as well.
1. Endangered animal numbers are dropping
The number of pandas, tigers and manatees are ALL growing, making them one step closer to getting off the endangered species list. Also on the topic of animals, 500 elephants were relocated to safer, bigger homes.
2. An old time classic, Full House, came back on Netflix
If you haven't gotten the chance to binge-watch Fuller House on Netflix, I highly recommend you do. The spin off of the original classic, Full House, focuses mainly on he 2nd generation of the Tanner family including D.J, Stephanie, Kimmy and their kids.
3. The Ozone Layer is starting to repair itself
Finally! Our work for striving to live in a world with chemical free-products is starting to pay off. Each of our efforts as an individual to eliminate certain products out of our everyday lives is making a difference, and scientists predict that if we keep up the work, the ozone will be completely repaired by 2050.
4. Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar
We all lived to see it!!! DiCaprio won Best Actor of 2016 for his movie "The Revenant".
5. California started using solar power
6 million homes are now being powered and living off of the solar power that comes from California, helping to reduce our carbon footprint and helping us continue to help our planet!
6. Large strides have been made in Alzheimer research
Thanks to the non-profit Alzheimer Association, big steps have been taken to discover what causes the disease as well as ways to prevent it. Alzheimer's disease consumes millions of minds and tears apart so many families. It's important to celebrate the research that is being done.
7. India broke the record for "planting the most tree's in one day"
This past summer, India volunteers planted 50 million trees in one single day.
8. The gene that is linked to ALS was discovered
Thanks to the viral "ice bucket challenge" that filled up news feeds, timelines and just about every form of social media, the gene that is linked ALS was found. Therefore, we are one step closer to eliminating this disease all together.
9. We're working towards solar powered planes
A solar plane successfully flew around the entire world without any fuel -- an amazing discovery to help us live in an environment with less pollution.
10. We're a year closer to curing cancer
Chemotherapy advancements have allowed for pancreatic cancer patients to live over the standard 5-year survival. Hopefully, the cure is near.
Despite all of the let downs in 2016, so many beautiful things also happened. Now we get to leave 2016 behind us and look forward to 2017! Happy New Year!
