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.
Nigerian citizen designs portable hand-washing stations for his city
Hand-washing is one of the most promoted and effective ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but what about regions where hand-washing facilities are not readily accessible? An estimated 157 million Nigerians lack adequate hand-washing facilities, which prompted one resident, Bamigbose Adams, to Read More...
Researcher says COVID-19 will reduce European emissions by 24 percent
Yesterday we shared a story about how the COVID-19 outbreak demonstrates society’s ability to act fast in the face of a crisis. If we choose to apply this amazing human capacity for action to the climate crisis, we may already have a bit of a head start with massive emissions drops due to the Read More...
Study suggests quick action could successfully restore oceans by 2050
A global team of researchers recently published an article in the scientific journal Nature detailing the state of our ocean's health, and unlike most projections of the ocean’s future health, this paper cautiously explains that we can successfully restore the ocean by 2050—if we act fast. Read More...
Methane-loving microbes may help reduce emissions from melting permafrost
As the climate warms up, polar ice and glaciers aren’t the only things at risk melting. Permafrost — the frozen layer of soil that underlies the Arctic tundra — is beginning to thaw as well, with scientists concerned that this will release huge amounts of greenhouse gases stored there. But Read More...
The Mexican gray wolf population in the US rose sharply in 2019
Exciting news from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In a recent census, researchers discovered that the US population of endangered Mexican gray wolves jumped by 24 percent last year. That’s especially exciting for conservationists who haven’t seen a leap in numbers that high since 2014. The Read More...
Thunberg says COVID-19 demonstrates power of large-scale collective action
COVID-19 has quickly shut down global schools, travel, and production. Its effect on society is nearly unprecedented. Climate activist Greta Thunberg remarks that while the global event is catastrophic, it does demonstrate the human ability to act fast in the face of a crisis Thunberg, who Read More...
Self-isolation has been a surprising boost for citizen science
The Rainfall Rescue Project was launched in the UK just last week to help scientists understand past rainfall variations—and a big part of doing that requires digitizing old written records. In what can be considered a little silver lining of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists have been amazed Read More...
Fabric is freshwater-intensive. These students have a saltwater alternative
Producing fabrics often relies heavily on scarce freshwater. In fact, just one kilogram of cotton requires as much as 20,000 liters of freshwater to be made. To tackle the overconsumption of freshwater by the fashion industry, students from the Royal College of Art have created an alternative Read More...
Algae-based alternatives to plastic are becoming hard to ignore
Biobased materials, particularly in the thorny realm of bioplastics, are a polarizing subject. But for as many systemic kinks that their management lays bare, the slew of potential long-term benefits to swapping out petroleum-based products for plant-based alternatives is hard to ignore. While Read More...
New bacteria discovered in landfills feasts on hard-to-recycle plastic
Nowadays, green-minded scientists and innovators are fighting an ongoing battle against the global plastic pollution problem, looking for new ways to reduce the unsurmountable build-up of waste that ends up in landfills or destroying ecosystems. One of the most compelling recent discoveries Read More...