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.
How the people of Bavaria are uniting to save bees, bugs, and birds
We are constantly berated with alarming reports that forecast a gloomy future for our planet, giving us two options for how we can react. Either we become paralyzed and give up, or we unite together in the face of adversity to enact change. The Bavarians of southern Germany chose the second option Read More...
New York City to create a special agency focused on managing climate change
With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal spearheading the most dramatic shift in American climate politics in decades, New York City is preparing to vote on a bill that would create an agency with the sole focus of managing climate change. The legislation proposes the creation of a new Read More...
America's ski industry has united to fight climate change and save the snow
Skiing is among the most preferred winter sports in the United States and also a major economic driver in the country’s mountainous regions. Skiing, however, is dependent on a stable climate, and the warming conditions created by climate change are putting the industry's future on a slippery Read More...
Senators just passed the biggest conservation legislation in more than a decade
Hallelujah! Senators from all across the political spectrum came together this week to pass the most sweeping conservation legislation in a decade. The bipartisan measure touches every state and protects more than 1.3 million acres of wilderness from any development. Not even roads or motorized Read More...
With some thanks to India and China, Earth is greener than 20 years ago
It seems whenever the word ‘forest’ is in the headlines of a news story, the story has only to do with deforestation and habitat loss. But that’s not the case with this story. This time around, we’re here to tell you that NASA’s latest study found that the Earth has actually become a Read More...
Answers to the questions you never asked about plastic waste
By now you’ve probably heard a million times that plastic waste is harming the planet. There’s no question about that. But there are many other questions you might have about plastic and how we should deal with the problem. For example, perhaps you want to find out if the plastic you put into Read More...
This smart shelter uses AI to protect stray cats from the cold
Temperatures in Beijing can drop to 15 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, leaving stray cats in pretty dire conditions. That’s why Baidu, China’s top search engine company, invented a smart shelter to spare cats the winter’s biting temperatures. The shelter uses artificial intelligence and Read More...
Florida’s Key West is banning the sale of sunscreens that damage coral reefs
Although it’s always wise to apply sunscreen before heading to the beach, evidence suggests most sunscreens contain chemicals that can harm the development of corals and make them more prone to bleaching. When corals bleach, they essentially start to die because they’ve lost the algae they rely Read More...
New law in Hawaii will ban the killing of any sharks in state waters
Lawmakers in Hawaii have been busy bees over the past couple years when it comes to drafting laws that protect the natural beauty of their islands. The Aloha State banned all sunscreens that harm coral reefs last year and banned all plastic bags years ago, with new legislation being proposed that Read More...
All medals at the 2020 Olympics to be made out of recycled materials
With a little ingenuity, there's a lot you can do with old electronic waste. That was shown at the 2016 Olympics in Rio where 30 percent of the silver and bronze in medals came from recycled electronic devices. Now organizers of the 2020 edition in Japan are looking to one up Rio by forging all Read More...