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.
Captain Fanplastic teaches young pirates about plastic pollution
“Why do you think pirates are called pirates? Because they ‘aRRRRRe!’” This is the joke that forms the basis of the “Captain Fanplastic” initiative—a primary school program aimed at teaching young children in South Africa and the Netherlands about plastic waste and the “R’s” Read More...
MIT develops desalination system no bigger than a suitcase
One of the great opportunities in desalination research is developing a new way to bring drinkable water to disadvantaged people with limited resources. Engineers and researchers make this possible in many ways, such as innovating less expensive parts or powering their systems with renewable Read More...
Wind turbine components to be 3D printed on-site soon
When it comes to the design of wind turbines, the bigger they are, the better — at least in terms of cost savings and energy efficiency. However, one of the hurdles of building larger wind turbines is the challenging task of transporting these giant pieces of machinery to the site of Read More...
The Table to Farm Movement: Anthony Myint on Regenerative Agriculture
Shifting the world’s food production to a regenerative system has been a frequent solution we’ve written about here at The Optimist Daily. In May 2021, Kristy and Summers sat down with award-winning chef Anthony Myint to discuss Zero Foodprint, his project to expand regenerative Read More...
Coping with climate anxiety through connection
“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.” — Martin Luther King Jr. Constant news updates are inescapable. Wildfires Read More...
Be bored, then get going
“Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination.” — Arthur Schopenhauer Congratulations, graduating classes of 2022! Being young, with a freshly minted degree, you probably feel invincible, like you can do anything. There’s a lightness and exuberance in your step, and you are full Read More...
Wild Motherhood: Meet some of the coolest mothers in the animal kingdom
Happy Mother’s Day 2022! They care for us, teach us, and shape our relationship with each other and with the world. For better or worse, each of us owes a lot of who we are to our moms! And as much as we all love to celebrate motherhood on this holiday, there is one mother that is ever-present Read More...
Tel Aviv is becoming an e-scooter city
No two cities are the same, and each one has its own particular changes to make to achieve its climate goals. New York is making plans to become “spongier” to handle excess water. Panama City, Florida is transforming into a tree city, planting over 100,000 new trees, and Tel Aviv, Israel aims Read More...
How Paris is quieting its noise pollution
Those of us that live in a city love it for the layers and layers of life, light, and vibrancy that come from a busy and populous environment. While it is an exciting and bustling place to live, we can also pay a price living in a city when, say, we’re just trying to go to sleep. Noise Read More...
Endangered red wolf pups are born in the wild for the first time in years
The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina happily welcomed the birth of a litter of wild red wolf pups, an indication that there is still hope for the endangered species. Though US landscapes were once teeming with red wolves, the species suffered, as so many others have, Read More...