A Dutch design studio is turning storm-felled trees into beautiful benches
When a powerful storm ran through the Dutch city of Eindhoven last year, nearly 1,000 trees fell victim to heavy winds and found themselves uprooted from the ground. Typically those felled trees would be thrown into a wood chipper and disposed of, but a Dutch design studio thought of a clever way Read More...
Italian architect wants to build smart city in Mexico with 7.5 million plants
Italian architect Stefano Boeri has unveiled plans to create a forested smart city in Cancun, Mexico, that is designed to be a "pioneer" of more eco-efficient developments. Smart Forest City Cancun is intended to be built on a 557 hectare site near the Mexican city. According to the architect, Read More...
These billionaires just made the biggest climate change research donation ever
Lynda and Stewart Resnick are the owners of Wonderful Company, the largest single producers of almonds and pistachios in the world. That means that if anyone is worried about the consequences of what the climate crisis can be for agriculture, it’s them. After all, their business depends on a Read More...
Speed up your body’s ability to adjust to colder weather with this simple trick
Fall is here, and the mercury is falling in thermometers across the northern hemisphere. It's an uncomfortable situation to get used to, but the good news is you can hurry this process along. Scientific data gathered to understand acclimatization to cold came about in the 1960s. Where US army Read More...
Airbnb is offering free housing to California wildfire evacuees
The Kincade, Tick, and Getty wildfires burning in the state of California right now have forced thousands of people to evacuate and have caused several power shutoffs. In fact, the Kincade Fire alone has displaced almost 200,000 people over an estimated 50,000 acres. To provide some relief for Read More...
Here are 3 carbon capture programs you can support
Transforming the entire economy to get to net-zero emissions, something that scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, will require massive and complicated transformations of nearly every aspect of society. But if you want to act on climate change now as an Read More...
California wildfires prove there’s never been a better time for microgrids
Motivating people to switch to new technologies can be nearly impossible if old technologies work just fine. It’s much easier if people can see for themselves that those new technologies are a far better solution. This is certainly the case in California right now. For years the Optimist has Read More...
10 US cities will transform streets into vibrant murals under new initiative
You can reclaim the streets from cars and give them back to the people, but if those streets still look like plain-old asphalt roads, then people won’t feel as inclined to spend time there. In a bid to make cities more vibrant and pedestrian-friendly, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced this week Read More...
This puppy is boosting attendance at this Australian primary school
Ask yourself this: if there had been a fluffy, playful dog in your classroom when you were a kid, would you have been more motivated to go? Our guess is yes. At an elementary school in Victoria, Australia, a six-month-old Golden Doodle named Daisy has become the latest staff member of the school. Read More...
Salvaging wood from Baltimore’s abandoned homes creates jobs and cuts waste
Baltimore, like many post-industrial cities, confronts novel challenges. Once the sixth-largest city in the United States, Baltimore’s population has contracted by more than a third, resulting from a complex suite of factors, including job loss, economic decline, and discriminatory policies or Read More...