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.
Marvel superhero tackles climate change and social injustice
There’s a new Marvel superhero in town, and she’s a Puerto Rican heroine pumped to tackle climate change, political corruption, and all the intertwined social injustices. In an upcoming installment of the graphic novel series La Boriqueña, the Nuyorican (a portmanteau that refers to Read More...
As Iceland’s whaling industry decreases, its whale-watching increases
It’s nice when the economically responsible thing to do is also the right thing to do. Iceland announced in February its intentions to end whaling by 2024 because demand for whale meat has decreased significantly. “There is little proof that there is any economic advantage to this Read More...
Want to buy an EV? Make a plan first
As you can probably tell by now, The Optimist Daily is a big fan of electric vehicles. EV’s offer a practical way to lower our personal carbon emissions and hold promise for additional benefits in the near future, such as powering our homes in an emergency. It also feels like EV's have finally Read More...
How do solar panels break? And how do we fix them?
At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, teams of scientists and researchers spend large parts of their day jumping on, twisting, smashing, and generally coming up with various ways of breaking solar panels. It’s not malice, it’s not incompetence. It's not Read More...
This startup uses a plant-derived material to make roads carbon negative
Similar to building new roads, repairing existing ones is not an environmentally friendly endeavor. One of the main problems is bitumen, a fossil fuel-derived binder that holds asphalt together. A startup in Norway is recycling old roads using a plant-based binder instead, a process that could Read More...
Refueling on Mars: making biofuel from astronaut wastewater
As space exploration develops further, scientists and engineers are innovating more outlandish ways for humans to survive beyond our planet. What was once magic becomes science as experts think outside the box and brilliantly repurpose resources in closed environments, such as growing lettuce in Read More...
Oregon wastewater facility makes its own power with human waste
Two weeks ago, we wrote a piece on upcycling your “business,” going into the green uses some companies found for human waste. Innovation and recycling mean looking everywhere possible for solutions, and The Optimist Daily loves writing about the ones that are found… even if they come out of Read More...
Always growing: a dive back into the marvelous world of mushrooms
“Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom.” - Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher, and essayist Science is ever-changing. Scientists and physicians used to be sure that contagions and diseases were spread from person to person by smell. This was called the Miasma Theory, and Read More...
Nature’s shopping list: a beginner’s guide to foraging
Two years ago, The Optimist Daily published a small piece on the advantages of foraging. This means walking past the grocery store to the park or a riparian area to search for, identify, and collect your own food resources. The practice has become more popular in recent years, especially during the Read More...
The James Dyson Award: a call to young inventors
The Optimist Daily has written about many winners of the James Dyson Award. This is an international design award that celebrates, encourages, and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It is open to current and recent design engineering students and is run by the James Dyson Foundation, Read More...