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.
New Zealand’s next prime minister wants to plant 100 million trees yearly
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s youngest leader in more than 150 years, has plans to make the country an even greener place. As one of the first orders of business, she announced an initiative that will see 100 million trees planted yearly. The newly elected prime minister also wants to introduce Read More...
Used toilet paper helps pave a bike path
It is commonplace to manufacture toilet paper out of recycled paper, but it could soon also be commonplace to manufacture raw materials out of recycled toilet paper. Although the concept has a strong ick factor, recycled toilet paper could soon join other recycled materials, such as travel bags Read More...
With new peace, Colombia finds hope for saving its wild lands
Brandishing automatic rifles, the guerilla fighters ordered Andrés Cuervo to leave his camping gear and research notes at the abandoned wooden house where he had been staying. One of the insurgents wrote “Do Not Touch: ELN” — the initials for the National Liberation Army — on a piece of Read More...
EU on brink of historic decision on pervasive glyphosate weedkiller
A pivotal EU vote this week could revoke the licence for the most widely used herbicide in human history, with fateful consequences for global agriculture and its regulation. Glyphosate is a weedkiller so pervasive that its residues were recently found in 45% of Europe’s topsoil – and in the Read More...
Entrepreneurs are turning trash into food, drink, and clean energy
When Tristram Stuart was growing up on a farm in England, he raised pigs as a hobby. He saw that much of the thrown-out food he was feeding them was actually fit for Read More...
Washington D.C. tackles emissions with dockless bikes
It's morning rush hour in the nation's capital, and bicyclists crowd their lane six deep at an intersection. Clad in spandex and business suits, a few ride the bright green, orange, red or yellow bikes that signal a new phase of city Read More...
This little machine can clean your clothes with 2.5 gallons of water and no power
The Drumi is finally in production as of late September, but without an exact ship date. Yirego, the company behind the electricity-free device, told us in late October that engineers are working to resolve final Read More...
British apple boom brings back hundreds of forgotten varieties
Britain is enjoying a remarkable apple boom, as hundreds of new community orchards revive lost varieties and contribute to a thriving heritage market. According to Steve Oram, who is the apple diversity officer at the wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species: “We are adding new Read More...
It doesn’t get much cuter: watch this video of 36 baby giant pandas
The panda is the symbol for the preciousness of nature. It’s one of the rarest and most endangered bears on the planet. Despite tremendous efforts to save them, the species has proven delicate when it comes to breeding and raising in captivity, a step required in order to release them back into Read More...
Climate change: Children to sue European countries
A group of Portuguese children whose district was ravaged by deadly forest fires this summer is to sue 47 European nations, accusing them of failing to take action on climate change. The seven youngsters, aged eight to 18, are taking on the member states of the Council of Europe, who together Read More...