What do blackberries, beaches, bike rides – and this newsletter – all have in common?

That’s right: they are free, gratis, kostenlos. In an expensive world where they privatise our parks, sell fresh air and charge children fees to become British citizens, it is reassuring to know there are still myriad wonders that can be enjoyed at zero cost.

The Upside sent Guardian reporters scouring for examples from places as far-flung as Estonia, Russia, Senegal and Thailand. Here’s what they came back with.

A few of my favourite freebies. Photograph: various

Then we turned the question over to you. This is what we heard:

Philip Bridge, by email:

Marzilibad in the Swiss capital of Berne is an open air ‘freibad’. It is situated right on the river Aare beneath the Swiss parliament buildings, in a somewhat bohemian quarter of the city. It has clean, modern outdoor pools and paddling for children situated among perfect grass meadows and trees. Best of all, you can swim in the river Aare itself, which with its clean, clear Alpine water in summer is at a perfect refreshing temperature to cool down. It flows at fast walking pace, so people walk a few hundred metres upstream to jump in and let the current bring them back to the baths.

Aare you ready? Photograph: Anthony Anex/EPA

Tanja Diehl, by email:

My favourite freebie is the Orgelfeierstunden (celebratory hour of organ playing) in Cologne Cathedral. In summer (from the end of June to September), every Tuesday at eight o’clock, the church invites organists from all over the world to fill the cathedral with the sound of organ playing. In addition to the pews, the church provides fold-up chairs for the more than 1,000 visitors who attend the performance each week.

Lee wrote from Montreal:

The ongoing summer festivals of music, food, comedy, films and so many others. The list is lengthy. Most are free.

Lucky numbers

This week, a spray of data pointed to tendencies in decline: US drug overdoses, HIV deaths, homicides in Britain (though most journalists preferred to focus on the simultaneous rise in non-lethal knife crime).

And finally one number that is going up: 127 countries now regulate single-use plastic bags at some level, according to Christian Science Monitor, though we still get through at least a trillion of the things each year.

What we liked

From the BBC: dogs in the playground and other ways that a primary school is addressing pupil mental health.

From the Times of India: the eight-year-old boy who recovered from cancer to win a chess tournament.

And also, irresistible headline of the week: the man who built his own seahorse city, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

We are also looking forward to the Royal Albert Hall’s “meditative prom”, as reported by PositiveNews.

Where was the Upside?

In Myanmar, where a bottom-up approach spearheaded by local volunteers is driving out malaria and saving thousands of lives.

Also, in the Australian desert where 15,000 hectares of solar panels could be a game-changer in Asian energy supplies.

Solar panels. Photograph: Alice Solar City

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