August 27, 2020
The Optimist Daily Update with Summers McKay & Kristy Jansen - Your weekday update from The Optimist Daily featuring discussions of our top positive news solutions from independent, reader-funded, journalists. On this episode we look at two solutions out of NYC: a refillable cleaning supply station Read More...
August 27, 2020
The Optimist Daily Update with Summers McKay & Kristy Jansen - Your weekday update from The Optimist Daily featuring discussions of our top positive news solutions from independent, reader-funded, journalists. On this episode we look at two solutions out of NYC: a refillable cleaning supply station Read More...
August 27, 2020
The Optimist Daily Update with Summers McKay & Kristy Jansen - Your weekday update from The Optimist Daily featuring discussions of our top positive news solutions from independent, reader-funded, journalists. On this episode we look at two solutions out of NYC: a refillable cleaning supply station Read More...
Forget plastic: Here are some greener ways to freeze food
While Ziploc bags and plastic wrap can be useful for sealing up food that’s going into the freezer, there are better alternatives—ones that are better for both you and the environment. The problem with these simple plastic solutions is that they can leach chemicals (bisphenols A and S). On Read More...
This tiny robot could help surgeons with precise procedures
Drawing inspiration from Origami, researchers have created a surgical robot that is around the size of a tennis ball and weighs about the same as a penny. The tiny robot was built by engineers from Harvard’s Wyss Institute and Sony and was created to assist surgeons with procedures that require Read More...
Parachutist completes world’s first jump from solar-powered plane
Parachuting from an airplane in itself is a momentous feat, but doing the first jump from a solar-powered plane? That’s legendary. A solar-powered plane flew to a height of 1,520 meters (nearly 5,000 ft) over western Switzerland before parachutist Raphael Domjan made his jump this Read More...
Smithsonian National Zoo celebrates birth of panda cub against the odds
It’s been a big month for animal conservation. After celebrating the birth of endangered zebras and an elephant baby boom in Kenya, we are excited to announce that the giant panda Mei Xiang has given birth to a cub at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. The cub was born in the evening on August Read More...
Refill station in NYC laundromat offers waste-free cleaning products
As we’ve seen with Nivea’s recent initiative to test a refill station in Germany, the reuse movement is steadily getting more attention as a solution that can reduce our overwhelming amount of plastic waste. A similar initiative that’s taking roots in New York City is yet another positive Read More...
What life is actually like at NYC’s hotels-turned-temporary shelters
With the coronavirus pandemic leaving hotels without guests, a few hotels in New York City’s Upper West Side have welcomed homeless residents temporarily. It is a great initiative, but it recently attracted negative press after the New York Post reported that “crime and chaos” had overtaken Read More...
Food brand KIND pledges to source bee-friendly almonds for their snacks
Bee pollination is essential to coaxing fruit from almond trees, with almond growers in the US renting about 1.5 million colonies of honeybees per year to produce about 80 percent of the world’s almonds. But between the stress of relocating, the increased exposure to disease from other Read More...