Today’s Solutions: March 23, 2023

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.

Amazon Rainforest in Brazil

Deforestation declines in Brazilian Amazon the first month of Lula’s rule

The rate of deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest decreased in January compared to the same month a year ago, satellite data revealed on Friday, marking the first monthly figures under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. According to preliminary satellite data acquired by the Read More...

Recycle clothes concept. Young woman with recycling box full clothes.

Could this invisible label revolutionize textile recycling?

It's no secret that garments are thrown out at an alarming rate due to fast fashion and the rapid-fire cycling of trends. Furthermore, we are doing a poor job of recycling textile waste. In the United States, less than 15 percent of the 92 million tons of clothes and other textiles are recycled Read More...

EU flags in front of European Commission in Brussels

The EU commits to its own “green deal”

The European Union will invest more than $270 billion in its own "green deal" in order to keep up with the United States and China. The growing green economy Many observers interpreted the move as a direct response to the Biden administration's hefty round of green subsidies, which were included Read More...

Friends cheering sport at bar together

How to host a more sustainable super bowl party

This year, the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee in collaboration with NFL Green is working together to make this year’s Super Bowl as sustainable as possible. According to the Super Bowl Host Committee website, the team has been partnering with “local community organizations, parks, and Read More...

Dirty Dusty Solar Panels with Text Clean Me Please

This ultra-thin coating can make solar panels self-cleaning

Solar panels cannot perform successfully if they are caked in filth, yet cleaning them on a regular basis can be time-consuming. Luckily, engineers in Germany are on the case and have created an ultra-thin coating that can self-clean solar panels and other surfaces. Solar is the most important Read More...

Man riding a bicycle in the park alone, green space

Study shows strong link between green spaces and less prescription drug use

According to new research, visits to parks, community gardens, and other urban green spaces may reduce city inhabitants' use of medicines for anxiety, sleeplessness, melancholy, high blood pressure, and asthma. Researchers in Finland discovered that visiting natural settings three to four times Read More...

Test tube row. Concept of medical or science laboratory

Magnets rapidly remove dangerous "forever chemicals" from water

Australia-based scientists have devised an exciting new method for eliminating dangerous "forever chemicals" from water. When a solution is added to contaminated water, it covers the contaminants and renders them magnetic, allowing them to be easily attracted and isolated. Per- and Read More...

Overlooking the solar photovoltaic panels and agricultural planting temperature shed

New solar panels harness the full light spectrum to improve crop yields

Crops and clean energy are increasingly sharing the same land as the globe struggles to deal with the climate problem and transitions to renewables and agrivoltaics — the cultivation of crops beneath the shade of solar panels. Scientists are now investigating how to harness the sun's light Read More...

Traffic in downtown Chicago with people, train, car and bus

US reveals the “Blueprint”: a plan to entirely decarbonize transportation

The United States Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency have produced a much-needed Blueprint for decarbonizing the entire US transportation system. It is hoped that the policy will reduce all greenhouse gas emissions from the Read More...

Underwater inside the kelp forest in the ocean 

Secrets of the sea: hidden underwater forests may help fight climate crisis

The Nature Conservancy's marine biologist Frank Hurd spends his days amongst gigantic kelp curtains, studying underwater forests. One of his usual diving haunts is a kelp forest off Anacapa Island, one of the Channel Islands national park's protected rocky volcanic islets off southern Read More...