Environment
Need some good news about the environment? The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.
Yet another study confirms cognitive benefits of green space
If you’re a regular Optimist Daily reader, you know about the tremendous cognitive and mental health benefits of green space. Now, yet another study has confirmed the link between nature and brain development and finds that access to green space helps children meet critical development Read More...
Unusual fruit byproduct makes tilapia fish healthier and stronger
Tilapia is a popular fish around the world, and now, researchers from Russia's RUDN University have discovered a way to make the fish more resilient─using a feed ingredient that would otherwise end up in landfills. The researchers spent eight weeks raising five groups of 60 Nile tilapia fry, Read More...
McDonald's to phase out plastic toys in Happy Meals by 2025
Many of us have fond memories of visiting McDonald’s with our friends and family as children and receiving the specially packaged Happy Meals. Underneath those cardboard golden arches, we knew that we would find a little toy inside, which we would eagerly anticipate putting together and playing Read More...
Study: Lemurs are the only nonhuman mammal with a sense of rhythm
Birds are known for their beautiful melodious calls, but among mammals, no species besides humans have been known to use rhythm or songーuntil now. Researchers in Madagascar have documented lemurs using rhythm and even singing together in groups. The 12-year study followed specifically the Read More...
The lord of rewilding: Irish Baron turns his estate into a nature preserve
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world would need to rewild and restore a territory the size of China over the next decade to meet commitments on nature and tackling climate change. In Ireland, a landowner, and holder of one of the oldest surviving Irish peerage Read More...
Study: Start of season metrics provide strong insights into future famine risks
Researchers from UC Santa Barbara’s Climate Hazards Center have released a new study that identifies how the start of season indicators could predict potential famines. Two key metrics are used to determine famine risk: availability and accessibility. Availability refers to yields, while Read More...
Candy to costumes: 6 ways to make your Halloween more sustainable
Halloween is just around the corner, and many families are excited to celebrate the holiday in full force for the first time in two years. Last year we shared how to sustainably dispose of post-holiday waste, and this year, we bring you six more ways to green up the special occasion. Greener Read More...
This wooden steak knife is three times stronger than steel
Scientists from the University of Maryland may have discovered a more eco-friendly alternative to ceramics and stainless steel for our knives and nails by figuring out how to chemically alter wood so that it can be fashioned into strong nails or knives that are three times sharper than a standard Read More...
3 Tricks to keep your sweaters in tip top shape
Autumn is in full swing, which means pumpkin picking, hot lattes, and sweater weather—but this year, instead of buying new knit sweaters, use these three tips to wash, unshrink, de-pill, and store whatever you already have in your closet so that you can make them last longer. Using what your have Read More...
The future of eco-friendly laundry detergent is in dissolvable sheets
While laundry pods are supposed to be biodegradable, wastewater treatment plants often don’t have the capacity to create the necessary conditions to dissolve them. As a result, the material in question (polyvinyl alcohol) typically ends up in the environment. There’s also an environmental Read More...