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.
The way urban planners currently assess the safety of a road involves counting the number of accidents on that particular road. Essentially, this means that there’s a "literal human cost" to measuring how safe a street is, says Megan Ryerson, a transportation engineer and urban planner at the Read More...
A developer, homeless service providers, local church leaders, and a social impact investment manager have teamed up to demonstrate that cooperation between the private sector and non-profits can beat our traditional contractors when it comes to building housing for the unsheltered. They’ve Read More...
Europe made history over the last six months when it generated more electricity from renewable sources than it did from fossil fuels. Over 40 percent of the electricity used by the EU’s 27 member states came from renewable sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, and bioenergy. In contrast, fossil Read More...
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead The Optimist View is our long-form edition weekend publication which dives deeper on the critical solutions we cover on The Optimist Daily. Read More...
Like an increasing number of businesses around the world, whiskey giant Glenfiddich recently pledged to reduce its footprint on the environment. With that goal in mind, the company started adapting its delivery trucks to run on low-emission biofuel created from its own whiskey waste. Adopting a Read More...
Spain’s Iberian Lynx is the world’s most endangered species of felines. Just 20 years ago, the animal was at risk of becoming the first big cat to become extinct after the saber-tooth tiger died out 10,000 years ago. With that said, conservation efforts have successfully increased the cat’s Read More...
The fossil fuel industry in Texas employs about 450,000 people, a statistic that has long driven politicians in the state to oppose green energy adoption measures. However, as the impacts of climate change begin to affect more and more communities, even fossil fuel workers in the Lone Star State Read More...
Gardening isn’t just a good habit for your own health and wellbeing. More greenery boosts the air quality of the surrounding environment by absorbing even more carbon from the atmosphere. If you’ve already used up all the space in your yard but wish you could still cultivate more plants, then Read More...
Devastating flooding has stretched from Germany to China to Nigeria this summer, and unfortunately, urban design exacerbates this flooding in highly populated areas as concrete and asphalt fail to absorb water as unpaved environments do. Adding more green space to urban areas is one solution to Read More...
Many of us will be familiar with the memorable Spiderman line: “With great power comes great responsibility.” This is the spirit behind the “hierarchy of responsibility,” the Highway Code revision that Great Britain plans to implement this autumn, pending parliamentary approval. Under Read More...