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.
It’s easy to make old buildings more efficient with this modular system
Many of the new buildings being constructed today are designed with the planet in mind, and while that may help humanity shrink its carbon footprint, the reality is that the number of old buildings will continue to outnumber new buildings well into the future. Keeping an old building up and running Read More...
This sustainable concrete alternative helps coastal ecosystems thrive
While necessary to support human settlements, the development of infrastructure in coastal areas is often harmful to surrounding natural ecosystems. That's because most of this construction is made of concrete — a material whose chemical composition and flat surface fails to act as a viable Read More...
The UK plans to test a new fleet of zero-emission buses on its roads
Cities across the world are making efforts to cut air pollution and reduce the number of combustion engine vehicles on their streets. Low- and zero-emission vehicles are starting to play an increasingly bigger role in achieving these goals. With that said, the UK has announced that its public Read More...
Green School students spend most of their time studying outdoors
Integrating sustainability into children’s education early on is key to ensuring future generations have a thorough understanding of the relationship between humans and their natural environment. This is the philosophy behind Green School International — an unconventional approach to schooling Read More...
Beauty giant to make perfumes with ethanol made of recycled CO2 emissions
The world’s largest fragrance company, Coty, will soon start making perfumes with alcohol made from recycled carbon emissions. Producing the fragrance lines for luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Calvin Klein, Coty has recently partnered with biotech company LanzaTech to use its Read More...
This retro milk truck is now delivering zero-waste products to Londoners
Ella Shone’s ‘Topup Truck’ started out 20 years ago delivering morning milk to bleary-eyed Londoners. Now, the vehicle’s got a new lease on life as an electric-powered zero-waste goods delivery truck. After being furloughed from her sales job as a result of the coronavirus pandemic last Read More...
Wind farm funds condor breeding program to offset potential species harm
Wind turbines are a great source of renewable energy, but they also pose a hazard to local bird populations. Some wind farms have started painting turbines black to prevent this, but wind company Avangrid Renewables has gone one step further and launched a condor breeding program to compensate for Read More...
A first for invertebrates: Cuttlefish can delay gratification
Have you ever heard of the “marshmallow test?” It’s a type of experiment designed at Stanford in the 1960s by Walter Mischel to test whether human children have the self-control to wait for a better reward. In essence, the children were given a choice between having one marshmallow now or Read More...
National Parks are leading the transition to all-electric federal fleets
The US government has announced plans to transition all federal fleet vehicles to electric models and what better place to start than the country’s most valuable natural spaces: National Parks. Zion National Park has officially received a federal grant to transition all of its shuttle buses Read More...
Bird missing for 170 years rediscovered in Indonesian rainforest
More than 170 years after it was first reported around 1850, one of Indonesia’s most elusive birds has recently been rediscovered on the island of Borneo, to the excitement of conservationists and ornithologists. The black-browed babbler, featuring deep scarlet eyes, gray legs, and black, gray, Read More...