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.
A 4-person family could save 20,000 gallons of water annually with this recycler
With concerns over water scarcity on the rise, companies are increasingly looking to give people ways to reduce their water consumption. For Hydraloop founder and CEO Arthur Valkieser, the answer was clear: Build a device that gives homeowners and building developers a way to sterilize and reuse Read More...
How you can help the organizations fighting flames and saving lives in Australia
Bushfires unlike anything seen before are blazing across Australia, leaving homes and entire habitats torched in their wake. In all, about 15 million acres have burned across the country – an area roughly the size of West Virginia. The number of animals that have perished as a result, on the Read More...
This garbage disposal addition makes doing dishes easier and greener than ever
A few weeks ago we recommended adopting composting for the ultimate green New Year's Resolution. Now there’s a new gadget that makes composting even easier by combining it with your garbage disposal. The new Sepura disposal separates out liquids and solids and deposits solids into a Read More...
Coal plant closures led to direct drop in emissions across America in 2019
Emissions that cause climate change across the US economy fell an estimated 2 percent in 2019. According to a new report from Rhodium Group, the drop in emissions is entirely due to more coal-fired power plants closing. While it’s imperative that we see emissions drop faster, the reduction in Read More...
Wildlife is flourishing at Fukushima’s human-devoid evacuation areas
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was obviously a terrible event, but because the area has been free of humans for decades, wildlife in the region has been thriving. Now it seems the same is happening in Japan where a nuclear disaster took place on March 11, 2011. Documented by researchers from Read More...
A post-industrial space in Pittsburg is finding a new purpose as an urban park
What do you do with 626 acres of old mining land? When the city of Pittsburgh was faced with the decision in 2016, they decided to turn the large space into an extensive urban open space. After acquiring the land from a developer for $5 million, the city made a plan to spend the next decade Read More...
Computer model can help predict how climate change will affect coniferous forests
As climate change increases the odds of worsening drought in many parts of the world in the decades ahead, it is essential to gain new insights into how to preserve our natural environments. When it comes to forest ecosystems, drought-resistant conifers may hold some answers. In a bid to help Read More...
Earth-friendly material filters pollutants out of stormwater
While it’s often overlooked, stormwater has great potential to solve the problem of strained water supplies in urban areas. One of the main reasons why this resource has gone mostly untapped is because stormwater picks up toxic chemicals as it runs through streets and gutters. Now that may no Read More...
Footage of chimpanzees dancing suggests the urge to dance might be prehuman
If there is one thing that unites humans around the world, it’s that dance is a part of every human culture ever encountered. But while dance has a rich and ancient history in humans, it is considered all but absent in non-human primates. New footage from researchers in Kyoto, however, is telling Read More...
Beijing’s air quality continued to significantly improve in 2019
The Chinese capital of Beijing is a cultural and economic hub for the country, but unfortunately, it is also known for its hazardous air pollution. Seven years after the government launched its “war on pollution” in the city, the area is finally seeing some positive results. The Beijing Read More...