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.
The largest oil refinery on the East Coast is closing for good
It’s official! On Thursday, a federal judge finally confirmed the Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan of Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), the company that ran the benzene-polluting mega refinery that closed after bursting into flames last June. The plan includes the sale of PES’s 1,300-acre Read More...
The milkman reimagined: Delivery service Loop launches next month
One of the most ambitious attempts to eliminate plastic waste from weekly groceries is set to launch next month. The Loop, as it’s called, will be a major new online service backed by the world’s biggest brands that will deliver products ranging from soft drinks to washing powder and shampoo in Read More...
How Japan operates the world’s most effective lost and found system
Have you ever lost a cell phone, umbrella, or jacket and wondered where it ended up in the world? Well, if you live in Japan, you stand a much higher chance of reconnecting with your long lost item. The country’s elaborate lost and found system has efficiently mastered how to reconnect items with Read More...
This just-add-water hand wash comes in an envelope through the mail
Considering that less than 5 percent of plastic gets recycled, a number of major brands are experimenting with new models for reusable packaging. To cut the plastic waste that comes with liquid hand soap bottles, a Stockholm-based company called Forgo is taking a clever new approach by sending Read More...
Hobbyists are saving the extraordinary killifish from extinction
Killifish biology has long intrigued fish enthusiasts and scientists. But human encroachment, habitat loss, and climate change are dwindling killifish populations in the wild. Thankfully, collection efforts by conservationists are saving these creatures. The conservationists distribute specimens Read More...
How Vienna is using culture to go car-free
Last year, we wrote about a new transit app being used in Miami called Velocia, which rewards commuters for ditching the car in favor of taking public transit, biking, or simply walking. It was an exciting piece for us to share with you because it represented a novel approach to motivating people Read More...
Outstanding Foods launches PigOut Rinds, a meat-free pork rind snack
Dave Anderson, creator of the Beyond Burger is back, this time with meatless pork rinds. Distributed by Outstanding Foods, PigOut Rinds come as a sequel to the company’s successful PigOut Chips, a line of vegan bacon chips. The new product launched this week and the plant-based pork rinds are Read More...
A design firm in LA is creating bioplastics that absorb smog
Plastic pollution is one of the worst symptoms of our times. That’s why we’re not shy to publish stories that explore eco-friendly alternatives to the petroleum-based plastics we use every day. And while we have written about bioplastics that are compostable or that are made from waste streams Read More...
The film industry is starting to clean up its act—beyond award shows
It’s nice and all that, that award shows such as the Golden Globes and the Oscars are serving plant-based foods and forgoing plastic water bottles, but it's on the sets of films where the movie industry can actually make a big environmental impact. After all, producing a film is akin to a Read More...
This compostable packaging tells you if food has gone bad
“Best-by” labels can be somewhat deceiving at times. The label tells us when the product is still at its prime, but it doesn’t really inform the consumer if the products can still be safe to eat or not. This ambiguity on the label can in part contribute to the issue of food waste. Sure, we Read More...