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.
Heineken is turning wasted beer into sustainable energy
When the pandemic forced us into lockdown, many of our favorite watering pubs, bars, and restaurants had to throw out millions of dollars of stock. In the UK, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) estimates that about 87 million pints of beer have been tossed as a result. Fortunately, the Read More...
Gothenburg embraces its rainy weather with pro- precipitation design
The Swedish city of Gothenburg is well known for being a frontrunner in the fight against climate change. Recently, it became the first in the world to trial a large-scale zero-emissions city zone. Now, a new initiative aims to make the city even more famous by celebrating its rainy weather with Read More...
The lettuce you eat at a Seoul Subway might literally be grown in a subway
From underground mushroom farms to rooftop oases, the urban farming movement is hitting its stride for the betterment of the planet and city residents. In South Korea, this concept is taking root in a local metro station where startup Farm8 uses 4,240 square feet to improve food resilience and Read More...
Chernobyl continues to be an unexpected wildlife sanctuary
A couple of years ago, The Optimist Daily wrote about a surprisingly positive outcome of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in northern Ukraine— the rewilding of the territory. As an update, we are happy to report that endangered animals are still thriving there, including the Przewalski’s Read More...
EU court upholds pesticide ban to protect European bees
Back in 2020, we shared how the European Union’s top court upheld a French pesticide ban to protect bees. Now the court is back with another pro-pollinator ruling, upholding an EU partial ban on three insecticides linked to harming bees. The lawsuit, filed by Bayer, attempted to overturn the Read More...
Scientists use discarded citrus peels to create sustainable transparent wood
Turning a tree into glass may sound like magic, but creating transparent wood to replace the glass in your windows is something scientists have been working on for some years. This emergent wood-based glass substitute holds great potential as a more sustainable, durable, and thermally-efficient Read More...
Three inspiring women tackling climate change head on
Studies show that educating and empowering women to take up sustainable and eco-friendly livelihoods is one of the most effective solutions in tackling human-induced climate change. Sometimes, life experience is the best teacher and organically spurs women to lead environmental missions in their Read More...
Rewilding: A Key Solution for Biodiversity
Wild wolves used to roam freely across most of the United States, but when these wolves were hunted to extinction in areas like Montana and Wyoming, ecosystems quickly fell out of balance. Without natural predators, elk populations soared, eating away at trees and grasses, eliminating building Read More...
New Belgium Brewing Co. hopes you hate the taste of their new ale
New Belgium Brewing Co. is making strong statements about climate change that other businesses may find hard to swallow—perhaps just as hard to swallow as their new, limited-edition beer, Torched Earth Ale. New Belgium brewed Torched Earth Ale from drought-resistant grains, dandelion weeds, and Read More...
Meet LEB: An aquatic scarecrow protecting birds from diving into fishing nets
Fishing is a problematic industry, not just for marine life, but for many different species. All over the world, when fishermen and women cast their nets into the water, they run the risk of catching animals they don’t intend to entangle, such as dolphins or birds. “Bycatch” is the term Read More...