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.
EU court upholds pesticide ban to protect European bees
Back in 2020, we shared how the European Union’s top court upheld a French pesticide ban to protect bees. Now the court is back with another pro-pollinator ruling, upholding an EU partial ban on three insecticides linked to harming bees. The lawsuit, filed by Bayer, attempted to overturn the Read More...
Scientists use discarded citrus peels to create sustainable transparent wood
Turning a tree into glass may sound like magic, but creating transparent wood to replace the glass in your windows is something scientists have been working on for some years. This emergent wood-based glass substitute holds great potential as a more sustainable, durable, and thermally-efficient Read More...
Three inspiring women tackling climate change head on
Studies show that educating and empowering women to take up sustainable and eco-friendly livelihoods is one of the most effective solutions in tackling human-induced climate change. Sometimes, life experience is the best teacher and organically spurs women to lead environmental missions in their Read More...
Rewilding: A Key Solution for Biodiversity
Wild wolves used to roam freely across most of the United States, but when these wolves were hunted to extinction in areas like Montana and Wyoming, ecosystems quickly fell out of balance. Without natural predators, elk populations soared, eating away at trees and grasses, eliminating building Read More...
New Belgium Brewing Co. hopes you hate the taste of their new ale
New Belgium Brewing Co. is making strong statements about climate change that other businesses may find hard to swallow—perhaps just as hard to swallow as their new, limited-edition beer, Torched Earth Ale. New Belgium brewed Torched Earth Ale from drought-resistant grains, dandelion weeds, and Read More...
Meet LEB: An aquatic scarecrow protecting birds from diving into fishing nets
Fishing is a problematic industry, not just for marine life, but for many different species. All over the world, when fishermen and women cast their nets into the water, they run the risk of catching animals they don’t intend to entangle, such as dolphins or birds. “Bycatch” is the term Read More...
This company uses logging waste to 3D print furniture
Every year, billions of trees are cut down to supply a growing demand for wood products. Most of the logging, however, is unsustainable and negatively impacts biodiversity, land rights, and livelihoods. This process also compromises forests' potential to tackle climate change. We’ve previously Read More...
Solar panels and California's water canals: A match made in heaven
About 4,000 miles of canals transport water to some 35 million people and 5.7 million acres of farmland across California. As the state enters another year of severe drought, researchers from the University of California have come up with a proposition to cover these canals with solar panels to Read More...
World’s largest jewelry maker will soon sell only lab-grown diamonds
There are few other things in the world that symbolize luxury like diamonds, but these status symbols often come at a price that goes beyond their monetary value. In recent years, for instance, concerns about the environmental impact and human rights abuse associated with the mining industry have Read More...
Solar Mountain installation could power Burning Man with clean energy
Burning Man is an annual music and arts event that attracts a lot of creative, expressive, and entrepreneurial individuals. However, because of its expansive desert setting, visitors tend to use a lot of motorized fossil-fuel vehicles to navigate their way around, while several displays require the Read More...