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.
Coal power is becoming ‘uninsurable’ as major insurance firms refuse coverage
It was a historic year in the fight against coal power as ten major insurance firms moved to restrict the insurance coverage they offer to companies that build or operate coal power plants, taking the global total to 17. 2019 saw the number of insurers refusing coverage for coal projects more than Read More...
To solve deep-seated inequality, we must grow poor regions from the bottom up
Concentrated poverty has long been a problem in urban centers and parts of the rural South, but these days it has spread across many parts of the country. Sadly enough, regional inequality has deepened and the middle class has declined—the result of a long history of class and racial division, Read More...
Vancouver’s New Year’s resolution: no more styrofoam containers
The styrofoam container is the trademark of the takeout meal, but Vancouver is getting set to eliminate it. For the new year, the city has set a resolution to reduce single-use waste with a ban on all foam takeout containers starting January 1, 2020. The ban comes a year after New York City’s Read More...
These four projects are stopping plastic from entering our oceans via rivers
Most ocean plastic starts off in rivers, so if we want to keep the ocean free of plastic, it’s essential we intercept river plastic before it enters the sea. Fortunately, there are already four projects that are doing a seriously good job of capturing plastic in rivers. Let’s take a look at Read More...
Are glass milk bottles making a comeback in the UK?
What happened to the days where the so-called “milkman” would come by your house and drop off glass bottles of milk? Well, single-use plastics and cheaper packaging came around and eliminated the demand for recyclable glass bottles. Soon enough, disposable milk packaging became the norm. But Read More...
Hurrah! The Mexican wolf has been removed from extinct species list
Conservation efforts to protect the lobo mexicano in Mexico and the United States are paying off. The Mexican wolf, which has been on the extinct species list for years, has been taken off the list thanks to conservation and breeding efforts that began in the late 1970s when former wolf trapper Roy Read More...
Only 12% of the banana plant is used. This process turns the rest into bioplastic
The growing of bananas is a particularly wasteful form of agriculture, with only 12 percent of the plant actually being used. The pseudostem makes up much of the rest, and while it can be composted or used in the production of textiles, it's usually just thrown away. In order to bring new value Read More...
Why the MTA flooded its own subway entrance in Brooklyn
A flooded subway entrance stopped Brooklyn commuters in their tracks. For four hours on Wednesday, the staircase leading down to Broadway Station in Williamsburg was blocked off and completely submerged. The sight was even stranger since it hadn’t rained in New York City that day. It turns Read More...
South Korea will close coal plants this winter to combat air pollution
Last March, the government of South Korea declared air pollution to be a “social disaster.” This winter, they are taking steps to mitigate dangerous air quality. The country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy announced it will shut down up to a quarter of the country’s coal-fired Read More...
Paris is showing everyone how to stand up against e-commerce giant Amazon
It seems e-commerce giant Amazon always gets its way, earning billions off its polluting delivery service while never paying a cent for the emissions its responsible for. In fact, the $793 billion company hasn’t even paid federal taxes for the last two years. That’s why it’s incredibly Read More...