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.
Campaign to save giant fig tree in Kenya from proposed highway succeeds
The fig tree is considered sacred among Kenya’s most populous ethnic group, the Kikuyu. That’s why it was no surprise to see the Kikuyu people and other environmentalists stage protests when the country’s roads agency announced plans to uproot a giant fig tree in order to make way for a Read More...
This startup captures carbon and uses it to make greener cement
While carbon capture technology is capable of doing what its name implies, it hasn’t proven itself feasible because there’s not a large enough market for captured CO2 to justify the huge cost. Some companies within the industry have experimented with turning the CO2 into jet fuel. Others are Read More...
Pizza Hut launches plant-based toppings nationwide
Hamburger joints were early adopters of plant-based meat options, but now, Pizza Hut’s collaboration with Beyond Meat makes them the first national pizza chain to offer plant-based toppings across their 7,000 locations. The pizza restaurant recently launched two vegetarian pizzas, the Read More...
This designer from India is turning cigarette butts into beautiful vases
Cigarette stubs are the most commonly littered items in the world. In fact, 4.5 trillion of them discarded every year. To draw attention to this little-known fact, Indian designer Sachi Tungare collected five kilograms (11 lbs) of cigarette butts by hand to create a collection of multi-colored Read More...
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...
Plantega is bringing vegan foods to your local bodega store
If you live in New York City, you will soon have easier access to plant-based ingredients thanks to Plantega, an initiative bringing vegan foods to the city’s bodegas, corner shops, and convenience stores. Your typical bodega is a small corner shop featuring processed snacks and packaged 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...