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.
50 countries are actively targeting plastics. That’s a good start
Kenya has banned plastic bags, the Galapagos will ban single-use plastics, Sri Lanka will ban styrofoam and China is insisting on biodegradable bags. These are some of the recent developments to come out of a UN report, which outlined that fifty nations around the world are now taking action to Read More...
How Indonesia could help solve the world’s plastic problem
Since the world is currently too reliant on conventional plastics, we need to produce bioplastics that don’t destroy the planet. Seaweed is so far the best candidate for use in bioplastics as it is both cheap and can be grown without land or fertilizers, and the best place to grow seaweed is in Read More...
India will abolish all single-use plastic by 2022, vows Narendra Modi
India will eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022, prime minister Narendra Modi has announced. The pledge is the most ambitious yet of the global actions to combat plastic pollution that are taking place in 60 nations around the world. Modi’s move aims to drastically stem the Read More...
Each car in London costs society £8,000 due to air pollution, report finds
Air pollution from cars and vans racks up health bills of nearly £6bn every year in the UK, according to a new report by researchers at the universities of Oxford and Bath. The costs to both the NHS and society at large were highest in cities, and diesel vehicles were the worst offenders in Read More...
Fashion has become disposable. This subscription model could change that
Of the 10 T-shirts the average consumer buys in a year, six might end up in the landfill. A fashion brand is attempting to stamp out this wasteful consumption of clothing through a new subscription model where, instead of owning T-shirts, you can use them until you get an inevitable stain or hole. Read More...
Buffalo to be flown to Siberia in effort to slow deadly permafrost feedback
When it comes to sharing climate change scientific findings, and global warming’s devastating impacts to the Earth, there is simply no good news to report, says Alan Martin writing for alphr. Martin highlighted a “study from the University of Rochester in New York which has mathematically Read More...
Repurposed plastic waste creates reusable building bricks
Communities around the world are building affordable public and private structures that also help to reduce pollution. They are doing this by using Ecobricks. Advocates of the brick see their use as a social movement and lifestyle choice. Empty plastic bottles filled with other waste plastics Read More...
China clears Mount Everest of 9.4 tons of waste
In China a team of 30 people has managed to clear Mount Everest of 9.4 tons of waste since April. The amount of waste has continued to grow with an increasing number of visitors to the world's tallest mountain even as warmer temperatures reveal decades of frozen Read More...
Cutting out meat and dairy is the best thing you can do for the planet
Huge new study reveals that going vegan offers far greater benefits than quitting flying or driving an electric Read More...
Restoring eelgrass in the ocean could reduce carbon and acidity in seawater
Researchers along the California coast have been using sensors to test whether eelgrass—an underwater plant with quarter-inch wide leaves that can grow up to 3 feet long—can remove carbon from seawater and help maintain water chemistry. The idea is that, through photosynthesis, eelgrass can Read More...