Today’s Solutions: January 28, 2025

Circularity

Understanding the value of a circular economy and identifying circular solutions are essential to changing our world for good. Circularity, or the zero-waste principle of keeping materials in a closed loop and away from landfills and incinerators, is the future. Find out about the latest innovations and solutions accelerating the transition towards a circular economy in the articles here from The Optimist Daily.

Glass into sand

This Louisiana startup turns glass into sand and increases climate resiliency

There is seemingly no end to the variety and ingenuity scientists and researchers have when it comes to recycling. They have taken plastic waste and treated it to absorb CO2. They have taken human waste and turned it into viable renewable energy.  Louisiana startup Glass Half Full is turning Read More...

Electric Vehicle Battery

US announces $3 billion electric vehicle battery production

We at The Optimist Daily are enormous electric vehicle fans, and we’re not the only ones. Demand for electric vehicles has risen so sharply around the world that manufacturers and supply chains are struggling to keep up.  To help things along, state and federal governments are stepping up to Read More...

Arabidopsis thaliana

This “extreme” plant could be the beginning of climate-resistant crops

We tend to think of crops as delicate and temperamental, that they require a lot of care and particular conditions to grow in. While this is certainly true for, say, avocados, which require incredible amounts of water naturally found in tropical rainforests, some crops evolved to live and thrive in Read More...

Oceanix Busan will be a first-of-its-kind floating development in South Korea

This floating neighborhood will protect residents from sea level rise

As urban population density is only expected to increase in the next few decades, coastal cities vulnerable to rising sea levels need to urgently adapt to these changes to safeguard the wellbeing of their residents. That’s exactly what the South Korean city of Busan is planning with the Read More...

Wind energy

Last month, wind and solar made up 18 percent of US energy

With the War in Ukraine and unfair demands from Russia for its gas, many western nations are feeling the need to switch to renewable energy now more so than ever. The good news is that nations are getting closer to 100 percent renewables and energy independence every day.  Wind and solar have Read More...

Suitcase Desalination

MIT develops desalination system no bigger than a suitcase

One of the great opportunities in desalination research is developing a new way to bring drinkable water to disadvantaged people with limited resources. Engineers and researchers make this possible in many ways, such as innovating less expensive parts or powering their systems with renewable Read More...

Farm to table

The Table to Farm Movement: Anthony Myint on Regenerative Agriculture

Shifting the world’s food production to a regenerative system has been a frequent solution we’ve written about here at The Optimist Daily. In May 2021, Kristy and Summers sat down with award-winning chef Anthony Myint to discuss Zero Foodprint, his project to expand regenerative Read More...

Climate Anxiety

Coping with climate anxiety through connection

“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”  — Martin Luther King Jr.  Constant news updates are inescapable. Wildfires Read More...

Graduation

Be bored, then get going

“Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination.”  — Arthur Schopenhauer Congratulations, graduating classes of 2022! Being young, with a freshly minted degree, you probably feel invincible, like you can do anything.  There’s a lightness and exuberance in your step, and you are full Read More...

Tel Aviv e-scooter

Tel Aviv is becoming an e-scooter city

No two cities are the same, and each one has its own particular changes to make to achieve its climate goals. New York is making plans to become “spongier” to handle excess water. Panama City, Florida is transforming into a tree city, planting over 100,000 new trees, and Tel Aviv, Israel aims Read More...