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.
Always growing: a dive back into the marvelous world of mushrooms
“Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom.” - Thomas Carlyle, Scottish philosopher, and essayist Science is ever-changing. Scientists and physicians used to be sure that contagions and diseases were spread from person to person by smell. This was called the Miasma Theory, and Read More...
More trees may save gray foxes from coyotes
The Optimist Daily has recently written a great deal on the need to coexist with animals, respecting animal agency and the potential to reach a new symbiosis with our furry neighbors on the planet. This brings into our consideration how to adapt our own human environments to better suit the habits Read More...
Nature’s shopping list: a beginner’s guide to foraging
Two years ago, The Optimist Daily published a small piece on the advantages of foraging. This means walking past the grocery store to the park or a riparian area to search for, identify, and collect your own food resources. The practice has become more popular in recent years, especially during the Read More...
5 simple steps to become a climate activist in everyday life
We recently posted an article discussing impactful changes we can make in our personal lives to help avoid a climate crisis. If you still have a fire within you to enact planet saving change in your community, then maybe consider becoming a climate activist. Being a climate activist doesn’t Read More...
UK supports youth-driven climate organization, Sustenta Honduras
Local and youth-driven non-profit organization Sustenta Honduras has a clear goal: to empower Honduran youth to promote sustainable development and public participation to meet the country’s, and the world’s, needs in facing the climate crisis. While it is true that the entire world and Read More...
The James Dyson Award: a call to young inventors
The Optimist Daily has written about many winners of the James Dyson Award. This is an international design award that celebrates, encourages, and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It is open to current and recent design engineering students and is run by the James Dyson Foundation, Read More...
These Lego Rebels are taking a stance against the climate crisis
We’ve previously written about Lego’s efforts to lead the toy-making industry towards sustainability. But the toy company is not only making play-time for kids — and adults — more eco-friendly with plant-based building blocks. It turns out its toy bricks are also helping raise awareness Read More...
And the results from the World Nature Photography competition are in
Our world is a beautiful place inhabited by extraordinary creatures. Thankfully, there are skilled photographers who dedicate their lives to capturing precious moments in nature so that the rest of us can get a peek into other hidden worlds. The World Nature Photography Awards (WNPA) is a Read More...
In win for Earth, new S.E.C. rules would require climate disclosures
On Monday, the top financial regulator of the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced new regulations that would require disclosures from public corporations about their climate risks and carbon footprints. This marks a huge step towards acknowledging the reality and Read More...
How biochar can mitigate carbon from farmlands to urban centers
Biochar has long been hailed in the environmental community as a potent solution for mitigating certain aspects of climate change, from fixing soil erosion to upping water absorption and pulling carbon out of the atmosphere. Now, there is a growing list of industries that might improve their Read More...