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Photo: GarysFRP/Getty)
In November, Coloradans approved an initiative to reintroduce gray wolves by 2023. The gray wolf was hunted to extinction in Colorado, and this is the first time a state has voted to bring back a threatened species. Last year saw other bright spots for animals: Kenya announced that its elephant population had doubled in the past 30 years, and the U.S. fossil-fuel industry’s permits for seismic blasting off the Atlantic coast expired, sparing marine species life-threatening noise pollution. Sophie Murguia
Biodegradable Gear Is Finally Here
In 2018, PrimaLoft announced that it had created the world’s first biodegradable insulation. The synthetic fill, called Bio, has a sugar-like coating that encourages microbes to start breaking it down once it hits a landfill or an ocean, but not before. The only by-products? Water, carbon dioxide, methane, and humus (decayed organic matter). Starting last fall, customers were able to buy jackets incorporatin