Circularity
Understanding the value of a circular economy and identifying circular solutions are essential to changing our world for good. Circularity, or the zero-waste principle of keeping materials in a closed loop and away from landfills and incinerators, is the future. Find out about the latest innovations and solutions accelerating the transition towards a circular economy in the articles here from The Optimist Daily.
Architects transform old wine silos into apartments to minimize resources
Breathing new life into old things is one of the best ways we humans can reduce the number of resources extracted from the environment. A new development in Amsterdam did just that by creatively repurposing former industrial wine silos into residential buildings. Beyond reusing the obsolete silos, Read More...
Study finds forests on indigenous lands sequester twice the carbon
We have written at length, in great volume, and with great enthusiasm about the importance of green spaces in cities, carbon sinks, and environmentally helpful trees in general. Forests are absolutely essential to sequestering carbon and our continued adaptation to a changing climate, but some Read More...
This cultural center in Sweden makes a case for wooden skyscrapers
Back in 2019, we introduced you to the world’s tallest wooden building in Finland. Today, we’d like to take you across the border to Skelleftea, in Sweden, where wood is regaining popularity as the go-to material for new buildings. A few months ago, the Swedish town actually became home to the Read More...
How much energy? Your home energy questions answered
Every day we have a choice in which appliance to use. The kettle or the stove? A bath or a shower? Most of the time it's convenience and habit that automatically choose between our options. However, it may be useful to pause for a second and consider which is more efficient in terms of costs and Read More...
Ultrathin "honeycomb" solar panels achieve record efficiency
One day, cities and hopefully everything else will be powered by renewable resources like wind and solar. To do that, though, we will need to continue to improve on our renewable tech, like creating solar panels that can absorb solar energy in many different levels of sunlight. A new development Read More...
New temperature-controlling material inspired by squid skin
Squids are intelligent, somewhat mystifying creatures whose brains have a complexity level similar to dogs and the astounding adaptation of camouflage. Their bodies are covered in special pigment-filled cells called chromatophores that expand and contract in light, enabling them to change color and Read More...
Sponge Cities: the future of flood resilience
The world’s cities and population centers are overwhelmingly located near water. This makes good sense since water is essential for living, and throughout history, people have built their settlements where water is accessible and in abundant supply. However, in recent decades the vital good that Read More...
Eco-friendly algae oil could finally solve palm oil's drawbacks
From food to cosmetics, palm oil can be found in countless products today, making it the world’s most widely used vegetable oil. As you may know, though, palm oil is far from environmentally friendly. Additionally, experts have raised concerns about palm oil’s effects on our health. Soon, Read More...
Buying a used EV? Not a bad idea
Recently, The Optimist Daily published a story about a few things to keep in mind when buying an electric vehicle. Along with gas prices, the popularity of electric cars is rising, but EVs have been on the rise since before the crisis. Now, thanks to that demand, if you’re in the market for a new Read More...
Marvel superhero tackles climate change and social injustice
There’s a new Marvel superhero in town, and she’s a Puerto Rican heroine pumped to tackle climate change, political corruption, and all the intertwined social injustices. In an upcoming installment of the graphic novel series La Boriqueña, the Nuyorican (a portmanteau that refers to Read More...