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.
This project shows drones can be the key to restoring the world’s forests
Drones are really starting to prove their worth—beyond just taking cool videos up in the air. Last September, drones were used to drop seeds across abandoned fields in Myanmar where industry or farming once took place. Just a half a year later, tiny mangrove saplings around 20 inches tall are Read More...
Bitcoin mining pollutes the planet. China wants to ban it altogether
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have left their mark on the world, but not in the way most people predicted. In a typical Bitcoin mining operation, powerful banks of computers are dedicated to crunching out “blockchain” numbers and processing transactions. Nearly three-quarters of Read More...
Ecologists are turning to star-spotting cameras to count endangered orangutans
If thermal cameras are capable of spotting distant starts, then they must be capable of finding animals here on Earth, right? Such is the logic of researchers from Liverpool John Moores University who are testing the thermal infrared technology that astrophysicists use to discover stars in order to Read More...
Paris just made the biggest purchase of electric buses Europe has ever seen
Paris has taken a huge step forward in achieving its goal of cleaning up its entire bus fleet by 2025 in a grand effort to curb air pollution. The current bus fleet is mostly made up of old diesel buses, but that’ll change soon after Paris’ public transport operator announced it has ordered up Read More...
This little gadget stops microfibers from going down the washing machine drain
When it comes to stopping microfibers from washing off your clothes and into our waterways, using a washing bag or simply not buying clothes that don’t shed microfibers is the best thing you can do. Unfortunately, for many consumers, taking these precautions is already too much work. Enter the Read More...
Your most basic household products will soon be available in reusable containers
While many of us may want to reduce our consumption of single use plastics, it can be difficult to do so due to the lack of reusable packaging options at conventional grocery stores. The New Jersey based company, TerraCycle, is looking to change this. The company, started by young entrepreneur Tom Read More...
Satellite data can help scientists save endangered shark species
Sharks have patrolled our oceans for more than 400 million years. They survived near-global extinction events and outlived countless other marine species. But according to several studies, shark populations around the world are suffering a serious decline due to human activities like over-fishing, Read More...
Russia to release nearly 100 captured whales back into the wild
After months of international outcry, nearly 100 whales held in cages in Russia’s far east are now to be released back into the wild. Images of 10 orcas and 87 beluga whales kept in cramped enclosures first appeared after they were caught last summer by firms which planned to sell them to marine Read More...
Over 1 million gardeners join efforts to save declining bee populations
Bees and other pollinating insects are responsible for 1 out of 3 bites of the food that we eat every day, and yet pollinators are at a critical point in their own survival. To prevent their declining numbers, the National Pollinator Garden Network set a nationwide call to action in 2015 to Read More...
Scientists have discovered (and climbed) the world’s tallest tropical tree
Here’s another reminder of why nature is so amazing. In the midst of the Borneo rainforest in Malaysia, scientists have discovered a behemoth of a tree, measuring more than 100 meters (328ft) tall. The lofty yellow meranti, as it’s known, is so long that if it were laid along the ground, it Read More...