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.
First no-kill eggs hit supermarket shelves in Berlin
Scientists discovered a way to determine the sex of chicks before they hatch, which may prevent the slaughtering of an estimated 4-6 billion male chicks each year. The process can tell a chick’s gender nine days before an egg has been fertilized, and has the potential to put a stop to the Read More...
Scientists unveil technology that brings dying coral reefs back to life
Scientists developed an innovative device that succumbs underwater and pours life back into coral reefs which are suffering dramatically due to climate change. The briefcase-size submersible is designed to move autonomously along damaged sections of reef, seeding them with hundreds of thousands of Read More...
German town to be first in the country to tax single-use plastic products
A town in southwest Germany plans to pass legislation that will tax retailers for using disposable plastic items in their shops, cafes, and fast food restaurants. The measures include taxing single-use plastic items such as to-go coffee cups, pizza boxes, and other food delivery containers. The Read More...
Will carbon capture technology help us combat climate change in the future?
Extracting vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could help to limit global warming. The only problem is capturing carbon is currently very costly. That’s why it’s good news that Climeworks, a Swiss company that wants to capture 1 percent of man-made carbon dioxide emissions by Read More...
Are these edible pouches the future of plastic-free packaging?
While everyone from David Attenborough to the Queen of England are working on ridding the world of plastic containers, others are working on sustainable replacements. Take this UK-based startup for example: They have created small pouches that encase a serving of water in a thin membrane made from Read More...
Why women are the key to creating a sustainable future
We need more women at the table to create sustainable cities that drive positive global change. Why? Because women have been shown to take a long-term view and are more willing to engage the difficult issues that have an everyday impact not only on a company’s bottom line but across our society Read More...
New study demonstrates that biodiversity inoculates against extinction
Biodiversity has long been touted as important for staving off extinction. The more kinds of critters you have, in other words, the less likely any one of them—or a whole bunch of them—will disappear forever. The trouble is, no one has ever really demonstrated this idea in a lab setting. Read More...
Blue Planet II will convince you to start giving up plastics
In the new nature documentary series Blue Planet II, narrator Sir David Attenborough and his wonderful voice asks people around the world to start taking plastic pollution more seriously. So far it seems to be working. The BBC, the broadcasting company behind the series, has moved to ban all Read More...
Farming has a huge impact on the environment. Enter carbon trapping
Globally, our food system is thought to account for as much as a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, making it a huge contributor to the effects of climate change. However, there are hopes that the agriculture industry could also be a part of the solution. A paper published in Scientific Read More...
How mushrooms can help us build a greener planet
The real magic behind mushrooms is not their psychedelic properties. It’s the fact that they have special applications that can help us build a greener planet. From making biofuels to eating harmful plastics, here’s how mushrooms can help us solve some of Earth’s most pressing Read More...