Today’s Solutions: April 26, 2024

Climate Action

What is Climate Action? Climate Action is humanity's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our planet's resilience against climate change. From adaptation to mitigation, at The Optimist Daily you will learn about the most recent positive news stories and solutions targeting climate change and other environmental issues.

Wedding rings on a beautiful leaf

How to throw an eco-friendly wedding

Many couples who had planned their weddings for 2020 and 2021 were forced by Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions to postpone their celebrations til this year. Now, it’s wedding season again and love is in the air. But you know what else is in the air? Planet-warming co2 emissions, smog, and Read More...

Fan

Passive cooling techniques reduce AC strain by up to 80 percent

In the summer months, many of us are of two minds: we’re dying to keep it cool, but we’re also dying not to spend too much on electricity. Not only that, many of us don’t want to overload our town’s power grid during the summer, so we’re turned to AC alternatives.  As it turns out, Read More...

Wind farms

White House and 11 East Coast states partner to bolster offshore wind power

On Thursday, the White House announced that it will partner with 11 East Coast states to bolster offshore wind energy.  This arrangement, called the Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership, will help to reach national climate goals of 30 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. Read More...

LA traffic

LA may ban the construction of new gas stations

In the face of the climate emergency, officials in Los Angeles are working on policies to stop the construction of new gas stations. Being the second-largest city in America, LA could become the largest city in the world to prohibit new fossil fuel infrastructure.  “We are ending oil drilling Read More...

Fog nets

Fog nets from Chile to Morocco. And soon California?

Fog nets are screens of overlapping horizontal and vertical mesh that catch moisture from fog and collect it once gravity brings the droplets down. In remote villages in drought-stricken Morocco, these devices not only bring drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people but also let them Read More...

Robo-fish

Robot fish repairs itself with microplastics it collects

Microplastics are one of the most pervasive environmental and health issues of our time. And environmental engineers and researchers are working nonstop to address this, with enzymes, superworms, okra, and more.  Now, scientists from Sichuan University have developed and programmed a tiny robot Read More...

Toy house in a palm of a man's hand against a blurred forest background.

5 lesser-known innovations for a more sustainable home

One of the big questions for environmentally-minded homeowners is how to make their homes more sustainable and energy-efficient. There are some more obvious switches one can invest in, like installing small wind energy systems or household hydropower systems, however, there are also many Read More...

Beavers

More on beavers and rewilding

We decided to dust off and update this innovative solution to restoring habitats with the most industrious aquatic mammal: beavers.  At The Optimist Daily, we’ve written a great deal about the benefits beavers bring to their environment and the importance of restoring their populations in Read More...

Half an avocado with seed with yellow chiffon background

Spider-like film doubles avocado shelf life

Concerned about the problem of plastic pollution, a scientist has developed a plant-based coating that could make food plastic wrappers obsolete. The biodegradable coating has antimicrobial properties and can easily be sprayed onto produce, such as avocados and citruses, slowing Read More...

Close up view of cash money dollars bills in amount.

Billionaires aren’t cool anymore in the eyes of the public and the planet

Consumerism and capitalism have been driving forces for the growth of wealth and the expansion of world economies. However, a study led by psychologists at the University of Bath has shown the pitfalls of these systems and that they have had dire consequences for the health of the planet and its Read More...