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.
“Blue Corridors”: using science and animal instinct to save fish populations
We’ve all marveled at the intrepid salmon swimming against the current, up waterfalls, and avoiding predators to return to its native spawning grounds, or at least we’ve all seen it on a nature show. This behavior is called philopatry, an animal’s tendency to return to its area of birth, and Read More...
The Local Infrastructure Hub: helping US cities get infrastructure funding
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill was signed into law six months ago and has the potential to transform the United States in essential ways that address climate change and wealth inequality. Before that happens, though, states and cities need to submit persuasive aid applications. To sift Read More...
New desalination system uses Teflon-like membrane to make seawater potable
Clean drinking water is already in short supply in many places around the world, but the situation is only expected to get worse with climate change. Figuring out ways to desalinate brackish water or seawater in an efficient and scalable way is key to mitigating the global water crisis. A Read More...
Five herb-infused cooking oils you can DIY
Herb-infused cooking oils can add a welcome fragrance or taste note to your home-cooked meals. Not only that, but many of them can also be used as a moisturizer or to treat small cuts and scrapes. Here are five herb-infused recipes for your cooking oil. For these, you’ll want to use plant Read More...
MIT system uses machine-learning to reduce traffic and car emissions
As if idling in a line of cars at a red light forever wasn’t bothersome enough, vehicles emit greenhouse gasses while they’re stopped in traffic. Not only that, exposure to excess vehicle emissions while idling in traffic can be a major health risk. What if drivers could time their trips Read More...
New Zealand passes landmark climate legislation, helping switch to EVs
New Zealand has one of the highest per capita carbon emissions rates in the world, but it still has a strong reputation for environmentally responsible behavior. In the spirit of the latter, it plans to help with the former and has just passed landmark legislation that may set a standard for other Read More...
This is the world’s first ocean carbon-removing machine
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the source should be the main goal when tackling climate change, but the most recent IPCC report also recommends carbon capture and storage technologies as key parts of the effort to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The startup Heimdal is well aware of the need Read More...
Wetlands, the super carbon sink, and rewilding the Illinois River
After forests, wetlands are the greatest terrestrial carbon sink. These boggy and busy pools of life used to be thought of as a nuisance for people and communities, drained of their water or dug up for peat fuel. Now, we understand the quiet service that wetlands provide us and the Read More...
Lunar agriculture: first plants grown in soil from the Moon
Popular science fiction has depicted the colonization and even the rowing of crops on Mars many times. From the books of Isaac Asimov to The Martian, the Red Planet has pervaded artistic minds as the next place for humans to call home. But what about the closest place to Earth? What about the Read More...
Five easy steps to start composting
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about eight percent of all carbon emissions come from food waste, and about half of that comes from “the consumption stage,” which means waste from households and food services. This means that we can control about four percent of carbon Read More...