Yurok Tribe to lead the reintroduction of condor in northern California
For the first time in 100 years, the endangered California condor is expected to once again soar the skies of the Pacific Northwest. The ambitious reintroduction effort will be led by the Yurok Tribe, whose ancestral land includes parts of Redwood National Park that were once home to the Read More...
See the National Mall cherry blossom bloom for yourself with BloomCam
Washington, DC is home to many famous sights, but perhaps the most widely anticipated local event is the annual cherry blossom bloom which greets springtime in the city with gorgeously delicate pink blossoms. Now, you can see the blooms for yourself from anywhere in the world with Read More...
These students want to turn old chewing gum into skateboard wheels
While ubiquitous on city streets, discarded chewing gum is a form of plastic pollution that’s rarely a topic of discussion. To help spotlight this issue, two design students have come up with the idea of turning this street waste into skateboard wheels. The brainchild of Hugo Maupetit and Vivian Read More...
This new pavilion will be made of discarded oyster shells and cork
Here at The Optimist Daily, we love sharing architecture projects that put circularity front and center. The latest one we've come across involves architecture firm BakerBrown Studio, which plans to repurpose discarded lobster shells, oyster shells, and wine bottle corks to build a sustainable Read More...
NaviLens helps the visually impaired navigate public transportation
If you’ve ever navigated an unfamiliar public transportation system, you likely relied heavily on signage to find your way around, but for the visually impaired, public transportation systems are often far less accessible. A new navigation app, NaviLens, hopes to change this by providing auditory Read More...
This heart valve replacement grows alongside its recipient
Each year, 40,000 children are born with congenital heart defects which can require heart valve replacement surgery, but just like children quickly grow out of clothing and toys, they also outgrow these valves. To solve this issue, researchers from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities are Read More...
Four books to help you maintain an eco-friendly life
If sustainability has been on your mind, but you’re unsure of where to start, or if you’re already on your way to more eco-friendly living and want to see if there are other ways you can incorporate greener practices, consider taking a look at these books. Each book has a slightly different Read More...
Real-time experiment shows efficacy of renewable grids during blackouts
Last summer, we wrote about the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. The facility is a collection of green energy experiments, including wind power, solar panels, and hydrogen energy storage. The goal of NREL is to demonstrate how the US could create truly scaled and Read More...
Study: Carbon labelling is more effective when it’s ubiquitous
Climate labels have been a hot topic lately as a strategy to get consumers to think more critically about the impact of their purchases. Although some critics claim these serve primarily as a marketing strategy, new research from the University of Copenhagen indicates that these labels could Read More...
"Stay-at-home mom" and other inclusive titles to be offered on LinkedIn
Caregiving and homemaking are critical roles in our society, yet traditional economic metrics do not account for the value of this unpaid labor. As a large proportion of caretakers and homemakers are women, this issue is closely intertwined with gender equality and impacts how we perceive women's Read More...