Earth Day enjoys a high profile among environmental happenings, garnering support from more than one billion green-minded individuals this year alone. But one smaller-scale initiative is gaining ground. Earth Hour, a worldwide endeavor to simultaneously switch off the lights, recently united millions in the fight against light pollution. The anti-light-pollution movement continues to surge in support as artistic undertakings draw attention to the cause.

Pharmacy Herbs: In the aftermath of new regulations permitting pharmacies in Madrid to install much brighter signs on their storefronts, guerilla art collective Luz Interruptus staged an artistic protest against the resultant, unearthly green light permeating public and residential spaces throughout the city. Hierbas de Botica, or Pharmacy Herbs, is an installation of fluorescent green nightsticks arranged to resemble outgrowths of “mutant weeds.” The installations were deliberately placed in preexisting patches of neon green light set off by pharmacies’ traditional signage. The temporary work was suggestive of a radioactive garden, highlighting the collective’s conviction that the pervasiveness of unnatural light in urban society will have its consequences.

Thanks to the ubiquity of free Wi-Fi service, the freelance set is already well-accustomed with the concept of the multipurpose coffee shop. Lately, however, cafés around the globe are introducing other ancillary services that go beyond mere caffeination and office amenities. From design studio facilities to nutrition counseling, no longer is the café just coffee.

Café Therapy: Prague, long beloved by architecture buffs for being a living textbook of iconic styles through the centuries, has always enjoyed a reputation as a city well-suited to those who appreciate creativity. Now, a small eatery called Café Therapy is translating the city’s aesthetically-inclined sensibility into a humanitarian effort by offering in-house art therapy classes, including candle-making and ceramics. A partnership with a local aftercare center, the program was created as a way to provide recovering addicts with a safe and calming space in which to socialize. All crafts made in the program are used in the café—customers who like them enough have the option to purchase.

Sleep tracking, calorie counting, outfit monitoring and fitness recording are just a few of the ways people have been utilizing life-tracking technologies. Designer Nicholas Felton even developed a life-tracking app that turns mundane daily activities into beautiful visualizations. Now, new happiness-tracking apps are emerging to help people recognize and record their good moods in order to potentially capitalize on the elements influencing them.

Happstr: Finding a ‘happy place’ has never been easier, thanks to Happstr. Developed during a SXSWi hackathon, the app aims to spread positivity among friends. As one of its creators explained in an interview with The Atlantic, “There are studies that have shown even a third degree friend with a higher happiness level improves your own happiness by 6 percent.” To put the statistic into action, Happster users check themselves in during their happiest moments. Similar to Foursquare, an icon pinpoints their locations on an interactive map, which can be tracked over time. It also displays check-ins from other nearby users, encouraging people to share the exultant moments happening around them.

Forget Goth Lolitas—the latest Tokyo subculture has young women literally heading to the hills. Called Yama Girls, this new group prefers hiking boots to heels, backpacks to parasols, and weekends spent in the mountains rather than on the streets of Harajuku. With dedicated clothing lines, festivals and magazines, a bona fide lifestyle has been born out of what began as a mere fashion statement.

Hiking Skirts: There’s no strict dress code for Yama Girls, yet there are certain pieces that define their look. Navajo-print leggings, tie-dye T-shirts, and oversized sun hats all feature prominently. But the centerpiece is the “hiking skirt,” considered both feminine and functional (it makes everything from going to the bathroom to changing into fresh clothing a bit easier). Brands have been quick to catch on. Blogger Yuri Yosumi, the unofficial founder of the Yama Girl movement, has designed hiking skirts for a few outdoor labels. Recently, she teamed up with Aigle, creating both a collection and a website where readers can both follow her blog and buy her favorite pieces.

At the stroke of midnight on July 24th, couples in New York rushed to the altar to get married after state lawmakers legalized same-sex marriage—a fittingly historic end to a wedding season that started in royal style. As the summer of love comes to a close, alternative designer churches are now materializing, as if catching up to their more modern congregations.

Pop Up Chapel: As New York’s first official gay marriages took place, wedding experts at The Knot celebrated with an innovative gift to the Big Apple: a temporary Pop Up Chapel in Central Park. Design ideas were crowdsourced in a design competition co-sponsored by The Knot and Architizer. Fifty-six designers participated and, in the end, two winners were invited to construct their designs at the park’s Merchants’ Gate, where 24 couples later exchanged vows. Winner ICRAVE built an open, airy, metal-framed chapel, decorated with dangling white and rainbow-colored ribbons. The second winning design, by Z-A Studio, featured stacked modules of cardboard that composed an elegant tulip-inspired structure.