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.
New Zealand will ban most single-use plastic items by 2025
While New Zealand is considered to be one of the greenest countries in the world, it is currently one of the top ten per-capita producers of landfill waste worldwide. That may soon change, however, thanks to new legislation that will ban most single-use plastics by 2025. Among the main items Read More...
Dissolving ‘skyscraper’ intends to recover ecosystems destroyed by wildfire
As climate change makes wildfires a more common and severe threat to ecosystems, Italian architect Alberto Roncelli has come up with a design for a dissolving ‘skyscraper’ that would naturally spread nutrients and seeds to ravaged forests — all in a bid to regenerate ecosystems destroyed by Read More...
Solar-powered umbrella aims to make your beach holiday more sustainable
Given how much time parasols on coastal beaches sit under the sun, wouldn’t it make sense to replace the thick fabric they’re made of with solar panels — and maybe even use some of the energy generated to power, let’s say, beachfront ice-cream freezers? Italy’s leading gelato and frozen Read More...
Another luxury brand pledges to stop using fur in its products
High-end coat company Canada Goose has pledged to phase out the use of fur in its products. Mainly known for its luxury-priced fur-lined winter jackets, the North American brand has now vowed to stop buying fur by the end of this year and cease manufacturing it by 2022. Animal rights group Human Read More...
Tree Equity Score tool maps out critical areas for urban forestry
Trees and urban green spaces are essential for city dwellers. Vegetation improves air quality, and tree cover provides shade from the heat of the sun—something that is increasingly sought after as human-induced climate change takes temperatures to extremes. Unfortunately, low-income Read More...
Years of exclusive rainforest recordings are now available worldwide
The recordings of Cornell University’s Elephant Listening Project, which was established in 1999, are finally going public—and here’s why that matters. The gigantic acoustic monitoring effort covers about 480 square miles in the Republic of Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, an area Read More...
The Bison Bridge - World's longest human-made wildlife crossing
Chad Pregracke is an impassioned conservationist who spends his time on barges, cleaning up refuse from the Mississippi River. While on the river, he watches cars drive across a 55-year-old concrete bridge that is meant to be demolished and replaced—but when he sees the aging bridge, he imagines Read More...
Eco-labels will soon show the sustainability of Europeans food products
Living a more sustainable life is a valiant and worthwhile goal, however, following through with it is a daily challenge. As consumers, the information we need to make the most sustainable choice is often not readily available, and reading through the labels and small print is exhausting and takes Read More...
LEGO’s new prototype bricks are made from discarded plastic bottles
From cutting plastic from packaging to using plant-based materials, famous toymaker LEGO has been hard at work in recent years to make its beloved toy bricks more sustainable. With that same goal in mind, the company has recently created its first prototype building blocks using recycled PET Read More...
Colombia declared home of the most butterfly species in the world
A new study released by the Natural History Museum in London has just dubbed Colombia the world’s official butterfly paradise. The country of Colombia is home to some of the richest biodiversity on the planet, including approximately 20 percent of the world’s butterfly species. An Read More...