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.
Fight climate change in your own garden
During World War I, Americans were encouraged to do their part in the war effort by planting, fertilizing, harvesting, and storing their own fruits and vegetables. The food would go to allies in Europe, where there was a food Read More...
This startup found a clever way to reuse milk bottles
A start-up in New Zealand has developed a way to turn domestic and commercial plastic waste into fence posts. The posts, which are made from 100 percent recycled material, have an impressive life expectancy of 50 years. With more and more farmers trying to improve their on-farm sustainability, this Read More...
Elon Musk wants to upgrade sewage systems in cities across America
Speaking before a crowd of 3,800 mayors, Elon Musk announced plans to employ his ‘ground-breaking’ tunneling technology to upgrade underground sewage systems in cities across the US. Musk’s Boring Company is already busy constructing an underground rapid transportation system in Los Angeles, Read More...
Electric ferries represent the first step in sustainable maritime transportation
Since ferries take the same route again and again, they will be first mode of maritime transportation to be electrified. In Canada, two electric ferries equipped with a battery pack system are already getting to work. The electric vessels, which originally ran on diesel, are expected to reduce Read More...
New Zealand ends new offshore oil and gas exploration
Incredible news in New Zealand, as it has banned new permits for offshore oil and gas exploration in efforts to tackle climate change. The Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment Act passed its third reading in Parliament on Wednesday with 63 votes in favor and 55 against, New Zealand Herald Read More...
Well, turns out you can pack in a lot of mosquitoes without killing them
Mailing mosquitoes doesn't seem wise on the surface. Nevertheless, researchers from New Mexico State University have been looking into it, as part of an effort to help control the spread of Read More...
Scientists champion forests as 'unsung hero' of climate action
Scientists from around the world called for stepped-up efforts to use forests to keep global warming to the lowest limit agreed by governments in 2015, as a key report on how to meet that goal is finalized in South Korea this week. "Forests really are the unsung hero of our struggle to address Read More...
Why forests are the best 'technology' to stop climate change
The warning from the world's top climate scientists that carbon dioxide (CO2) will need to be removed from the atmosphere to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is both a due and dire recognition of the great task in front of Read More...
Agriculture destroyed monarch butterfly habitats–now it’s trying to save them
Over the past couple of decades, monarch butterflies, one of the most recognizable (and important) visitors to gardens across North America, have been declining in number–as much as 95 percent of the population has disappeared since the 1980s. The reasons are numerous: Mexico, where the Read More...
A startup in New Delhi wants to build a smog-eating tower in the city center
New Delhi is choking from smog as pollution levels reach new hazardous heights. That’s why a startup wants to build a 40-feet tall purifier in the middle of the capital that uses 48 fans and nine stages of filtration to pump out 1.3 million cubic meters of fresh air per hour—enough to provide Read More...