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.
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...
As Iceland’s whaling industry decreases, its whale-watching increases
It’s nice when the economically responsible thing to do is also the right thing to do. Iceland announced in February its intentions to end whaling by 2024 because demand for whale meat has decreased significantly. “There is little proof that there is any economic advantage to this Read More...
Want to buy an EV? Make a plan first
As you can probably tell by now, The Optimist Daily is a big fan of electric vehicles. EV’s offer a practical way to lower our personal carbon emissions and hold promise for additional benefits in the near future, such as powering our homes in an emergency. It also feels like EV's have finally Read More...
How do solar panels break? And how do we fix them?
At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, teams of scientists and researchers spend large parts of their day jumping on, twisting, smashing, and generally coming up with various ways of breaking solar panels. It’s not malice, it’s not incompetence. It's not Read More...
This startup uses a plant-derived material to make roads carbon negative
Similar to building new roads, repairing existing ones is not an environmentally friendly endeavor. One of the main problems is bitumen, a fossil fuel-derived binder that holds asphalt together. A startup in Norway is recycling old roads using a plant-based binder instead, a process that could Read More...