Growing food without fossil fuels: The example of Taylor Farms
The global food system, from fertilizer manufacture to food storage and packaging, is responsible for up to one-third of all human-caused greenhouse-gas emissions. Now, Taylor Farms, a major agricultural player in the U.S. is making an effort to make food without fossil fuels, and shrink its Read More...
Scientists closer to ultimate carbon solution: artificial photosynthesis
We publish these stories about technological innovation with some regularity in The Optimist Daily. The breakthrough potential is not always easy to grasp. But we continue to present these stories because they show that ongoing innovation will change our future for the better—as it always has. Read More...
‘There are 9 million bicycles in Beijing’ and they can clear the air
According to singer Katie Melua there are “nine million bicycles” in Beijing—more or less. All these bicyclists fight their way through excessive air pollution. Now, Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde imagines a bike that pulls in dirty air, filters it, and releases clean air. This smog-clearing Read More...
These companies show that sustainability makes better business sense
You can do the right thing and run a successful business. That’s the inspiring message of this story about three clothing companies. Patagonia, Cariloha and Fair Indigo show that fair trade and the use of organic materials can improve business Read More...
Riding with Arjuna: 5 lessons in self-confidence from India’s most revered text
Hindus in India have been inspired for ages by the story of the warrior Arjuna and his divine charioteer, Krishna. It’s an epic story about overcoming life’s challenges. The dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna points the way to liberation from suffering. Here are 5 lessons in self-confidence Read More...
Harvard just launched a center for happiness
As two enormous, golden doors part, sunlight pours into an atrium filled with babies and puppies. Everyone is smiling. The air smells of freshly mown mint. Ripe avocados rain from the sky. (Somehow, they always miss the babies.) This is Harvard University’s new Center for Health and Happiness. At Read More...
Reinventing capitalism with this new book on a clean money revolution
These times call for courageous new thinking. Money is perhaps our biggest blind spot. We look at it very myopically. We ignore noticing what it is doing on behalf of us. We let it do things we would never see ourselves doing. We must find new eyes to examine our personal connections to atrocity, Read More...
Engaging in these 8 mindfulness practices decreased HIV patients’ viral loads
Mindfulness meditation has been practiced in East Asia for thousands of years. In the 1960s and 70s, interest in it brought this Zen staple to the US and Europe. It was common within the counterculture movement and continued over the decades among “crunchy granola” and “New Read More...
This advance brings us a lot closer to a "hydrogen economy"
Hydrogen is currently used to upgrade crude oil and synthesize ammonia, a critical building block of the fertilizers applied in modern agriculture. It also could be valuable as a feedstock for generating green electricity and as an ingredient in environmentally friendly fuel cells to power cars and Read More...
London to spend £18m on preparing the city for new electric black cabs
Transport for London is spending £18m on upgrading the capital’s power grids to charge the first generation of battery-powered black cabs. From 1 January 2018, all new black cabs will have to be battery-powered electric models by law as part of TfL’s effort to reduce toxic Read More...