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.
Purchasing these carbon offsets also helps to reforest cities
In 2017, Duke University and its athletics division took enough business-related flights to generate around 5,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. One round-trip, cross-country flight between Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, where the University is based, and the West Coast nets out to around .6 Read More...
Airliner fueled by mustard seed oil takes flight from US to Australia
In the past year, a number of aircraft manufacturers produced their own two-to-four seat airplanes that run on electricity. It shows we’re getting closer to the electrification of the aviation industry, but there’s still a long way to go until commercial flights fly without the need for jet Read More...
This digital store is selling video games for cheap to save the rainforest
Want a way to pick up a bulk of Rockstar Games' back catalog and help a good cause? Then head over to Humble where donating anything from $1 to $15 will get you a whole swath of video games. However much you pledge it'll go toward supporting The Rainforest Alliance, a conservation group made Read More...
Planting strips of wildflowers across farm fields reduces need for pesticides
Pesticides are costly, not only in terms of money but also in terms of environmental well-being. By planting long strips of bright wildflowers through crop fields, it is possible to boost the natural predators of pests and potentially cut pesticide spraying. Research on farms in England has shown Read More...
Could farming rhinos save them from extinction?
Rhino horn is worth more than gold or heroin by weight, so poachers often kill the animals and cut off their horns. It's illegal to sell the horn on the international market, but John Hume, a rhino farmer in South Africa, argues that if it were legal, poachers would breed rhinos rather than kill Read More...
This Southern California city is planting thousands of trees to cool itself down
Temperatures have soared in the Southern California city of Long Beach in recent years, and the average temperatures are expected to keep increasing. This heating trend is partially due to global warming, and partially due to the city’s urban heat islands, which tend to have a lot of cement and Read More...
Chile just created 10 million acres of protected parkland
Two American philanthropists have completed the world’s largest donation of privately held land when they handed over more than one million acres to the Chilean government. The Chilean government added nine million acres of their own to create five new and three expanded national parks. In total, Read More...
Why triggering an avalanche can save lives
Avalanches can reach speeds up to 130 km/hour, and kill more than 150 people worldwide each year. But could causing an avalanche save your life? These researchers think so, which is why they are producing towers that can start an avalanche on command. If you want to see the avalanche towers in Read More...
A major retailer is making the UK’s favourite beverage plastic-free
Teabags account for a whopping 96 percent of the 165 million cups of tea drunk every day in the UK. Anti-plastic campaigners have been appealing to customers to use loose tea or “greener” options such as Japanese-style “pyramids” made of 100 percent compostable corn starch, but these are Read More...
Volunteers have completely transformed this beach after 119 Sundays of cleaning
Just a few years ago, Versova Beach on the coast of Mumbai was blanketed in plastic. Instead of sand, all you could see was a multi-colored plastic rug carpeting the whole coastline. Now, thanks to volunteers who have worked for the past 119 Sundays, the sand can be seen again. 12,000 tons of Read More...