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.
One answer to the bee crisis: Turn everyone into backyard breeders
In Switzerland, two scientists have found a way to engage the public in the effort to preserve bees – and pollination. They’ve designed kits that allow people to set up homes for mason bees in gardens and on balconies. Five years after the launch of their start-up business, the concept has Read More...
Yosemite is spending $40 million to protect 1,800-year-old sequoias
Sequoia trees can live up to 3,000 years. Yosemite Park hosts many 1,800-year-old trees. When the park was created, the focus was first and foremost to show the magnificent trees to visitors. Now, Yosemite will invest $40 million to restore the natural habitat of the trees—replacing asphalt with Read More...
Coal plant waste helps build environmentally-friendly, cementless concrete
Concrete production is one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the world, after transportation and energy. To make the ubiquitous building material more environmentally friendly, the industry has been adding by-products from coal-fired power plants, but doing so had its own Read More...
London wants cleaner air, calls for earlier ban on gas and diesel cars
The mayor of London and other city leaders across Britain trying to improve the air quality in their cities think that the British government is not going far enough with a proposed ban of the sale of new diesel and gas cars from 2040 onwards. The city leaders argue that the ban should be brought Read More...
Scientists develop natural, sustainable hair dye made from blackcurrant waste
Hair dying is a big business. The global hair coloring industry is worth about 10 million dollars per year. The chemical ingredients used in hair dyes have been shown to promote cancer or cause allergic reactions. Moreover, the dyes end up washed down in drains and create environmental hazards in Read More...
See how algae could change our world
Charles Greene is a climate scientist who looks at the impact of climate on marine ecosystems. He's a Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University and member of the Marine Algae Industrialization Consortium (MAGIC) which has a grant from the Department of Energy to look Read More...
McDonald’s will end use of plastic straws at thousands of locations
McDonald’s plans to stop using plastic straws in all of its 1,361 restaurants in the UK and Ireland by the end of 2019. It will start testing non-plastic alternatives in select locations in the United States, Belgium, France, Sweden, Norway, and Australia later this year, as well as test only Read More...
Why the wasp family is in need of rebranding
While we tolerate bees on the notion that they pollinate flowers and produce honey, we tend to disregard wasps as evil insects whose only task is to ruin your picnic. The truth, however, is that without wasps, the planet would be pest-ridden to biblical proportions. Still, have a hatred for wasps? Read More...
How two young entrepreneurs are tackling the plastic problem with swimwear
Brother-sister duo from Colgate University pitched a novel idea in 2015 to Jessica Alba, Jennifer Hyman, Neil Blumenthal, and MC Hammer, panelists at an entrepreneurship program: swimwear made out of recycled plastic bottles. They didn’t know much about the technology then to convert old, used Read More...
The biggest brands are finally teaming up to start a recycling revolution
Of course, it looks great for a company if they’ve found a way to recycle their waste, but what is even better is if all companies can learn from advancements in recycling technology and implement them on a grand scale. That’s why the Closed Loop Fund and Recycling Partnership was made, which Read More...