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.
Rare Amazon cactus blooms for the first time at botanic garden in the UK
A rare cactus from the Amazon rainforest that has attracted interest from around the world has flowered for the first time in a British garden. After keeping a night watch for several days, botanists at Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden finally got to witness the moonflower cactus, also Read More...
Optimist View: Taking Ownership & Choosing A Better Future
“All that you touch you Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God is Change.” - Octavia E. Butler BY KRISTY JANSEN We humans have had and will continue to have a profound effect on this planet and the biosphere. It's no longer debatable and that’s Read More...
This shrub is a roadside pollution-absorbing ‘super plant’
In order to ease environmental problems such as air pollution, British scientists at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) have been researching and comparing the effectiveness of different types of shrubs when it comes to soaking up pollution. What they have discovered is that bushy, Read More...
Photo gallery: Europe’s most active volcano is in spectacular form
While fireworks may look nice, they don’t even compare to the natural extravagance of a volcanic eruption. Recently, the people of Sicily have been treated to an incredible show from Europe’s most active volcano: Mount Etna. The volcano has been spewing massive lava fountains and oozing Read More...
Volunteers in Texas have saved thousands of sea turtles from the cold
As you may have heard, a winter vortex has brought uncharacteristic bone-chilling temperatures to the state of Texas over the past few days. And while humans are certainly feeling the chill, countless sea turtles are facing a frigid death as a result of the drop in temperature. That’s because sea Read More...
Affordable housing and vertical farms: A match made in heaven?
We’ve written about vertical farms and affordable housing extensively at The Optimist Daily, but never have we seen these two concepts combined. Until now, that is. This is the exact combination we’re going to witness in Westbrook, Maine, where a multistory greenhouse is being constructed Read More...
Brilliant invention provides light and drinking water at almost no cost
Amongst the cream of the crop of the Lexus Design Award 2021 is Henry Glogau’s ingenious contraption: a skylight that uses free sources of energy to light homes at night and distill seawater into safe drinking water. This no-cost, clean energy solution can provide basic services for Read More...
This vegan ice cream gets its creaminess from lab-grown milk proteins
The dairy industry is a major culprit when it comes to global carbon emissions, emitting nearly as much as the shipping and aviation industries combined. Cutting down or eliminating dairy consumption is one way we can personally spur reductions in dairy emissions, but when things such as ice cream Read More...
Tree equity program aims to bring greenery to low-income neighborhoods
Following decades of discriminatory housing and planning policies, many American neighborhoods today still remain segregated on socioeconomic lines. But in addition to differences in income levels, there’s also something else that differentiates these neighborhoods from richer ones — they have Read More...
The UK is seeing a surge in community forest projects
As the effects of climate change become harder and harder to ignore, communities from all over the globe exerting more effort to reverse generations of unsustainable and damaging practices. Take, for instance, the local climate-change group from a village on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales in Read More...