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.
New York City to get 250 miles of protected bike lanes in move to improve safety
There are nearly 800,000 people who cycle the streets of New York regularly. But due to the city’s lack of adequate road infrastructure for bicycles, safety remains a serious issue for many riders and potential cyclists. Now that’s set to change as the city council gets prepared to build Read More...
How a team of goats saved the Ronald Reagan library from wildfires
Back in April, a squadron of 500 goats was released on the lands that surround Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Los Angeles. Why? To munch their way through around 13 acres of scrubland around the library that could’ve provided tinder-like fuel to a wildfire--one that would arrive some 7 Read More...
Greta Thunberg declines environmental prize: ’The climate doesn’t need awards’
We already knew that Greta Thunberg was the coolest teenager around, but she proved it once again this week after refusing to accept a “prestigious” environmental award. The young climate activist had won the Nordic Council’s annual environment prize, which comes with a prize sum of 350,000 Read More...
Toronto’s garbage trucks will run on biofuel made from the city’s food scraps
Garbage trucks in Toronto are becoming cleaner - that is, environmentally speaking - as the city has recently launched an initiative to power the vehicles using biogas produced from the very trash they collect. Starting in March 2020, the city’s fleet of garbage trucks will collect all of the Read More...
Guyana is calling on tourists to save its rainforests
Electric blue morpho butterflies, giant river otters, and bright orange cock-of-the-rock birds: The Guiana Shield is a vast region of north-east South America with 1,000 bird species and 269 known amphibians. Like Patagonia, which we discussed a few weeks ago, this region is calling on tourism to Read More...
Italian architect wants to build smart city in Mexico with 7.5 million plants
Italian architect Stefano Boeri has unveiled plans to create a forested smart city in Cancun, Mexico, that is designed to be a "pioneer" of more eco-efficient developments. Smart Forest City Cancun is intended to be built on a 557 hectare site near the Mexican city. According to the architect, Read More...
These billionaires just made the biggest climate change research donation ever
Lynda and Stewart Resnick are the owners of Wonderful Company, the largest single producers of almonds and pistachios in the world. That means that if anyone is worried about the consequences of what the climate crisis can be for agriculture, it’s them. After all, their business depends on a Read More...
NGOs and governments join forces to protect Central America’s largest forests
Mesoamerica’s five greatest forests are home to more than 7.5 percent of the planet’s biodiversity, such as the jaguar and the endangered Baird’s tapir. In an effort to ensure the protection of these lush wildlife habitats, NGOs, together with national governments and local communities, have Read More...
Here are 3 carbon capture programs you can support
Transforming the entire economy to get to net-zero emissions, something that scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, will require massive and complicated transformations of nearly every aspect of society. But if you want to act on climate change now as an Read More...
California wildfires prove there’s never been a better time for microgrids
Motivating people to switch to new technologies can be nearly impossible if old technologies work just fine. It’s much easier if people can see for themselves that those new technologies are a far better solution. This is certainly the case in California right now. For years the Optimist has Read More...