Environment
Need some good news about the environment? The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.
This sustainable solar panel can go on buildings or your clothes
When you see the new sunlight-absorbing material developed by Carvey Ehren Maigue, an engineering student from the Philippines, the colors might remind you of the Aurora Borealis. In fact, Auroras were what inspired Maigue when he named his new game-changing material, AuREUS. This is a new Read More...
100 percent renewable energy could prevent natural disaster blackouts
With storms growing in intensity the world over, such as Storm Eunice in Europe, solutions for enduring extreme weather are greater than ever. Adapting energy grids is particularly important to avoid blackouts. Recent research shows, fortunately, that switching entirely to renewable energy Read More...
Clove oil can help slow down the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases
Synthetic insecticides are often effective and the weapon of choice when it comes to killing mosquito larvae, which is the best way to slow down the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases. These chemicals, however, often have a negative impact on the surrounding environment. A simple way to Read More...
A seat at the table for underrepresented communities
Climate change is already affecting all of us—however, those that bear the brunt of these consequences are predominantly from low-income, marginalized, BIPOC communities. So why is it that out of the organizations that are trying to confront climate change and find solutions, about 95 percent of Read More...
These refugee-owned businesses are flourishing
Contrary to popular belief, refugees actually benefit their host nation’s economies according to a study compiled from 30 years of data. Refugee-founded businesses have an enormous potential to invigorate economies, increase job opportunities, and reduce public spending. The Entrepreneurial Read More...
Two-thirds of seafloor life is waiting to be discovered
Most of our planet is filled with water. Amazingly, though, two-thirds of life occupying the seafloor is still waiting to be discovered, finds a recent study published in Science Advances. DNA sequencing techniques also revealed that there is at least three times more life on the seafloor than Read More...
Sunlight helps dissolve oil spills
In a recent study of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, researchers discovered that approximately 10 percent of oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico was dissolved by sunlight. Oil can partially dissipate and dissolve in seawater through natural processes, which scientists account for. These Read More...
UK man has a plan to reduce glass waste
Lately, and for obvious reasons, there’s been a lot of attention on figuring out what to do with all the plastic clogging up our oceans and waterways. While solving this problem is obviously important, the plastic issue also highlights an overarching problem, not necessarily with hard-to-recycle Read More...
A victory against rent-hikes for Tenderloin residents
At The Optimist Daily, we're happy to see solutions to the housing crisis. While we enjoy innovative solutions, we also love to see communities coming together to help their members hold onto their homes in the face of increasing rent prices. In 2016, when a new owner took over 285 Turk Street, Read More...
“All we need is change”—Serre Chevalier makes skiing more sustainable
Does the climate catastrophe that we find ourselves in herald the end of ski resorts? Visiting the slopes for a weekend of skiing and snowboarding is now tinged with the guilt of all the environmental damage that goes along with it. Between the short-haul, carbon-emitting flights many skiers Read More...