Sustainable Urban Development
With cities expected to host about 70 percent of the world's population, sustainable urban development is key to making communities worldwide more resilient against the growing threat of climate change. Find out about the latest urban practices from across the world aiming to make our cities more sustainable and inclusive in these good-news stories from The Optimist Daily.
This UK-based project maps England’s hidden ancient trees
An impressive project taken up by researchers at the University of Nottingham is revealing the secret hiding places of England’s ancient and veteran trees—and it turns out that the country is hosting ten times as many as experts had thought. Conservationists compare the researcher’s Read More...
CO2 emissions significantly reduced at the last Olympic Games
The Pandemic turned everyone’s world upside down, causing us all to adapt to new ways of life and society to find a new “normal.” While this experience came with its negatives, it also created an opportunity for numerous lessons to be learned and possibilities for change, especially when it Read More...
600 acres of neglected land to be transformed into climate-adaptive park
600 acres of neglected land in the state of Indiana is finally going to be transformed into Origin Park—a climate-adaptive park that had been in the works for several years and was supposed to be completed in 2021. Of course, due to unavoidable delays, the project didn’t break ground until Read More...
9 driving changes you can make to save more and burn less
Gas prices keep going up. While many of us can’t yet afford an electric vehicle, and we still need to get places, there are little tweaks we can make to save money on gas by burning less of it. Here are nine tips for your car, your driving, and your lifestyle to save some cash at the pumps and Read More...
Bacteria-based biofuel offers higher energy density than jet fuel
At a time when the need to replace fossil fuels is urgent, it is amazing to see the results of human innovation and creativity to meet the challenge. Researchers at Berkeley Lab are working on a new producer of biofuel that produces a material that boasts an energy density far higher than jet Read More...
India bans single-use plastics
India experiences worse-than-average plastic pollution with single-use plastic water bottles and containers finding their way into streets and important waterways. To rein in this pollution, the Indian government announced from the capital of New Delhi on Friday that it will be imposing a ban Read More...
4 things that keep Canadian traffic fatalities lower than the US
While traffic-related fatalities increased in the United States by 19 percent between 2010 and 2020, Canadian rates declined by about the same amount in that time. Many consider Canada culturally very similar to the US, but when it comes to traffic safety, they have more European attitudes. Here Read More...
Germany gets ahead of winter with its huge heating tower
Germany has set to work on an enormous thermos to help heat its citizen’s homes this winter while stepping away from its reliance on Russia’s fossil fuel industry. Germany’s huge heat tower The thermos tower, which stands at almost 150 feet and can store an astounding 15 million gallons Read More...
Seville becomes first city to name and classify heatwaves
When a tropical storm or hurricane gets bestowed a name, people know to take weather warnings seriously and to prepare their households accordingly. Now, the southern Spanish city of Seville is taking the same approach to heatwaves, becoming the first in the world to name and classify these Read More...
Artificial photosynthesis helps plants grow with no sunlight required
Plants use a special natural process called photosynthesis to grow, mature, flower, and produce fruit. Photosynthesis is the way in which plants absorb energy from sunlight and use it to make their own food out of carbon dioxide and water. For years, scientists have been investigating this Read More...