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.
Clean energy hit record growth in 2020, despite Covid-19
When it comes to new electricity generation in 2020, the fossil fuels sector had a terrible year. Fortunately, the same can’t be said about the renewables sector. According to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), 90 percent of new electricity generation is coming from Read More...
The port city of Sunderland will host UK’s first carbon-neutral community
As the urgency of the climate crisis continues to grow, climate-friendly elements are increasingly becoming a prominent feature of urban development projects. One of the latest cities poised to experience future-proof urban planning is the post-industrial port city of Sunderland, located in the Read More...
Rare spider thought extinct in the UK rediscovered at military base
After more than 27 years of being off the radar in Britain, the great fox-spider has recently been rediscovered on an undeveloped portion of a military base in Surrey, England. Great fox-spiders (Alopecosa fabrilis) are critically endangered and were feared to be extinct in the UK before a program Read More...
These eco-friendly shoes set an example in footwear sustainability
Bamboo, algae, sugarcane, and pineapple husk — these are some of the main ingredients behind a new eco-friendly shoe collection from New Zealand. Produced by Wellington-based startup YY Nation, the new shoes aim to take sustainability in the footwear industry to a whole new level — a Read More...
After years of rehabilitation, these manatees are returning to the ocean
Three manatees at the Dominican Republic’s National Aquarium are set to return to the ocean after an extensive rehabilitation process that has lasted years. According to Spanish news agency EFE, two of the manatees— Juana and Pepe —are eight years old and only lived in the ocean for a few Read More...
New power plant uses liquid air to store renewable energy
While batteries are great for short-term energy storage, they are still too expensive to do long-term energy storage. Plus, batteries require minerals that are becoming increasingly scarce as the world moves towards power systems based on variable renewable energy. Fortunately, there is a promising Read More...
City of Austin votes to spend $7 billion to revolutionize transportation
In a city where roughly three-quarters of residents drive alone to work, it’s no surprise that drivers in Austin, Texas, spend an average of 104 hours stuck in traffic each year. One of the main reasons behind this vehicle-mania is the city’s innate car-oriented infrastructure. That’s now Read More...
Ecologists discover two new species of fluffy marsupials in Australia
It’s a rare occasion when not one, but two new mammals are discovered by scientists in a single day, yet that’s exactly what happened in Australia this past week. In a new study published in Nature's public access Scientific Reports journal, scientists confirmed that there are actually three Read More...
Rising white shark populations off California signals ‘a healthy ecosystem’
White sharks have long been impacted by humans. Commercial fisheries caught them for decades, and the sharks’ primary food—marine mammals—has been hunted to the brink of extinction. After California moved to protect its white shark population back in 1994, white shark numbers have risen Read More...
Washington’s first human compost company is open for business
Washington passed a law in 2019 allowing citizens to compost themselves after death for a more sustainable burial process. Fast forward a year later and the first human composting company is open for business in the state. Called Recompose, the company was instrumental in passing the 2019 law Read More...