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.
Lisbon to turn short-term rentals into affordable housing for key workers
Over the last couple of years, tourism in Lisbon has surged dramatically, leading to strong demand for Airbnb-style short-term rentals, which in turn has helped push prices up and local residents out. But, similarly to many other tourist hotspots around the world, the lockdown has drained the Read More...
Unilever’s new carbon labels will help consumers shop greener
Ever pick something up off the grocery store shelf and balk at the nutrition label before putting it back and opting for something healthier? This is what Unilever hopes to achieve with its new carbon labels, information on each product they sell about the carbon impact of that good. To create Read More...
The pandemic led to biggest drop in emissions in human history
When the coronavirus first started putting nations into lockdown-mode, many publications including our own shared stories about the environmental impact of these lockdowns. Emissions plummeted, skies cleared, and native animals started to appear in streets and waterways usually occupied by humans. Read More...
Ways you can support the environmental justice movement
When most of us think about environmental issues, we are inclined to picture in our heads images of melting ice caps, deforestation, wildfires, and animals close to extinction. But how often do we think about how all of these issues affect the human communities in our own backyard? When climate Read More...
Thai fishermen help turn discarded fishing nets into virus protection gear
With 50,000 small vessels and 10,000 commercial ships, Thailand has one of the world’s largest fishing industries. This, however, puts a heavy environmental burden on the country’s natural environment as hundreds of endangered sea animals wash up on its shores every year, entangled and injured Read More...
Comeback: Wild bison set to return to UK for first time in 6,000 years
The steppe bison is thought to have roamed the UK until about 6,000 years ago when hunting and changes in habitat led to its global extinction. Now, thanks to a fantastic new initiative, the steppe bison’s closest relative, the European bison, will be introduced to the landscape of the UK. The Read More...
Australia dedicates $190 million AUD to improve recycling efficiency
Recycling systems are great in theory, but a portion of what is tossed into the recycling bin never makes it to a second life as another product. Australia is attempting to make their recycling systems more efficient and reduce waste with a $190 million AUD investment toward overhauling the Read More...
The Optimist View: Renting is rewarding with Rhove
“There’s no problem that I think is worth solving more than this one at this moment in our country and the concept is really that every renter should be an owner and it should be as easy as the click of a button.” - Calvin Cooper 20 years ago, buying a first home was a benchmark moment for Read More...
Back from near extinction: California Condors spotted in Sequoia National Park
California condors are some of the world's most critically endangered species, but in good news for conservation efforts, rangers have spotted the birds in Sequoia National Park for the first time in 50 years. Condors used to live across all of North America, but hunting and pesticide use Read More...
Federal court decision protects grizzly bears in Yellowstone
In good news for grizzly bears and conservationists, a federal court has upheld a reversal of a policy that would eliminate protections for grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park. The reversed policy would have removed grizzly bears from the list of threatened species and opened Read More...