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 federal court wants to see proof that Monsanto’s pesticides are safe
While Monsanto claims the chemicals used in their pesticides are safe, many researchers have been saying for years that the weedkilling chemical glyphosate is linked to cancer. This week, a federal court hearing in San Francisco will turn a public spotlight on to the science surrounding the safety Read More...
Localizing the system of clothing production can make fashion more sustainable
Today’s fashion isn’t sustainable. That is why a movement wants to create a circular system of clothing—from agriculture to product and back again—within 250 miles of where you live. This means localizing clothing production and using natural fibers to make clothes instead of oils. From Read More...
Huge "horizontal skyscraper" rises in China
China boasts more than its fair share of impressive engineering feats, including the world's second-tallest skyscraper and the highest bridge. We can soon add highest skybridge to the list too, courtesy of Moshe Safdie's Raffles City Chongqing project, which is currently under construction in Read More...
A giant colony of 1.5 million penguins went unnoticed until now
Researchers have discovered a supercolony of more than 1.5 million Adélie penguins living on the remote Danger Islands off the coast of Antarctica. The previously unknown penguins were discovered when satellite photos in 2014 showed a significant amount of penguin poop on the Danger Islands, Read More...
18 great new books about sustainability and pioneering women environmentalists
What do Rachel Carson, sea otters, toxic toads and the Gold King Mine disaster have in common? Easy: They're all among the subjects of this month's new environmentally themed books. The full list—an amazing 18 titles—includes books for just about everyone, from dedicated environmentalists to Read More...
A Dutch supermarket chain is going plastic-free
Plastic packaging has no place in food and drink. There is no logical basis for wrapping something as perishable as food with something as indestructible as plastic. The world cannot recycle its way out of the plastic problem, which is why a supermarket chain in the Netherlands is rolling out Read More...
This 18-mile stretch of Georgia highway is a living laboratory for clean energy
It’s not often that captains of industry have epiphanies about climate change. So it was remarkable when, after reading The Ecology of Commerce in 1994, carpet manufacturer Ray Anderson set out to clean up his petroleum-intensive operation and succeeded in cutting net carbon emissions by more Read More...
Levi’s is using lasers to make more sustainable jeans
At Levi’s, a brand that talks about trying to be as sustainable and humane to workers as possible, the ugly reality of what it takes to make jean—especially when you are selling $4.6 billion worth of them a year—isn’t something that is brushed under the table. That’s why Levi’s has Read More...
They're here to fix climate change! They’re college Republicans
Consider the life of a current college sophomore, a 20-year-old. She was born in 1998, at the time the warmest year ever measured, when a monster El Niño pattern spawned floods and droughts around the world. Seven years later, as she started first grade, Hurricane Katrina inundated New Orleans, Read More...
This all-natural insulator is fire-resistant and biodegradable
A Chilean company has created a 100 percent natural form of insulation that not only keeps homes warm, but also makes them more fire-resistant. Compared to common fiberglass insulation, which burns within 15 seconds of being exposed to flames, this natural insulation takes a full hour before it Read More...