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 school features a vertical garden and rooftop cycling track
Over the last decade, the city of Pune, India, has experienced significant urban growth with worsening air quality as a result. Now, architecture studio Nudes is working to tackle this problem. The firm recently won a competition to build an eco-friendly school in the city. The company’s Read More...
Mussels could help us remove harmful microplastics from the ocean
Microplastics are one of the most pernicious forms of plastic pollution threatening our oceans, so scientists are hard at work to find solutions that could help filter this ecological burden out of the marine environment. Recently, we wrote about how sea squirts can help us monitor the steadily Read More...
The Optimist View: Down to EarthーStorytelling as a solutions journalism medium
“Long-term survival on this planet for us and for all generations after us is a pretty good idea. Remember, the earth will probably always be here. We just may not be able to live on it for too long.” - Zac Efron BY Amelia Buckley and Arielle Tiango Little was known about the world of Read More...
Scientists develop a disintegrating natural plastic
The plastic problem that we face today is a serious issue that is inspiring many scientists and researchers to find alternatives or modify the plastic manufacturing process so that the material can safely and quickly degrade. Researchers in China have done just that by creating a new kind of Read More...
California forest managers are rethinking reforestation patterns to tackle wildfires
When a wildfire tears through a region, the first priority for conservationists is to begin replanting some of the habitat destroyed by the blazes, but in the face of climate change, some forest mangers are rethinking what this planting should look like. In Eldorado National Forest, researchers and Read More...
Cape Cod scientists are mapping out safer waters for sharks and swimmers
For summer beachgoers in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, great white shark sightings are all too common. Shark populations have been rebounding since the 1970s protections prevented sharks and seals from being hunted, so now, lifeguards regularly clear the waters due to a shark or two. But the question Read More...
Austin neighborhood to be transformed into self-sufficient solar town
An Austin neighborhood is getting a green upgrade in an attempt to become a self-sufficient solar-powered town. Through partnering with Tesla and developer Dacra and Brookfield Asset Management, the town plans to equip houses with V3 solar roof tiles, Tesla chargers, and Powerwall Read More...
New Mexico celebrates largest private land donation for conservation
New Mexico is celebrating the state's largest private land donation which adds 15 square miles to the Sabinoso Wilderness Area. The donation, made by the Trust for Public Land, was accepted by U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. It increases the wilderness area by 50 percent and offers both Read More...
This newly-discovered frog gets its name for an unusual reason
A new species of frog, dubbed the “zombie frog,” has been discovered in the Amazon jungle. Fortunately, these frogs are not actually undead, but rather their name was chosen because researchers look like zombies due to the tedious amount of time it takes to dig these little guys up from Read More...
The UN draws up Paris-style strategy with ambitious goals to protect the planet
The UN has set out a Paris-style strategy to halt biodiversity loss. Some of the ambitious goals of this plan, which was drawn up by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) include eliminating plastic pollution, protecting a minimum of 30 percent of the world’s oceans and land, and Read More...