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.
COP26: Over 100 countries pledge to stop deforestation
The COP26 climate conference is in full swing and is celebrating its first big achievement: A pledge from more than 100 countries to end deforestation. The participating countries, which represent more than 85 percent of the world’s forests, have committed to ending and reversing deforestation Read More...
Beach-dwelling sheep eat seaweed and reduce their methane emissions
Back in March, we shared the research findings from a University of California study on how feeding seaweed to cattle can reduce methane emissions from their burps and flatulence by up to 82 percent. Now, scientists in Scotland have found that the same effect holds true for sheep. The recently Read More...
5 Optimistic predictions about the COP26 climate conference
The stakes (and tensions) are high this week as the COP26 climate summit kicks off in Glasgow. Big issues, like renewable energy and biodiversity, are being discussed on a global scale, and while there are huge issues to tackle, there are also reasons to be optimistic. Just the fact that world Read More...
Kenyan inventors craft biorobotic limb from recycled trash
David Gathu and Moses Kiuna are two young innovators from Nairobi, Kenya. Despite not being able to afford expensive university fees, their passion for science and desire to help their community has driven them to create an incredible bio robotic arm. Using any recycled materials they could get Read More...
How to best reuse and recycle your old laptop
Disposing of electronics can be a tricky thing, as they normally have to be processed through specially designed e-waste recycling programs. Today, we’re going to give you some ideas on how to reuse your old laptop so that you can make the most of it before discarding it, and then how to properly Read More...
Lego's new instruction booklet to save the world gives kids a voice at COP26
The COP26 climate summit in progress in Glasgow, Scotland, is an important coming together of world leaders and representatives to discuss climate action and policy, as well as the steps we’ve taken to limit emissions and global warming. However, none of those present in the meeting will be Read More...
Frankie the Dinosaur urges humanity not to choose extinction
Right before the commencement of the United Nations climate summit, COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, the UN Development Program posted a video of a special guest speaker: Frankie the Dinosaur. Frankie’s warning was clear: if we don’t work together to dramatically reduce our use of fossil fuels, Read More...
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport partners with pigs to stop bird strikes
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest transportation hubs, has recruited a team of 20 pigs to help prevent geese and planes from colliding into each other, which is often fatal for the birds and hazardous for the planes. The land that the airport is situated on is below sea Read More...
Australian water park halts construction for a pair of nesting birds
A new water park is slated for construction in Bunbury in Western Australia, but local residents will have to wait a little bit longer for their splash park fun as a pair of nesting pied oystercatchers were discovered at the construction site. Pied oystercatchers are small black and white birds Read More...
These 5 new California laws combat plastic waste
The problem of plastic is in many ways a pandemic in and of itself, and the entire world is suffering from it. Most consumers believe that recycling is an effective way to combat the plastic problem, however, in practice the system simply doesn’t work, and in fact, only encourages people to Read More...