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.
This city in India offers free meals in exchange for plastic waste
It’s no brainer that plastic waste is harmful to the environment. A lot of people and organizations around the world are doing their bit in tackling the issue, however, a lot more needs to be done. In a rather brilliant manner to help save the environment, India just launched its very first Read More...
France and other countries in the EU are seeing their forests grow in size
With all the news about increasing deforestation rates around the world, you might form the idea that losing forests is a common trend in all parts of the globe. However, that’s not necessarily true. Four years ago, for example, France set up one of its newest regional natural parks - the Read More...
The cargo ships of the future might use traditional sails to lower emissions
The vast majority of products that move globally, from jeans to bananas to cars, travel on cargo ships that generate around 3 percent of global emissions (for context, aviation generates 2 percent). And while shipping companies such as Maersk are investing heavily in new technologies to reduce Read More...
Biologists discovered a human-sized jellyfish off the coast of England
Coming across a jellyfish while scuba diving is already a pretty amazing experience, but imagine spotting a jellyfish the same size as you beneath the waves. Well, that’s exactly what happened for biologist Lizzie Daly and underwater cameraman Dan Abbot this past weekend off the coast of Read More...
Engineers have created a robot that plants baby coral in damaged reefs
Right now, the world’s reefs are “losing corals faster than they can be naturally replaced.” In a bid to restore degraded reef systems, a team of engineers in Australia has developed a robot that seeds the reefs with coral that can live at higher temperatures. You see, corals typically Read More...
British woodlands to see native bears and wolves for the first time in 1000 years
For more than 1000 years England's woodlands have been devoid of wild animals such as bears and wolves. Now, after a number of rewilding initiatives, native bears and wolves are coming snout to muzzle with each other among towering oaks and ashes in a slice of the country’s woodlands. European Read More...
The shipping industry will be forced to use cleaner fuels in less than 6 months
From the return of sails on cargo ships to shipping giant Maersk’s quest to drastically reduce emissions, the shipping industry has been in the spotlight this week at The Optimist Daily—and for good reason: as one of the highest polluting industries in the world, much has to change in order to Read More...
There will be no whaling season in Iceland this year
Hunting whales has long been a part of Iceland’s tradition, but that tradition is set to expire after the island nation suspended commercial whale hunting this year. Demand by tourists for “traditional” minke whale meat in Icelandic restaurants has partially driven the hunt for minke whales Read More...
The in’s and out’s of Maersk’s mission to stop emitting carbon by 2050
Maersk — the world's largest container shipping company — has an astonishing goal. By 2050, the company vows to send goods around the world with zero carbon emissions. The environmental logic behind such a promise is straightforward: Shipping contributes substantially to global climate Read More...
China is now building the world’s largest waste-to-energy plant
On the outskirts of the city of Shenzhen in China, a mammoth structure is being constructed. But this is not just another giant building in China. Instead, it’s set to be the largest waste-to-energy plant the world has ever seen. With a population of 20 million people, the city produces a lot Read More...