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.
Bees could play a big role in eliminating the need for spraying pesticides
Bees are great at retrieving tiny cargo: their main job is to visit flowering plants in order to gather pollen and nectar for their hive. Now one pesticide company has gained federal permission to ensure they’re bringing something special along on each trip. The Canadian-based company Bee Read More...
Hurricane Dorian: 7 ways you can help the Bahamas
The satellite images of the Bahamas before and after Hurricane Dorian show just how devastating the Category 5 hurricane was. The Red Cross estimates that as many as 13,000 homes were destroyed, leaving some 70,000 people in the Bahamas homeless on two northern islands. With the situation devolving Read More...
Diapers are a disaster for the environment. Here are some better options
Most babies use between 2,500 and 3,000 disposable diapers in just their first year of life, and they continue requiring diapers until they are potty trained, running the total cost somewhere between $1,500 to $2,000 for diapers for one baby, on average. Not to mention, disposable diapers account Read More...
How the latest technology can save our coral reefs
As you may have read before, coral reefs around the world have been dying over the past years. Corals are incredibly sensitive to erratic changes in the environment - inculcating higher ocean acidity and temperature. Coral reefs are known as “ocean jungles” - a deserved name seeing that they Read More...
How crowdfunding saved this beautiful fjord from logging
Things that were once impossible to raise enough funds for have now become possible with crowdfunding. In the latest example of such, a foundation in British Columbia, Canada, successfully fundraised $3 million to purchase nearly 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of forest in order to protect it from Read More...
Germany prepares ambitious action plan to protect its declining bug populations
In 2017, researchers in Germany reported a dramatic loss of insects in the country’s nature reserve: 76 percent less biomass over three decades. This is an alarming statistic that, with things left unchanged, could have devastating effects on nature’s ecosystems and our food chains. Now, Read More...
Scientists are turning carbon dioxide into a liquid that powers fuel-cells
While it’s good that we’re finding ways to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it’s even better that we’re finding ways to turn all that CO2 into something good for the planet. Recently, scientists at Rice University have devised an environmentally friendly way to take carbon Read More...
This bat highway allows light-shy bats to cross the road
Highways are a nightmare for animals because they fragment habitats and obstruct the movements of animals. Now, you wouldn't think that flying animals would have a problem with roads, but as it turns out, some bats do. Not with the roads themselves, but with the street lights. Many bat species will Read More...
A New Orleans local listed a pothole on Airbnb to get the city to fix it
After waiting years for the city to fix their streets, a resident of the Irish Channel neighborhood in New Orleans did something a bit outside the box to get the attention of city officials: he listed a local pothole on Airbnb. The listing is called “Homer’s Hideout”, and the description of Read More...
Find out when the autumn leaves will look their best in your area
The changing colors of the leaves is a trademark sign of the start of autumn, but when that happens all depends on where you live. In certain parts of the country—we’re looking at you, central Rockies—foliage begins to change colors as early as mid-September, peaking by the end of the Read More...