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.
Taiwan was once known as ‘Garbage Island’. Now it’s a model of recycling success
In the ’80s and ’90s, Taiwan had one of the world’s worst urban waste problems. Its landfills overflowed and mountains of rubbish clogged street corners, earning it the unflattering moniker “Garbage Island.” Fed up with the accumulation of waste, people across the country demanded action. Read More...
Animal rights groups have successfully persuaded Prada to ban fur
In a classic case of ‘better late than never’, luxury brand Prada has announced that it will finally ban the use of all fur in future fashion lines. The major fashion company joins a growing list of designers who have been successfully pressured by animal rights advocates to ban fur from their Read More...
A carbon tax is going into effect next week in South Africa
In a bid to drive down emissions and spur the transition to clean energy in South Africa, the country has joined a list of about 40 countries worldwide to adopt a carbon-pricing program. The first phase of the carbon tax will run until December 2022 and will go into effect next. Under the Read More...
Another major retailer is removing harmful plastics from shelves
One of America’s largest dollar store chains, Dollar Tree, has signed onto a program that would help the company phase out heavy metals such as lead and harmful chemicals including the plastic additives bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates. For a discount store that serves millions of Americans with Read More...
This high-tech wood reflects sunrays and keeps homes cool
Conventional construction materials used for building our homes are most often inefficient. Cooling our houses during the warm season, for instance, usually requires a staggering amount of energy and associated carbon emissions. In an attempt to find a solution to this, scientists at the University Read More...
To spare the planet, we need to take more time off work
Time off isn’t so much a luxury, new research argues, as an urgent necessity. Working long hours on the job is bad for your health, raising your risk of stroke, heart attack, and depression. And to top it off, it’s also bad for the planet. According to a paper from Autonomy, a Read More...
Construction is underway for America’s first plastics-to-fuel plant
While eco-friendly alternatives to plastics are sorely needed, we also need better, cleaner methods of dealing with existing plastic waste. That’s why we’re glad to tell you that construction workers have broken ground on what is being hailed as the nation’s first commercial-scale Read More...
Full access to zero-waste goods will soon be the ultimate apartment amenity
A parking garage or high-speed Internet may be the apartment amenities that renters most desire these days, but in the near future, it might be having access to closed-loop consumerism. Brookfield Properties, a global property management firm, recently announced plans to partner with Loop, a new Read More...
The area around the Eiffel Tower in Paris is getting a green, car-free makeover
One of the world’s most recognizable urban spaces is slated to get a dramatic makeover. According to the plan, the currently car-filled bridge connecting the Eiffel Tower with the Métro subway system will be turned into a pedestrianized garden, stringing together a set of two new public squares Read More...
Human composting is officially legal in Washington State
A few weeks ago, we wrote about a bill in Washington state that wants to add an eco-friendly alternative to cremation or burial: human composting. Well, now that bill has been officially signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee. Traditional burial requires wood and steal and means leaking Read More...