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: People use crowdfunding to buy back and protect the commons
Crowdfunding makes it possible for large groups of people who contribute a little money to accomplish big things. In many places in the world, beautiful parts of nature are privately owned by wealthy people. Crowdfunding can bring such places back to the public. An inspiring example just happened Read More...
Eating meat is worse for the planet than driving your car
Many people feel guilty about driving their cars or about flying to distant places. It is true that cars and planes substantially contribute to global warming. However, traveling also makes a great contribution to more social cohesion and better understanding in the world. But you can travel Read More...
… And better plastics design would help a lot
If plastics were better designed, they could be better recycled. That would prevent plastics entering the oceans and also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That’s the message of a group of scientists. A simple example: Clear plastic bottles have a recycling value five times higher than those that Read More...
Modeling predicts which counties could store more carbon in soil by growing bioenergy crops
To help stakeholders in government and business make smart decisions about the best types of land and local climates for planting bioenergy crops, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Argonne National Laboratory are using computational modeling to predict which counties could see Read More...
France vows to outlaw Monsanto's glyphosate by 2018
Bad news and good news at the same time. First the European Union failed to come to a final agreement and decided to extend the license for the use of the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, for 18 months. But then Segolene Royal, the French Minister for Ecology, Read More...
India ahead of schedule in fight against global warming
Here’s another example that global warming solutions are emerging everywhere. India, the world’s fourth-largest greenhouse gas emitter, has said that it expects to meet its carbon reduction goals earlier than expected. India’s outgoing climate chief said the country could meet its 2030 Read More...
The port that fuels L.A.'s economy and fouls its air gets a pollution-reduction team
Mayor Eric Garcetti on Tuesday announced the appointment of an advisory panel tasked with reducing air pollution from the Port of Los Angeles by expanding the use of zero-emissions technology. The 10-member Sustainable Freight Advisory Board, made up of representatives from Read More...
Reforestation could help mitigate global warming
Planting new forests could contribute more to the mitigation of climate change than previously thought, according to a new study in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. Land use changes strongly affect the exchange of carbon between the atmosphere and the land. Read More...
Redwood trees are a powerful weapon against global warming
A new study shows that California’s ancient towering redwood forests remove and store more atmospheric carbon per acre than any other forests on the planet. Redwood trees store 2,600 metric tons of carbon per hectare. That’s more than twice the 1,000 metric tons estimated for ancient conifer Read More...
Solving problems: India aims to plant 50 million trees… in a day
India is a country of big numbers. In a not so distant future, India will surpass China as the world’s most populous nation. But here’s another record: The government of the state of Uttar Pradesh aims to plant 50 million trees in one day. It has recruited more than 800,000 people for the job Read More...