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.
Spending time with trees boosts children's cognitive development
Trees are nature’s air purifiers—they provide us with oxygen and absorb CO2, which makes them a key component of the global fight against climate change. However, they also have an influence over our individual health, both mentally and physically. A new study published in Nature Read More...
Arctic scientists stumble upon the world’s northernmost island
Can you imagine discovering an entirely new island? Does it even seem possible that there are places on this earth that have yet to be discovered? Well, indeed there are! It was recently reported that researchers seeking data about microscopic life in the Arctic stumbled upon a previously Read More...
3 Motivating findings from the IPCC report
As we’ve discussed before on The Optimist Daily, the newest United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report is far from reassuring. It illustrates that the planet is warming faster than expected and without immediate action, we will face extreme consequences. However, there Read More...
Midlands National Forest combines rewilding and community
The National Forest in Midlands is the first forest to be created at scale in England in 1000 years. The first tree in this rewilding initiative was planted 30 years ago and today the forest spans 200 square miles across three counties. The forest is not only home to habitat and recreation Read More...
Solar domes could help provide a solution to the global water crisis
We have previously written about the problem of water scarcity and some of the emerging solutions aimed at solving it. Today, we’d like to share with you yet another innovative technology that works to solve the global water crisis. The novel technology, developed by London-based Solar Water Read More...
Ski resort tucks in Mount Titlis glacier with special blanket
Ski resort staff in one of Switzerland’s most popular Alpine destinations on Mount Titlis have been trying to limit the impacts of climate change by tucking in the mountain's precious glacial slopes in specially made protective blankets. Mount Titlis, which stands at 3,238 meters (10,623 Read More...
Study: Solar could account for 40 percent of US power by 2035
Currently, just three percent of US electricity comes from solar power, but that could soon change as the Energy Department’s Solar Futures Study finds that 40 percent of all electricity could be generated by solar by 2035. In addition to upping solar contributions, the study finds that 95 Read More...
The Netherlands says "no" to fossil fuel greenwashing ad campaign
Being a sustainable consumer is hard enough without companies trying to mislead us with greenwashing advertisements. That’s why advertising officials from the Dutch Advertising Code Committee, a national marketing and advertising watchdog in the Netherlands, are putting their foot down and Read More...
How a self-taught electrician in Malawi brought electricity to his village
According to UN-backed Sustainable Energy for All, only 11 percent of Malawi’s population of 19 million people have access to electricity, making it one of the least electrified nations in the world. The people of the Yobe Nkosi village are part of the 96 percent of the country’s rural Read More...
Climate cafes offer a safe space to discuss climate change
Let’s face it—climate change is scary. It brings up feelings of uncertainty, stress, anxiety, and even guilt, which are all hard emotions to go through alone. Many of us are struggling to process our feelings and thoughts about climate change, but because it’s such a multi-faceted issue that Read More...