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.
Conservation efforts pay off as coral reef bursts with life once again
On the floor of a remote island island lagoon halfway between Hawaii and Fiji, a giant reef site named Coral Castles that had been declared dead in 2003 is teeming with life once again. For conservationists, the magnificent news of the revival of this reef raises a serious question: If this coral Read More...
The Clean 200: The world’s greenest large companies
As the global economy makes the monumental transition from an energy system based on fossil fuels to one based on clean renewable energy sources, a clear procedure must be in place for evaluating how well companies are participating in that transition. The inaugural Clean 200 list tries to do just Read More...
Kew Gardens in race to collect and preserve Madagascar's seeds
Scientists are racing against time to create a backup of Madagascar’s famously rich and varied flora in a British seed bank before it is lost forever. The Indian ocean country is known as a biodiversity hotspot with 13,000 plant species, 90% of which are unique to the island and found nowhere Read More...
Eating fish is healthy but how to create sustainable seafood
Fish is an important course on a healthy diet. Fish oils—omega-3 fatty acids—play a major role in preventing inflammation. But, as a result of the growing demand for seafood, overfishing is becoming a threat to the oceans. That’s why sustainable fish farming is a fast growing industry. In Read More...
Tech companies unite to fight illegal animal product trade
Several companies in the tech-industry are taking a stand to the illegal trade of wildlife products. Ebay, Microsoft, and a few other tech companies have signed on to a new commitment last Friday that will prevent people from purchasing illegal wildlife products such as elephant tusks on their Read More...
Meet the woman racing to save the planet
Leilani Münter has a motto: never underestimate a vegan hippy chick with a racing car. She is a fierce environmental activist – who earns a living in one of the most gas-guzzling industries on the planet. But the 42-year-old, a Nascar racing driver, insists she isn’t the walking Read More...
We are in ecological overshoot. Industrial strategy can provide a way out
On 8 August 2016, the world slipped into “ecological overshoot” – having consumed more resources and produced more waste than nature can replace and absorb in the year. We hit this landmark earlier and earlier every year, and a big part of that – 60% – involves the Read More...
How technology is sparing the environment in Africa from poaching and deforestation
If a man or woman were to witness an incident of poaching in Africa years ago, they would feel powerless not being able to do something. Now if it happens, any witness can call authorities and help the situation. That’s what smartphones are doing in many of Africa’s countries. They’re Read More...
The plan that will make use of Alberta's abandoned oil wells
The continuously falling price of oil has left thousands of oil wells abandoned in Alberta, but a new proposal may have found a way to make use of those wells again. The Living Energy Project wants to use the waste heat produced from the idle facilities to allow crops to grow, even in Canada’s Read More...
Pressure mounts on retailers to reform throwaway clothing culture
Fast-growing, fast-fashion retailer H&M, which has more than 4,000 stores in 62 countries, sold $24.5bn worth of T-shirts, pants, jackets, and dresses last year. It also took 12,000 tons of clothes back. In a glossy, celebrity-studded video, H&M says: “There are no rules in fashion Read More...