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.
Students create device that captures microplastics from car tires
While a lesser-known culprit, the tires of our vehicles are one of the biggest sources of plastic pollution. Every time a car brakes, accelerates, or turns a corner, its tires gradually shed tiny particles that become airborne and make their way into our waterways. In Europe, alone, the amount of Read More...
This building was made partially from its own construction waste
While we’ve seen architects use wasted materials to construct buildings, never have we seen a complex use its own construction waste to build parts of a building. But that’s exactly what’s happened in the North India city of Kishangarh, where an innovative industrial complex has created Read More...
New Jersey passes bill to protect poor communities from pollution
In the past months, the state of New Jersey has passed some landmark laws that have been worth sharing. It started in June when the state mandated that climate change education must be a part of the curriculum in schools. Then, just weeks ago, Gov. Phil Murphy signed off on a new law that allows Read More...
Swedish town to turn former train track into a site for urban experiments
Looking to develop something meaningful out of an abandoned train track running through its center, the small Swedish town of Tibro has decided to turn the abandoned site into an arena for sustainable urban experiments. The Tibro Train Tracks project, undertaken by Stockholm-based architecture Read More...
This tool aims to save whale lives by preventing collisions with ships
Collisions with shipping vessels are among the most common cause of death in large whales. Along the West Coast, alone, scientists estimate that ships are responsible for the death of around 80 endangered whales every year. This usually happens due to busy shipping routes overlapping with whale Read More...
Bee populations are on the rise in these US states
Maine has some of the healthiest bee colonies in the US. Believe it or not, bee populations in the state have actually increased 72 percent since 2018. While bees are still a threatened species, this research by the United States Department of Agriculture is good news for the efficacy of bee-saving Read More...
Thai national park sends trash back to those who leave it behind
What do you do with litterbugs who fail to pick up their garbage? Well, you pack it up and mail it to their doorstep! At least that’s what the popular Khao Yai National Park near Bangkok, Thailand, plans to do to prevent visitors from leaving behind their trash. The new initiative was announced Read More...
Pumping cold water from the depths could prevent coral bleaching
Rising ocean temperatures as a result of global warming are one of the main reasons behind coral bleaching - a process that pushes away the symbiotic algae living within their tissue, causing these unique marine invertebrates to turn white. In a bid to come to their rescue, scientists are Read More...
How drones and AI can restore degraded ecosystems
Over the last several centuries, humans have felled around 2 billion hectares of forest, leaving behind an area of degraded land comparable to the size of Australia. To restore these ecosystems that are essential in our fight against global warming, we need urgent reforestation efforts that go Read More...
The Mayflower: Robotic vessel will cross Atlantic to gather ocean data
Robotic ships are the latest trend in ocean exploration. In August, we wrote about an automated 12-meter boat that successfully completed a 22-day-long mission to map an area of the seafloor in the Atlantic—without a crew. Today, we bring you news about another robotic vessel that is getting Read More...