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.
Celebrate Earth Day with these 6 virtual events
Happy Earth Day! In addition to our Healthy Kitchens Week series, we’re celebrating by sharing some great virtual events you can take part in to honor the Earth and flex your sustainability muscles. Earth Day Live: Restore Our Earth. This online stream begins today at noon (EST) and Read More...
7 Things you should have in your kitchen to help reduce waste
The kitchen is the heart of many households. It's where we share meals, laughter, and cook all our food. But all that hustle and bustle also means a lot of waste. Here are seven items that will help you reduce your kitchen waste significantly. A compost. Most of the waste generated in a kitchen Read More...
The Netherlands launches plan to ban carbon-emitting delivery vehicles
In the past year, many of us have spent an unprecedented amount of time at home, which means that a lot of our day-to-day tasks have moved from real-life interactions to online platforms. In some ways, this has been a wonderful break for the environment, but on the other hand, there has been a Read More...
7 Eco-conscious ways to unclog your sink
Fixing a clogged sink is one of the most tedious household tasks. No one wants to put their hand into water that has the soggy remains of everyone’s dinner floating around in it, but that doesn’t mean we should turn to convenient chemicals to blast things down the pipes. Here are seven Read More...
This apparel company wants to recycle your old socks into dog beds
While consumer awareness about the urgency of transitioning the textile industry towards circularity is growing, socks remain one of the most frequently discarded pieces of apparel. A new initiative from clothing company Smartwool wants to change that by encouraging you to donate your old socks — Read More...
Dutch citizens are using a “doorbell” to help fish pass this canal gate
Every year, thousands of spawning fish swim through the canals of Utrecht in the Netherlands. When they reach the Weerdsluis lock though, they often cannot travel further because the barrier — which acts as a dam — is rarely open. A new initiative, however, is now allowing regular citizens to Read More...
This zero-waste body wash is a pouch that dissolves in your shower
Water is a key ingredient in most body wash products that come in plastic bottles. This poses two key environmental challenges: On top of the sustainability issue that comes with fossil fuel-derived packaging, shipping water also comes at a high environmental cost. Seeking to deliver a product Read More...
5 Easy ways you can conserve more water
Water conservation is an important endeavor that we all play a role in. Some experts say that the world could face a 40 percent global water deficit in under a decade if humans continue to increase water consumption. Here are five small changes you can make in your day-to-day life to start saving Read More...
Electric future: Why we need to make all stoves gas-free
A third of Americans cook with natural gas in their homes and many, especially kitchen-savvy chefs, seek out these appliances over electric versions, but the health and environmental effects of gas raise the question: Why are we still using these cooktops? What's wrong with gas stoves First and Read More...
This dragonfly-inspired robot could help monitor environmental disasters
Scientists from Duke University have engineered a completely electronics-free soft robot that can fly across bodies of water to perform long-range environmental monitoring such as detecting oil spills and assessing the level of acidity in water. Dubbed DraBot, the robot is modeled after a Read More...