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.
Tripping on nature: Could psychedelics save the environment?
Research into the mind-melding effects of psychedelics is becoming respectable again within the medical community, as therapeutic applications are being discovered. In addition to treating depression, PTSD, and other psychological disorders, tripping on magic mushrooms might serve another purpose - Read More...
This compostable packaging for mushrooms is made out of…mushrooms
Packaging made from mushrooms, for mushrooms, is being tested in the hope that it will keep the fungi fresher longer. Christchurch mushroom grower, Meadow Mushrooms, is trialing the packaging it has developed and made from mushroom stalks, for its own products. The 50-year-old family business Read More...
We finally see mushrooms for what they really are: guardians of our ecosystems
Benefitting both the body and mind, mushrooms are one of the most under-appreciated things on Earth—so much so that we’ve dedicated the week to them. Sunday’s Optimist View covered how psychedelic mushrooms can be used to resolve mental health issues, but we also want to let you know Read More...
These eco-friendly bed sheets were dyed using sound waves
What good is a natural comforter if you’re wrapping yourself in itchy, synthetic sheets? That’s the thinking behind Buffy’s new line of naturally-dyed sheets. The all-natural bedding company has made a set of white eucalyptus-fiber sheets in the past, and now it’s launching a line of Read More...
The Dutch build world’s largest bicycle parking in the city of Utrecht
In a nation with more bikes than people, finding a space to park can be a problem. This prompted the Dutch city of Utrecht to search for a solution which is revealed at its central railway station Monday morning. The solution is the world’s largest multistory parking area for bicycles. Located Read More...
Algae-derived paper filter can help solve Bangladesh’s water crisis
The problem of access to safe drinking water in most parts of Bangladesh is a persistent challenge. Now, a team of scientists shows that a locally growing green macroalgae species could help Bengali people filter virtually all harmful microbes out of their water. The researchers managed to Read More...
Smartphones could soon be able to tell when food is no longer safe to eat
In the UK, one out of three consumers tosses out food solely because it reaches the “use-by” date, but 60 percent (4.2 million tons) of the $15.1 billion worth of food Brits throw away each year is safe to eat. In a bid to bring down this eye-watering amount of wasted food and money, Read More...
Tackling Toxins with Nature’s Super Clean-up Crew: Mushrooms
Aside from being a delicious and nutritious addition to many meals, mushrooms may be the planet’s best and most functional decomposer. In addition to breaking down traditional objects found in nature, mushrooms have also been found to break down chemicals in soil and heavy metals in water. At Read More...
Meat from Plants, Milk from Oats, and Leather from Mushrooms!
Leather has been worn for centuries and remains an iconic material for fashion today. But leather is not perfect. It requires livestock which requires many resources and the foul treatment of animals and produces millions of tons of waste per year. The word “leather” is quickly becoming Read More...
Colorful basketball courts for a brighter future
It is no doubt that sports and outdoor activities can have beneficial effects on a community. Rainbow Recreation Center in Oakland, California is taking the benefits to a new level. Dan Peterson has begun fixing up basketball courts in urban communities to bring people together and make the area Read More...