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.
This sustainable building is home to more than 1,000 trees
What if a building could host more plants than the entire nearby park? This is the vision of designer Koichi Takada Architects who plans to build a beautiful green Urban Forest in Brisbane, Australia. The proposed building would be covered in 1,000 trees and 20,000 plants, including 259 native Read More...
Hawaiians build state-of-the-art fence to save rare native birds
While the Hawaiian islands are home to all kinds of life today, that wasn’t always the case. Apparently, not a single land-dwelling called the islands home 1,500 years ago—only winged insects, one variety of bat, and a vast array of birds had the honor of living on the archipelago. Many of Read More...
Meet the animals that came back from “extinction”
While animals and plants have always come and gone, we have seen a huge increase in the number of vertebrate animals that have disappeared since the 16th century—almost all because of human-related changes such as loss of habitat or over-hunting. Now with climate change, more species than ever Read More...
Portuguese youth are taking 33 countries to court over climate change
The youth isn’t very happy about climate change. If the Fridays4future climate strikes didn’t make that clear, a new court case filed by young activists from Portugal at the European court of human rights makes it abundantly clear. The case, which was crowdfunded, demands 33 countries make Read More...
Mountain lions are seeing a baby boom near Los Angeles
On Saturday, we published a story about the California legislature imposing a ban on a rat poison that has been found to kill mountain lions. In other good news for mountain lions in California, park rangers have reported a mountain lion baby boom that has occurred this summer in the Santa Monica Read More...
The grieving orca Tahlequah has given birth to a healthy calf!
At the end of July, we shared the news that Tahlequah, the grieving orca, was pregnant once more. Now, thanks to satellite images, we know she has successfully given birth to a health calf. The southern resident killer whale first came into the news back in 2018 when she carried her dead calf for Read More...
Conservationists bring turtle species back from the brink of extinction
Though naturally endowed with a heartwarming smile on their faces, the fate of the Burmese roofed turtles has been far from uplifting. Only 20 years ago, the giant Asian river turtle, characterized by its bug-eyed, smiling face, was thought to be extinct by conservationists, following decades of Read More...
California bill allows formerly incarcerated people to become firefighters
As wildfires continue to burn across the western United States, many have raised concerns about the exploitation of incarcerated individuals used to combat the blazes. Now, California has passed a bill that will allow formerly incarcerated individuals to pursue a career in firefighting after Read More...
‘World’s loneliest elephant’ set to leave zoo for a better home
In 2012, an elephant by the name of Kaavan lost his partner at the Marghazar zoo in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Ever since then, Kaavan has been without any elephant friends, languishing within a zoo that has been ordered to be closed because of abysmal conditions. Kaavan’s sad story Read More...
Futuristic city is designed with an eye for sustainability and resilience
If you’re curious about what green urban planning may look like in the future, Barcelona-based architecture firm Guallart Architects has recently unveiled a neighborhood design for a new city in China, called Xiong’an New Area, that’s expected to serve as a model of sustainability - powered Read More...