👋 Hey, everyone. Last week’s email was about how renters are often left out of state and local incentives for electrification, and it ended with a few tips for taking matters into your own hands. 

Thank you to the many readers who replied with even more advice and information for renters (or anyone on a budget) trying to get off fossil fuels. 

I had shared that my electric kettle is one way I avoid overusing the gas stove, and a few people testified that you can also get quite a lot done on a portable induction burner. Folks also recommended Instant Pots and other standalone electric cookware for even more options. 

Another reader shared news of a bill that recently passed the state Senate in Vermont, seeking to make it easier for residents to install plug-in solar systems.

It truly makes my day whenever y’all take the time to respond to a newsletter and share thoughts, questions, links, or whatever else might be on your mind. As I wrote last week — and as many of you have echoed — knowing we’re in this together makes it feel far more manageable to chip away at the challenges we’re facing. 

Which leads perfectly into today’s newsletter. At the start of the year, we invited you to share a vision, solution, or idea that was guiding you into 2026, in drabble form. In the month or so since, a lot of bad has happened. But I think it’s as important as ever — if not more important than ever — to hold up those visions of a healthier, safer, more compassionate world. So today, I want to share some of the inspiring drabbles you all sent in, in the hopes that they help you (as they’ve helped me) find things to hold onto in this unmooring time.

We’ve also got news about carbon sequestration, energy efficiency, and efforts to tackle light pollution.

This post originally appeared in Grist’s weekly solutions newsletter, Looking Forward. Not on our list yet? Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday.  

Your visions for the future

Illustration of pencil with flower sprouting from the top

If you’re new around here, a drabble is a 100-word piece of fiction. We use them just about every week in this newsletter to offer a brief portrait of the world as it might be, if we implement the changes we know we need to address the climate crisis and all its associated injustices.  

This is a newsletter about solutions and progress. But covering those things also entails recognizing where they are falling short and how much further there is to go, which is why I’ve always found it important to include these reminders of what could be. 

I hear the same from readers. In fact, Looking Forward reader Lesley Merz reached out to me this week to share a similar sentiment and some love for drabbles in particular. “They’re the perfect length to inspire and envision, without triggering cynicism,” Lesley wrote. 

“Climate work isn’t only about breakthroughs or big wins, but about keeping alive the stories, attention, and culture of caring for a liveable planet,” she added. 

So, here are five stories from the Looking Forward community, conjuring up a future where we move beyond cars and plastic, where wildlife can thrive, and where we take care of our home and one another. 

🔊🌊🎶

A chime sounds, and the door of the high speed train slides open with an electronic sigh. You pop out onto the platform and make your way to the exit, catching snippets of excited chatter as you move through the crowd.

You finally get your first glimpse of the rolling blue expanse of ocean stretching into the distance. Sea level rise may have wreaked havoc along this shoreline years ago, but now a celebration for a new waterfront park unfurls in front of you. Music, laughter, and gulls crying overhead blend with the sound of the surf, welcoming you in.

— Emily Schaller

🚘🌳🦕

The beast sits silent, unmoving. The flank is dull and rusty red. A young oak splits the metal frame. Two foggy glass eyes stared back at them all, unblinking. They inspect it slowly. 

“It’s ugly,” one concludes.

“Quite,” another agrees.

“Don’t get too close,” someone chides, “it’ll kill you.” 

“Yeah, it’s a dinosaur!”

“It’s not a dinosaur. It ate dinosaurs.”

Everybody turns to the boy, laughing.

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

They stared more. People once went places in them, apparently, even though they were deadly and stinky. 

The children try to hide their disappointment. They’d hoped the beast would have fur.

— Vana Brookins

💧💙🫂

“I couldn’t stop crying,” Algea sobbed. We all clucked in sympathy. “Until I accepted that I was part of the problem.”

Forest led us in moving our hands with the breath, sending Algea healing vibes.

Linden spoke, “At first, I couldn’t breathe. Yeah it was wildfire smoke, and smog, but also because I felt I had no future.”

We nodded in understanding and exhaled.

One by one we shared our stories of fear transformed into acceptance and action. We sat in solidarity, repeating our hope for the betterment of the planet.

“See you next week,” Forest ended, hugging us goodbye.

— rani Jayakumar

🪵🧸🌷

“Where’s the plastic now?” my sister Aster asks.

“In storage facilities in geologically stable regions,” Dad says. “Designed for centuries of storage while bacteria eats through it.”

“What was plastic like?” I ask.

“Packaging crinkled,” Mom says. “A different sound than paper crumpling. Board games had plastic pieces.”

“I love our board games,” I say. “Chess with carved wood pieces. Checkers with black and white stones.”

“Who needs board games?” says Aster. “It’s more fun carving dolls and animals out of wood and dressing them in cloth scraps, and braiding crowns out of flowery branches.”

Dad laughs. “The new royalty!”

— Susmita Ramani

🐾⛰️🦦

He checked the tracks again, his pulse quickening. He was not mistaken — these were the pugmarks of a grizzly bear. One, at least, of the great beasts had made its way along the Corridor, to reclaim its ancestral homeland in the mountains by the sea.

Glancing up, he saw a condor circling above the cliffs. Probably got a nest up there, he thought. The sun was shining down brightly, and a fresh breeze was blowing in off the ocean. Down below, in the surf, a group of otters disported themselves. By all indications, it was going to be a beautiful day.

— Rachael Denny

More from Grist

🚧 Where should all the carbon go?

A company called Montezuma Carbon plans to store millions of tons of CO2 beneath a restored wetland in California. There is wide recognition that some amount of carbon storage will be necessary to meet state (and global) climate targets. But residents near the wetland have concerns — and questions about who should have to host infrastructure like this. Read more

🌱 A beautiful day in the agrihood

Some city planners are embracing the idea of “agrihoods” — essentially, neighborhoods oriented around a central working farm. Merging urban and rural in this way does require careful planning, but it can be a way to boost food security, mitigate issues like flooding and extreme heat, and support biodiversity. Read more

💡 Save your energy

Energy-efficiency measures could go a long way toward addressing the growing demand for electricity while also benefiting ratepayers, according to a new report. But utilities generally stand to profit more from building new infrastructure than from boosting efficiency. There are ways for states to address this, however, through regulation and incentives. Read more

In other news

👋 See you next week!