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.
Using tree bonds to preserve urban forests
The City Tree bench (see above) is a great innovation. But it can’t fully replace real trees. There is, for instance, growing research that urban trees and green spaces in cities provide physical, mental and social health benefits. Here’s an innovative way to protect trees in urban Read More...
This bench cleans as much polluted air as 275 trees
Polluted air is the cause of one in seven deaths worldwide. And the air pollution in cities is the worst. Trees help. But you need a lot of trees to clean the air in congested cities. That’s where City Tree comes in. This mix of a bench and a hedge cleans as much air as 275 trees in one percent Read More...
This hospital for seals and sea lions will warm your heart
The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, CA, takes in injured and malnourished pinnipeds and nurses them back to Read More...
African leaders are pressing Europe to follow China’s lead by ending ivory trade
The next target in the struggle to stamp out ivory trade and its debilitating effect on elephant populations across Africa is the European Union (EU). A petition signed by 32 African leaders has called on the EU—the world’s largest exporter of legal ivory—to close its thriving market. Read More...
These volunteers are fixing people’s stuff to fight against throwaway culture
Repairing your old appliances instead of getting new ones can help you save money and the environment. Sure, buying the latest gadgets may be nice, but every time you do your old appliances add to growing piles of waste. That’s why a group of British volunteers have created a cafe especially made Read More...
This device keeps birds from flying into wind turbines
Each year, wind turbines kill around 350,000 birds annually in the US. That’s why researchers have built an innovative device called the Acoustic Lighthouse that alerts birds in danger of crashing into a wind turbine. Birds, which have eyes on the sides of their heads, look down and to the side Read More...
UK to set goal of restoring soil health by 2030
Michael Gove, the UK's Secretary of State for the Environment hinted at this in his 'Green Brexit' speech, but Rebecca Pow, parliamentary private secretary to environment ministers, has confirmed that the upcoming agricultural bill to be published later this year will include a specific segment Read More...
Legally recognizing rivers as living entities can help save precious waterways
The river Ethiope in Nigeria is precious for local communities, but sadly, it has been abused due to industrial contamination, oil spill, and other sources of pollution. Although efforts to clean up the river have been going on for years, the river just can’t seem to get ahead. But now, maybe her Read More...
Urban heat: can white roofs help cool world’s warming cities?
It has long been known that installing white roofs helps reduce heat buildup in cities. But new research indicates that making surfaces more light-reflecting can have a significant impact on lowering extreme temperatures – not just in cities, but in rural areas as Read More...
Protecting tigers could be beneficial for their prey
Protecting one of Asia's most formidable apex predators may not seem like the most obvious way to help another species that might be on its dinner menu, but that is precisely what Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is doing in Sumatra's Kerinci Seblat National Park, the second-largest national Read More...