Today’s Solutions: April 24, 2024

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.

EU flags in front of European Commission in Brussels

The EU commits to its own “green deal”

The European Union will invest more than $270 billion in its own "green deal" in order to keep up with the United States and China. The growing green economy Many observers interpreted the move as a direct response to the Biden administration's hefty round of green subsidies, which were included Read More...

Friends cheering sport at bar together

How to host a more sustainable super bowl party

This year, the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee in collaboration with NFL Green is working together to make this year’s Super Bowl as sustainable as possible. According to the Super Bowl Host Committee website, the team has been partnering with “local community organizations, parks, and Read More...

Overlooking the solar photovoltaic panels and agricultural planting temperature shed

New solar panels harness the full light spectrum to improve crop yields

Crops and clean energy are increasingly sharing the same land as the globe struggles to deal with the climate problem and transitions to renewables and agrivoltaics — the cultivation of crops beneath the shade of solar panels. Scientists are now investigating how to harness the sun's light Read More...

Underwater inside the kelp forest in the ocean 

Secrets of the sea: hidden underwater forests may help fight climate crisis

The Nature Conservancy's marine biologist Frank Hurd spends his days amongst gigantic kelp curtains, studying underwater forests. One of his usual diving haunts is a kelp forest off Anacapa Island, one of the Channel Islands national park's protected rocky volcanic islets off southern Read More...

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

2022's most optimistic climate stories

These days, it’s easy to sink into feelings of climate anxiety and eco-grief. However, this past year brought us a number of good climate stories that encourage us not to lose hope! Renewables are expected to produce more energy than coal in the United States. Hydropower, wind, and solar Read More...

Green Education

Two new DC public schools model net zero education

It goes without saying that we should be teaching our children about important environmental matters, especially excessive energy consumption and the need for energy efficiency. But what about the energy that a school itself consumes? While it is a rarely-thought-of area for improvement, new Read More...

Great Lakes Cleanup

$1 billion to be invested in cleaning up Great Lakes

The US Great Lakes are treasured and iconic wonders of North America's natural splendor. Countless families and individuals flock there for fun and thousands of species of animals, fish, insects, and birds call those waters home. Being important waterways, they also hold major economic importance Read More...

plastics

Canada outlines plan to ban single-use plastic

Canada has now become a world leader in environmental policy. On Monday, it laid out its final plans and regulations on how it intends to ban single-use plastics.  Federal health minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the country recycles “only 8 percent of the plastic [Canada] throws away” and Read More...

Pee Wheat

Helping the environment and fertilizing crops by upcycling pee

Here’s something you probably never thought you’d hear: the price of urine per 25 liters has risen from $1 to $6 since the start of the War in Ukraine. This is because there’s now a shortage of agricultural chemicals, and farmers and providers have turned to human urine as an abundant source Read More...

Plastic Recycling

Fast-acting enzyme breaks down plastics and changes recycling game

We’ve all wondered when we take out the recycling just how much of it will be recycled, remade, and repurposed into a new product as we hope. Sadly, only 10 percent of plastics globally are successfully recycled, and there’s a lot of work to do to ensure everything we put in the recycling bin Read More...