Today’s Solutions: May 14, 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.

Hungry dog fetches metal bowl to get food.

Lab-grown meat can reduce your pet's carbon pawprint

Did you know about one-fifth of global meat production is for pet food? This means that around 5% of food-based greenhouse gas emissions are due to our furry friends' appetites. In the US alone, an estimated 65 million tons of CO2-equivalent methane and nitrous oxide is due to dog and cat Read More...

Used electric car

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...

Bunch of fresh asparagus on wooden table

These spring vegetables are coming into season

Eating vegetables seasonally helps cut down transport emissions by preventing import of produce from the other side of the world. It also means your food will be fresher, more nutritious, tastier, and less expensive. If you’re wondering which vegetables this spring are coming into season, look Read More...

comic-style graphic of woman reading comic

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...

Buying an electric car

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...

Broken solar panel

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...

woman holds a bouquet of wildflowers

5 tips for ethically and sustainably sourced springtime bouquets

Once spring has sprung, it’s only natural to want to bring some of that fresh spring feeling indoors in the form of a whimsical bouquet or two. An elegant vase filled with bright blooms is the perfect finishing touch to anyone’s spring cleaning frenzy. Before you commit to buying flowers Read More...

Carbon Crusher vehicle that crushes old roads for recycling

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...

Pile of ripe potatoes on ground in field.

Banana paper saves potatoes by blocking worm communication

The potato cyst nematode is a pathogenic worm and something of a global menace. When these little critters come across potato farms they infest the crops, drastically reducing yield and size. Some areas of Africa see a 60 percent decline in potato yield after infestation, negatively affecting Read More...

Young Black male texts while waiting for EV charge

Quantum charging could cut EV charging from hours to minutes

Current owners of electric vehicles can cruise along knowing that they’re not adding any CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. While they can ride guilt-free, these joy rides can still be inconvenienced by the headache of having to wait around half an hour at a high-powered public charger, or even Read More...