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.
How to be a conscious consumer, even on a budget
Sociologist Joseph Cohen once said, “America is a place where the luxuries are cheap and the necessities are expensive.” While we might feel like our lives are overrun with cheap goods, it can be difficult to shop more sustainably when it feels like the greener options eat away at your Read More...
30 major cities around the world are seeing their emissions plummet
When the Paris Agreement was signed four years ago, a major focus was on the role that cities would play in cutting emissions. After all, urbanization means more people are living in cities than in rural areas, and that trend will only continue in the coming years. And while progress has been a bit Read More...
Money talks: what's yours saying about the environment?
So you bring your own bag to the grocery store, you carpool to work and are cutting down on your meat consumption. Looking for something more to shrink your personal carbon footprint? Changing the way you manage your money can actually help make your lifestyle more sustainable. Here are eight ways Read More...
This new app could save whales in Puget Sound from boat strikes
Unfortunately, there’s one thing in the sea that’s bigger than whales: boats. And every once a while, a boat strikes a whale, causing serious injury or even death. To stop such tragedies from happening any longer, Washington State Ferries implemented a whale report alert system (WRAS) app that Read More...
Dove and Vaseline producer Unilever announces plans to reduce plastic use by 2025
Even if you haven’t heard of Unilever, chances are you still have used some of their products. The British-Dutch conglomerate is massive, with companies such as Ben & Jerry’s, Vaseline, and Dove under its belt. Considering its giant size, it was encouraging to hear that Unilever has Read More...
Meet Holly, the glorious winner of this year’s Fat Bear Week
Last week we couldn’t resist publishing a story on Fat Bear Week: an entire week dedicated to the brown bears of Katmai National Park who have stuffed themselves as much as possible in preparation for the winter hibernation. To celebrate the amazing sight of giant, chubby bears roaming the Read More...
Public buses are finally on schedule in New York, thanks to traffic restrictions
These are good days for public buses in New York City. After years and years of crawling behind the traffic and yellow cabs, busses are actually running ahead of schedule. Why? Because the city’s Department of Transportation has been restricting the number of vehicles that can travel on Read More...
Paris just opened a cemetery dedicated to green burials
In a 2017 study, the City of Paris discovered something rather shocking about traditional burial practices: the average burial generates, on average, 833 kilograms (or almost 1 ton) of carbon dioxide, which is nearly the equivalent of a round-trip flight between Paris and New York. Part of those Read More...
Turns out painting the streets white doesn’t make cities cooler
At The Optimist Daily, we’re here to bring you solutions. It’s what we do. But when we offer solutions and they don’t pan out like expected, we recognize the importance of relaying that information. The following is one of those cases. Many cities in warmer climates have been painting Read More...
How land protection can actually promote employment—especially in rural areas
There’s a debate about whether or not land conservation can also help local economies. On the one hand, some worry that land protection inhibits economic growth by restricting local resource use or building opportunities. On the other hand, there are those who say land protection can support Read More...