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 Clean Power Plan is already working for the northeast
When the EPA released the Clean Power Plan last year, a lot of people freaked out. In fact, more than half of U.S. states joined a lawsuit challenging the plan, which seeks to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector. Opponents have argued that the plan is draconian, heavy-handed Read More...
The creative ways companies offset their climate emissions
Leading corporations around the world are offsetting their carbon emissions in creative ways. Cosmetics giant L’Oreal is distributing cleaner-burning stoves to women in Burkina Faso who boil the shea nuts used in its cosmetics products. Delta Airlines addresses some of its unavoidable emissions Read More...
This new six-pack ring is biodegradable and edible
Plastic pollutes the oceans and is detrimental to marine life. But a Florida brewing company is now introducing biodegradable six-pack rings for their beer made from grain left over from its brewing process. The grain-based rings are edible—so rather than choking on plastic, marine life can Read More...
City of London puts the brakes on new diesel vehicle purchases
The City of London Corporation has banned the purchase or hire of diesel vehicles for its business. The public authority, which has a fleet of more than 300 vehicles, announced on Friday it will now no longer lease or purchase diesel models when older models need replacing. Chris Bell, head of Read More...
This flower works as an urban air filter and clears the smog
Plants clear the air. NASA researchers, looking for the best ways to clean the air in space stations, found that some plants are very effective at removing dangerous chemicals from the air. Now scientists in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, are experimenting a new type of honeysuckle that works as an Read More...
England plastic bag usage drops 85% since five-pence charge introduced
Since introducing a five-pence charge on plastic bags in supermarkets last October, English shoppers have used six billion fewer bags than last year. The charge is also expected to save 60 million pounds in litter clean-up costs and has already raised 29 million pounds for good causes as most of Read More...
How this Japanese town produces 'zero waste'
At the waste collection center in Kamikatsu, Japan, there are separate bins for different types of paper products: Newspapers, magazines, cartons, flyers. Then there are separate ones for cans: Aluminum, spray, steel. There are even individual bins for plastic bottles and caps. But that’s Read More...
Tesla supplier will recycle Flint water bottles into car parts
From the "take a bad thing and make it good" files comes a story about C3 Ventures. The automotive supplier, which makes interior plastic components for Tesla, announced yesterday it will open up a facility in Flint, MI. As you probably know, that city has been rebounding from a serious water Read More...
Tesco bids farewell to John West tuna due to sustainability concerns
In 2011, seafood company John West guaranteed consumers its tuna would be 100 percent sustainable by 2016. Unfortunately, as of now the fishing company still catches most of its fish with nets, a method that severely endangers wildlife. That’s why British multinational grocery retailer Tesco is Read More...
How eco-friendly communes could change the future of housing
When a massive wildfire destroyed more than a thousand homes last year in the bone-dry hills of drought-stricken Lake County, California, about two hours north of San Francisco, Magdalena Valderrama Hurwitz and her husband Eliot were among those made homeless. Eager to transform their tragedy into Read More...