UC Santa Barbara professors win MacArthur endowment for racial justice project
Following a mass shooting at UC Santa Barbara in 2014, the campus began looking for new ways to rebuild community and trust. Professor Jeffrey Stewart decided to use his experience with the history of jazz to create a safe space for community growth. Partnering with Professor Victor Rios, the pair Read More...
Germany gymnasts reject sexualization by ditching bikini-cut uniforms
Professional female athletes have been subjected to sexualization for far too long, and they are starting to fight back. We recently wrote about how the Norwegian women’s beach handball team wore shorts instead of bikini bottoms during the 2021 European Beach Handball Championships to protest the Read More...
You probably didn’t know that goji berries hold these four unusual benefits
Goji berries have grown in popularity in recent years as a superfood favorite, but what exactly makes these small dried fruits so special? These berries are native to Asia and have been used as a medicinal herb for 2,000 years. Today we share four unusual benefits that make goji berries a Read More...
This Washington state county is the first in US to ban fossil fuel infrastructure
Whatcom county’s city council has approved a landmark environmental measure banning all new fossil fuel infrastructure including refineries and coal-fired power plants. The climate action policy was unanimously approved by the council and also requires existing fossil fuel companies to offset any Read More...
July 29, 2021
Hello from the Update! We're talking about activism at the Olympics and how we can incorporate batteries into our built environment. Listen to The Optimist Daily Update with Summers & Kristy - Making Solutions the Read More...
July 29, 2021
Hello from the Update! We're talking about activism at the Olympics and how we can incorporate batteries into our built environment. Listen to The Optimist Daily Update with Summers & Kristy - Making Solutions the Read More...
THE OPTIMIST VIEW: Invoking the Pause 一 Funding environmental changemakers
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead We’re all familiar with major names in philanthropic giving like MacArthur, Rockefeller or Ford, but there are hundreds of lesser known Read More...
Scientists are testing out rain induction in the UAE
The effects of climate change are being felt around the world and in the Middle East, where rising temperatures and decreasing rainfall threaten the habitability of the region, the situation is particularly dire. Scientists in the UAE are taking a new approach to this problem and are testing a type Read More...
Meet BB: The beach cleaning robot
Cigarettes aren’t just bad for the smoker’s health. They also lower the air quality for everyone around them and they are the world’s most littered item, with a grand total of 4.5 trillion cigarette butts making their way into our environment every year. While the number is jarring Read More...
Protect our planet by becoming a guerrilla gardener
Climate activism and public protests are a great way to garner attention from governments and citizens about the threat of climate change, but you don’t need to attend an organized event to advocate for the planet. Meet Jenny van Gestel, the coordinator of Guerrilla Gardeners NL, whose work Read More...