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.
This sleek compostable lamp is made from discarded orange peels
Earlier this year, we wrote about how the city of Sevilla, Spain, is using leftover oranges to generate clean energy. Driven by the same mission to turn waste from citrus into something useful, Milan-based startup Krill Design has 3D printed orange peels into a sleek, compostable lamp, dubbed Read More...
Study: Renewable energy jobs were more resilient during pandemic
According to a Department of Energy report, jobs in the renewable energy sector were far more resilient to the economic turmoil of the pandemic than those in the oil and gas industries. In 2020, one in ten energy workers lost their job, but the wind energy sector grew by two percent, Jobs in the Read More...
Easy steps to rejuvenate your garden soil
Healthy soil makes for healthy plants, but building nutrient-dense soil can be challenging. No matter what you’re working with, here are five tips to help you build dark, moist, bug-rich soil to feed your garden. Start with compost Making your own homemade compost is the best way to feed your Read More...
UK painter uses her talent to support wildlife conservation
UK-based painter Sophie Green combines her artistic talent and passion for wildlife conservation to raise awareness of the splendor and vulnerability of endangered animals. She paints photorealistic portraits with empty backdrops to capture the essence of giraffes, bison, elephants, and other Read More...
This school features a vertical garden and rooftop cycling track
Over the last decade, the city of Pune, India, has experienced significant urban growth with worsening air quality as a result. Now, architecture studio Nudes is working to tackle this problem. The firm recently won a competition to build an eco-friendly school in the city. The company’s Read More...
Mussels could help us remove harmful microplastics from the ocean
Microplastics are one of the most pernicious forms of plastic pollution threatening our oceans, so scientists are hard at work to find solutions that could help filter this ecological burden out of the marine environment. Recently, we wrote about how sea squirts can help us monitor the steadily Read More...
The Optimist View: Down to EarthーStorytelling as a solutions journalism medium
“Long-term survival on this planet for us and for all generations after us is a pretty good idea. Remember, the earth will probably always be here. We just may not be able to live on it for too long.” - Zac Efron BY Amelia Buckley and Arielle Tiango Little was known about the world of Read More...
Scientists develop a disintegrating natural plastic
The plastic problem that we face today is a serious issue that is inspiring many scientists and researchers to find alternatives or modify the plastic manufacturing process so that the material can safely and quickly degrade. Researchers in China have done just that by creating a new kind of Read More...
California forest managers are rethinking reforestation patterns to tackle wildfires
When a wildfire tears through a region, the first priority for conservationists is to begin replanting some of the habitat destroyed by the blazes, but in the face of climate change, some forest mangers are rethinking what this planting should look like. In Eldorado National Forest, researchers and Read More...
Cape Cod scientists are mapping out safer waters for sharks and swimmers
For summer beachgoers in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, great white shark sightings are all too common. Shark populations have been rebounding since the 1970s protections prevented sharks and seals from being hunted, so now, lifeguards regularly clear the waters due to a shark or two. But the question Read More...