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.
Largest marine protection area created as National Park Service celebrates 100 years
Recently, we wrote about a coral reef near the Phoenix Islands that was found teeming with life years after being pronounced dead. The revival of this was accredited to the marine protection area that surrounds the islands, and now President Obama has signed legislation that will create a new Read More...
California takes a major stand against coal
In the port city of Oakland, a developer’s plan to ship coal from city docks has been shut down thanks to a new bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The bill blocks state funds from being used for any coal-shipping terminals in California, lowering the number of coal exports from California from 4.65 Read More...
MIT researchers find a cleaner process for smelting metal, by accident
Accidents happen. And sometimes that’s a really good thing. At MIT, researchers accidently stumbled upon a new, more efficient process for smelting metal. The researchers were trying to develop a new kind of high temperature storage battery using a new chemical configuration. The battery didn’t Read More...
Clean-up days work, just ask the Balkans
It’s a wonderful thing when one of the most fashionable events a country has each year is the annual clean up day. Perhaps this sounds a bit utopian, but in the Balkans, countries that had once been divided by war are now uniting in the fight against trash. One example of this involves the border Read More...
Welsh charity donates funds to protect a large swath of the Amazon rainforest
The Size of Wales charity has raised enough donations to protect an area of the Amazon rainforest the size of, you guessed it, Wales. Together with the charity’s work in Guyana, some two million hectares of rainforest will be spared from loggers and protected by locals backed with Welsh funding. Read More...
China turns to free markets to tame fossil-fuel pollution
There are at least three good reasons why China is likely to succeed in starting the world’s biggest carbon-trading market when its efforts to limit pollution kick in next year. The government wants to put a cost on emissions of toxic smog to control pollution in industrial cities, starting Read More...
Sharing Kenya’s wilderness with underprivileged city children uplifts, inspires everyone
The children experienced a real safari, in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. They camped for the first time in their lives, and they met wild wild animals in the wilderness. But it was also a first for my team of staff, interns and volunteers who put on an ambitious three-day program – something we Read More...
Recycling: Fungi extract cobalt and lithium from waste batteries
Batteries in smartphones, cars and tablets can be recharged, but they don't last forever. Ultimately, old batteries end up in landfills or incinerators where they harm the environment. And valuable materials remain locked inside. Now, a team of researchers has succeeded in turning to naturally Read More...
Food packaging that is edible and prevents spoilage
Most foods found in our supermarkets are wrapped in plastic packaging that can only be used once before being tossed. This type of packaging creates a lot of waste, and it’s not very good at preventing food from spoiling. That’s why scientists have created a viable alternative to plastic Read More...
English village becomes climate leader by quietly cleaning up its own patch
“We said, ‘This is not about you tonight, this is about us, and you can listen to what we’ve got to say for a change,’” said Kate Harrison, a resident and early member of the group. No politician has been allowed to address the group since. The village has kept the effort separate from Read More...