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.
We need to recycle better. This infographic will teach you how to do just that
Just tossing items into the recycling bin and hoping for the best isn’t going to cut it anymore. It’s imperative that we all know what can and cannot be recycled if we want our recycling programs to work better for the environment. The good news is that learning the basics of recycling is quite Read More...
UK bans microbeads in beauty products in bid to cut plastic in oceans
A UK-wide ban on manufacturers making products containing microbeads has come into force, in an attempt to cut down on plastics in our oceans. The beads are used in hundreds of different cosmetic products such as face washes and shower Read More...
The UK is putting down millions to develop a forest in the north of the country
The UK is one of the least forested countries in Europe. To change that, the government is investing into the creation of a northern forest that will stretch from Liverpool to Hull. The plans include the planting of 50m trees along a 120-mile stretch of land, and its to bolster the local economy by Read More...
China is trying to put an end to energy-intensive bitcoin mining
Two-thirds of the world’s power consumed from bitcoin mining comes from China, and unfortunately a lot of that electricity is dirty. Wary of the amount of pollution that bitcoin mining causes, China is strongly encouraging local governments to jack up the price of power and issue stronger Read More...
Home of 'biggest indoor rainforest' to create oasis in Chinese city
It calls itself the home of the world's biggest indoor rainforest, and it has attracted 19 million tourists since it opened. Now, the UK's Eden Project is set to open up to eight new sites around the Read More...
Seasteading: Come for the algae bacon, stay for the freedom
Joe Quirk is the president of the Seasteading Institute, which hopes to see the world’s oceans settled with hundreds of environmentally restorative floating cities. The first steps in that process are currently underway. “We’re going to start very small with sustainable floating islands in Read More...
2018 is the year that big businesses start ushering in the circular economy
Circular economy solutions not only benefit the environment, but can also generate more money for companies. 2018 will show more and more large corporations reusing waste that would have ended up in landfills. A brilliant example of this comes from HP, which is taking used ink cartridges and Read More...
Wildflower planting on farms boosts birds, from skylarks to starlings
Planting wildflowers and protecting nests on farms enables birds, from skylarks to starlings, to bounce back rapidly from long-term declines, new research shows. Intensive agriculture has led to overall farmland bird numbers in the UK Read More...
Fighting climate change, one laundry load at a time
A Danish biotechnology company is trying to fight climate change — one laundry load at a time. Its secret weapon: mushrooms like those in a dormant forest outside Read More...
The 4 things that need to be addressed to make 2018 a successful climate year
Extreme natural disasters sadly became the norm in 2017, and there is little doubt climate change played a role in them. To limit global warming to two degrees, the main goal set in the Paris agreement on climate, experts say that emissions will have to peak and begin to sharply decline in 2020. Read More...