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.
The eco guide to disposing of litter
Litter brings out an urge in me to ban everything. Under my regime, straws would be Read More...
Drones support wildlife research in the Arctic
Increasingly, drones are being used to study wildlife and the environment in places that are not easily accessible. These efforts help scientists better understand behavior patterns and the impact of global warming. And that helps conservation Read More...
Norway wants to bury other countries’ carbon emissions—in their own backyard
Norway’s wealth was built on mostly pumping fossil fuels out of the ground. In fact, one of Norway’s sovereign wealth funds is also known as the “Oil Read More...
The shirt of the future will be made by methane-eating bacteria
Instead of using ancient fossil carbons to make materials, a startup wants to utilize the greenhouse gas methane to create a new model of garment production. To do this, the startup is feeding waste methane to a certain type of bacteria that eats it and produces biodegradable bio-polyester fibers. Read More...
Scottish government bans fracking after public opposition
The Scottish government has banned fracking after a consultation found overwhelming public opposition and little economic justification for the industry. Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish energy minister, told MSPs that allowing fracking would undermine the government’s ambitions to deeply cut Read More...
Paris bans cars for a day and sees the smog go away
On Sunday, the city of Paris looked entirely different. Instead of being clogged with cars as Paris usually is, the city streets were filled with pedestrians, bikers, and the occasional roller skater. Paris successfully held a Car Free Day in 2015 and 2016, but this was the first time the city Read More...
The UK is set to reintroduce a money-back scheme to reduce plastic pollution
It’s a real slap in the face to environmentalists when a company that touts environmental sustainability such as Coca-Cola is found to have increased its production of throwaway plastic bottles last year by over a billion. Such production will only add to the mountain of plastic entering oceans Read More...
Shunning fossil fuels, 40 catholic groups seek climate action
OSLO (Reuters) - Forty Roman Catholic groups said on Tuesday they were shunning investments in fossil fuels and urged others to follow suit. The coalition was the largest number of Catholic institutions, in countries including Australia, South Africa, Britain and the United States, to team up for a Read More...
Oyster shells can help us grow food, make cement, and reverse global warming
Each year, the seafood industry discards more than 7 million tons of oyster shells that mostly wind up in landfills or are dumped into the ocean. Researchers find this practice “a collosal waste of potentially useful biomaterials,” which is why they have proposed two plans to reuse shells. One Read More...
Keep your garden natural: Let bee-friendly bulbs transform your spring
It’s that time of the year when you fill your gardens with flower bulbs that will bloom when the dull winter ends. The options are limitless when it comes to bulbs, but unfortunately, many of these are grown with pesticides and fungicides that harm the soil and poison pollinators such as bees. To Read More...