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.
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...
These crafty activists flock together and stitch canaries for climate change
Over the past few months, residents in the UK would have had the chance to spot more than 70 “flocks” of UK crafters that have been gathering across the nation as a way to encourage politicians to react more aggressively to the climate crisis. The participants in this project, which was Read More...
New Zealand mandates climate change disclosures for financial institutions
New Zealand has introduced legislation to increase climate transparency in banking. The country’s new policy will require publicly listed companies and large insurers, banks, non-bank deposit takers, and investment managers to make climate-related disclosures. Most companies and banks Read More...