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.
Britain’s coal-free streak is still going as renewables beat fossil fuels
Back in April, we published a story detailing how the UK had gone 18 days without using coal energy. Now we’re in June—and guess what? That coal-free streak is still going. Midnight on Wednesday marked two full months without burning coal to generate power, an incredible streak for a country Read More...
Video: Oatmeal, the sloth, is a little reminder to never lose hope
Meet Oatmeal, the sloth. She was first discovered in critical condition after she and her mother were severely shocked by an overhanging electric wire in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica. She is not the first orphaned sloth to call the Toucan Rescue Ranch (TRR) in Costa Rica her home. She is also not the Read More...
Scientists find gut bacteria in superworms that breaks down plastic
Polystyrene is a type of plastic that’s used to make a variety of ubiquitous products like packaging containers, disposable cups, and insulating materials. The problem, of course, lies in the fact that when thrown in landfills or littered in the environment, the plastic takes several hundred Read More...
Public parks are showing their worth amid protests and the pandemic
During this extraordinary time in America’s cities — weeks of coronavirus lockdowns followed by mass protests against police violence and racial inequality — one theme runs through the twinned crises: the power and value of public spaces. The nation’s parks experienced a surge of use during Read More...
New Jersey now mandates climate change education in schools
With powerful storms impacting its coastline and algal blooms affecting its lakes, New Jersey is already quite familiar with the damaging effects of climate change. Now, K-12 students will familiarize themselves further with the urgent need to curb climate change as the state becomes the first in Read More...
Minneapolis to disband its police force and adopt community safety model
These days, we find ourselves writing stories that would have been unthinkable just weeks ago. Yesterday we published a groundbreaking story out of Los Angeles where Mayor Eric Garcetti recently announced that he was defunding the police department. By defunding the police, what is really meant is Read More...
Los Angeles is defunding the police and investing in minority communities
One of the main demands to come out of the nationwide George Floyd protests is for cities to defund police. That doesn’t mean completely defunding police departments but, rather, allocating some of their budgets to other initiatives that provide poor and minority communities with more than a Read More...
These countries are using COVID-19 to tackle climate change
Although COVID-19 shut downs gave the environment a brief respite from emissions and pollution, the fight against climate change is far from resolved. As we move forward and begin to reopen our economies, we look at case studies in South Korea, France, and Italy where policy makers are taking Read More...
This is what happens when police respond to protesters with compassion
In many cities where the George Floyd protests are taking place, the police have responded to protestors using rubber bullets, riot gear, and tears gas, which seemed to demonstrate the very need for these protests in the first place. But not every interaction between police and protestors turned Read More...
Cities are finally removing Confederate monuments following protests
Shocking as it may seem, more than 700 Confederate monuments remain on display in public spaces in America. Now, thanks to protests in the name of George Floyd, calls for cities to remove monuments dedicated to the Confederacy and its racist ideology have grown louder. And in many places, the Read More...