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.
In Minnesota, solar farms are commonly surrounded by bee-friendly flowers
Solar farms? Good. Solar farms surrounded by prairie grasses and budding flowers? Excellent. In Minnesota, it’s becoming common for large solar energy sites to have pollinator-friendly plantings around them. Not only do they provide habitat for the bee and butterfly populations people have been Read More...
A cleaner future for aviation was on display at the Paris Air Show
By now we’re all aware that the aviation industry is responsible for a hefty contribution to global carbon emissions. That’s why the need for more efficient flying technology is more important than ever. At the Paris Air Show, an exhibition dedicated to the future of air travel, major Read More...
Fashion capital Milan is on a quest to plant 3 million trees by 2030
There will soon be more trees than people in the city of Milan. Mayor Giuseppe “Beppe” Sala has embarked on an ambitious plan to plant 3 million trees in the Italian city—population 1.3 million—better known for industry than natural wonders. For the last year and a half, the city of Read More...
Game designers have created a simulator that let’s you live the life of a bee
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a bee? Well if you are curious, there’s a new simulation game that gives you an inside look at the real lives and struggles of the American wild bee. Both educational and entertaining, Bee Simulator allows you to fly around our colorful world Read More...
Waze believes it can get more people to start carpooling again
Back in the late 1970s, 20 percent of American commuters carpooled. At the moment, that number stands closer to 7 percent. This is problematic considering that carpooling is a good way for us to cut down on the individual emissions that come with traveling. Uber and Lyft have both tried to bring Read More...
Florida’s biggest newsgroups are teaming up to focus more on the climate crisis
When it comes to climate change, no other state has as much at risk as Florida. That’s why six of the leading news organizations in Florida have formed a partnership to share stories and work together to report on the complex challenges of climate change. The founding members include the Miami Read More...
What startups in Europe are doing to tackle the microplastic problem
Microplastics are found everywhere, from the tallest mountain peaks and the deepest ocean trenches to within the bodies of human beings. We know microplastics are killing coral reefs and poisoning fish, and potentially posing a risk to our health. We also know that if we want to fix the problem of Read More...
To save the Monarch butterfly, grow this plant in your garden
Monarch butterflies need all the help they can get. Eastern Monarch populations have plummeted 90 percent in just the last two decades, and their Western comrades aren’t fairing all too much better. This is partially to blame on the loss of milkweed in America, a perennial flower that serves Read More...
Tobacco manufacturers to be held accountable for cigarette butt pollution
While it's all fine and dandy that plastic straws are being eliminated from popular use, the cigarette butt has largely evaded such regulation despite being the biggest ocean contaminant. Americans alone toss 360 billion cigarette butts each year – enough to fill almost four baseball Read More...
Round 2: The Ocean Cleanup project has been redeployed to capture plastic
The Ocean Cleanup project was heralded as the big solution we needed to the problem of ocean plastic. Then it broke. The 2,000 ft long floating boom that uses currents to collect waste fell apart under constant waves and wind, and it wasn’t successful in retaining all the plastic it caught. But Read More...