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.
What to do with the unused offices? This architect turns them into schools
As office buildings sit empty and more companies make the decision to remain remote indefinitely, architect Danish Kurani has turned the unfortunate circumstances into an opportunity and has designed an office-to-school conversion to transform these unused offices into educational spaces. The Read More...
Architects are turning hospital parking lots into modular ICU units
Hospitals overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic could soon find a much-needed capacity lifeline in modular emergency care units built right in their parking lots. Called STAAT Mod (Strategic, Temporary, Acuity-Adaptable Treatment), the prefab system is built in a factory and delivered by truck Read More...
The Optimist View: My Octopus Teacher Film Review
“What she taught me was to feel like you’re part of this place, not a visitor, that’s a huge difference.” - Craig Foster Living on the Western Cape of South Africa, powerful storms sent chilling water rushing into the bottom of Craig Foster’s family bungalow. Years later, facing Read More...
Ditch beef: Beyond Meat’s new plant-burgers are healthier and juicer
Just last week, we wrote a story about Pizza Hut becoming the first national pizza chain to offer plant-based toppings from Beyond Meat at all their locations. This week, we have more news from Beyond Meat after the faux-meat company unveiled new versions of its plant-based burgers that are both Read More...
The world’s biggest fur auction house is closing its doors
Real animal fur is becoming increasingly out-of-style within the fashion industry. More and more people are straying away from the inhumane trade, and some cities, countries, and companies have placed bans on fur in recent years. In another blow to the fur industry, the world’s largest fur Read More...
Birth of critically endangered black rhino caught on camera at UK zoo
The population of the critically endangered eastern black rhino has just gotten bigger, thanks to the birth of a healthy calf at Chester Zoo in the UK. Following 15 months of pregnancy, the celebratory event was caught on the zoo’s security camera which shows the young calf suckling from her Read More...
This is how facades and pavements can be used to generate clean energy
Most countries in Europe have pledged to make a sustainability goal of an energy-neutral environment by mid-centruy. And while there’s no doubt that solar rooftops will play a key role in achieving that goal, a number of projects in Europe are proving that pavements and building facades too can Read More...
A new tool for bear conservation in Canada: facial recognition
When it comes to conservation, tracking specific animals usually involves collars or tags, but when software developers Ed Miller and Mary Nguyen saw the fast growth of AI for human facial recognition, they thought, “why can’t this be used for conservation efforts too?” This idea, combined Read More...
This recycling breakthrough brings EV batteries closer to circularity
In a recent Optimist View, we discussed how battery recycling must become an integral part of the electric vehicle transition. Most lithium batteries rely on heavy metal extraction which takes its own toll on the environment. Lithium iron phosphate batteries are cheaper to produce and have a longer Read More...
Incredibly remote island creates world’s fourth largest marine sanctuary
In the South Atlantic Ocean lies one of the most remote islands in the world, Tristan da Cunha. The incredibly isolated British territory is partially famous because the recorded population of 245 people is thought to have all descended from just fifteen outside ancestors who arrived on the island Read More...