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.
Four ways to address the new IPCC report on an individual level
Even for those of us perpetually concerned with the disastrous effects of a changing climate, the most recent IPCC report was tough to swallow. The reality is that even with our strictest existing climate measures, we are still going to experience devastating impacts from the emissions we’ve Read More...
Gold-covered weather station raises awareness about the climate crisis
In recent decades, meteorological stations across the Alps have recorded a declining amount of snowy days — a phenomenon that goes hand in hand with growing rates of glaciers melting in the region. In an effort to raise awareness about global warming and the existential threat it poses, artist Read More...
These green SUP boards are made from retired turbine blades
Many surfers, divers, and others ocean lovers hold a strong desire to protect our marine environments from pollution and warming. However, some of the equipment these ocean enthusiasts use are not made of sustainable or eco-friendly substances. For instance, stand-up paddleboards, while Read More...
This power-free sewer treatment plant was inspired by cow stomachs
80 percent of the world’s sewage is dumped untreated into the natural environment. This is a huge health and environmental crisis, but traditional sewage treatment plants are costly and energy intensive, making them difficult to implement in many regions. The sewage contamination issue is Read More...
10 Easy plant-based school lunches
After a long 18 months of lockdown limbo and remote learning, many parents and guardians are getting ready to send their school-aged children back to their classrooms this fall. This back-to-school season is like no other your children have experienced before—the pandemic, and all the revelations Read More...
The Ocean Cleanup deploys largest trash-collecting system thus far
Since it first undertook the daunting task of ridding our oceans of plastic debris in 2013, The Ocean Cleanup has made numerous tweaks to its trash-catching barrier system — and the latest one may be the most important yet. The most recent update involves an active propulsion system rather than Read More...
Conserving this wildlife corridor is a bear-necessity
The Vital Ground Foundation and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) bought 80 acres last week near the confluence of the Bull River and Clark Fork River in northwestern Montana to conserve a crucial wildlife corridor between the Cabinet Mountains in the north and the Bitterroot Read More...
UK lockdown-sparked litter-picking movement is still going strong
Every cloud has a silver lining if we are willing to see them. One silver lining that brightens the dark cloud of Covid-19 lockdowns is a surge in litter pickers, especially in the UK. For instance, Keep Britain Tidy’s #LitterHeroes Facebook group doubled in size over the course of the Read More...
The world’s first all-electric tugboat to put to sea in 2023
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), maritime transport emits around 940 million tonnes of CO2 annually and is responsible for about 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As engineers are working to green up cargo ships with the help of low-carbon fuels, Read More...
Study: How crop diversification boosts agricultural yields
Monoculture, the practice of planting a single crop over great expanses of agricultural land, has drained our soil of the biodiversity and nutrients needed to produce high quality, nutritious foods. A new study from Emory University demonstrates just how efficient our agricultural systems can be Read More...