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.
A clothing brand in India is converting plastic bottles into sportswear
India alone produces over 15,342 tons of plastic waste each day. One clothing company is making use of plastic waste by turning it into sports t-shirts. The company, Paragon Apparels, uses eight PET bottles of fizzy drinks to make one shirt. Now the clothing brand produces over 4,000 pieces of such Read More...
Jordan's capital is creating green mosques and schools to tackle emissions
Poking above the bright pink bougainvillea that spills into the street, the lone minaret of the Ta'la Al-Ali mosque towers over the Khalda neighborhood of Amman. Aside from its colorful stain-glassed windows and ornate calligraphy, this mosque stands out for another reason: its roof is covered with Read More...
The Ocean Cleanup System begins removing the great pacific garbage patch
A Dutch non-profit organization announced they were working on advanced technologies in an attempt to remove the plastic waste from the world’s oceans. The Ocean Cleanup launched in September the cleanup system called “System 001” from the San Francisco Read More...
Is it possible for an oil company to help fight climate change?
A year ago, Royal Dutch Shell, now the largest oil company in the world, acquired NewMotion, a company with thousands of electric car charging points throughout Europe. A month later, Shell started installing fast chargers at some of its largest gas Read More...
Scientists have found a brilliant way to repurpose plastic bottles
A team of scientists has developed a cheap method for converting the most common type of plastic waste into a highly useful aerogel. The newfound material has a wide array of uses, from working as a protective insulator for firefighter coats to acting as an absorbent for cleaning up oil spills. Now Read More...
Fungi research lifts lid on shy organisms that break down plastic
Could fungi help us deal with our plastic addiction? Scientists at London’s Kew Botanical Gardens think so. The first ever State of the World’s Fungi, produced by Kew Gardens and a team of around 100 scientists from 18 countries, reports that fungi successfully degrade polyurethane in a Read More...
Startup company unveils a new recyclable fuel based on water
An Australian-Israeli electric vehicle startup has introduced a new type of recyclable fuel based on water. The fuel produces hydrogen on demand that is then converted into electricity. According to the company, the new fuel is more efficient, safer, and cleaner than other technologies such as Read More...
Bacteria-produced dye could sustainably color your clothes in the future
In China, fashion and water pollution are known to go hand in hand. It is estimated that nearly 3,500 chemicals used in the industry end in the waterways. To combat such pollution, scientists are working in labs with bacteria that colors its surroundings within its one week lifespan. The naturally Read More...
New effort to tackle global ocean plastics crisis uses blockchain
Household supplies multinational SC Johnson has announced a pioneering partnership with Plastic Bank, a plastic waste recycling startup, to tackle the threat of global ocean plastics by increasing the rate of recycling across less privileged areas of Read More...
This unexpected factor is causing America’s big dip in CO2 emissions
A recent report has found that the carbon footprint from generating electricity has dropped to an all-time low since 1987. While the adoption of renewables or the shift from coal to natural gas would seem like the likely cause for the decrease, it’s actually the reduced industrial demand for Read More...