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.
Economists conclude a strong carbon price is vital to meeting climate goals
Leading economists have concluded that in an effort to meet the world’s agreed-upon climate goals in the most cost-effective way possible while still fostering growth, countries must set a strong carbon price, with an aim to reach $40 to $80 per tonne of CO2 by 2020 and $50 to $100 per tonne by Read More...
Why you're almost certainly wasting time rinsing your recycling
Once a fortnight we diligently wheel our recycling bin to the kerb, and then probably give ourselves a pat on the back while thinking of all the useful products we have helped to create, and the resources and energy we have saved. Yet it pays to think a bit more deeply about what is going into each Read More...
Buy only fabulous fashion: A guide to the most sustainable fabrics
With the awareness about the microfiber pollution in oceans rising, better fabric choices for your clothes become important. This story presents a good overview of your options. Choose organic fabrics whenever possible. And: never buy anything that’s less than fabulous. Then you know you’ll Read More...
Conservationists could be saving more biodiversity in less space
The Cuban solenodon, a nocturnal, football-sized mammal that resembles a chunky shrew, has an abundance of peculiar qualities. It has a long cartilaginous snout and venomous saliva, which it uses to catch and kill insects and worms. It has terrible eyesight and may be capable of echolocation. The Read More...
Emerging economies take lead on going green, but investment needed
BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Emerging economies are increasingly taking the lead in shifting the world onto a cleaner development path, a senior World Bank official said on Wednesday, pointing to the role of China and India in pushing down the cost of producing solar power. In India, Read More...
California is showing how to be unstoppable in the face of climate skeptics
As President Trump moves to reverse the Obama administration’s policies on climate change, California is emerging as America’s de facto negotiator with the world on the environment. The state is pushing back on everything from White House efforts to roll back pollution rules on tailpipes and Read More...
‘Cool’ pavement reflects heat and reduces air pollution in hot cities
During the summer months, the streets of sprawling urban areas radiate heat, warming up nearby buildings and increasing air pollution. To cool down the asphalt, Los Angeles is starting to pave the streets with a reflective street surface. Officials say the “cool”, light-grey pavement can Read More...
How to start thinking like a permaculturist for a thriving garden year-long
Read any manual, permaculture included, and there will be a slew of jargon through which we must sort. Subject specialists tend to speak in a language very difficult for others to understand, not necessarily because they are trying to exclude novices but perhaps because the topic and its vocabulary Read More...
Pineapple dresses and mushroom shirts: Unusual materials to replace cotton
Fabrics such as cotton come at a dear cost to the environment, but what other materials can we possibly use instead? A look at a recent fashion competition for low-impact innovations indicates that the materials of the future may come from things like agricultural waste, pineapple leaves, or even Read More...
Three Australian companies tackling our plastic addiction
There’s no escaping plastic in modern life. In Australia, more than 1.5m tonnes of the crude oil derivative is consumed each year, not including plastics imported in finished products or their packaging. And most of this ends up on a centuries-long path to degradation in landfill or the Read More...