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.
Waze believes it can get more people to start carpooling again
Back in the late 1970s, 20 percent of American commuters carpooled. At the moment, that number stands closer to 7 percent. This is problematic considering that carpooling is a good way for us to cut down on the individual emissions that come with traveling. Uber and Lyft have both tried to bring Read More...
Florida’s biggest newsgroups are teaming up to focus more on the climate crisis
When it comes to climate change, no other state has as much at risk as Florida. That’s why six of the leading news organizations in Florida have formed a partnership to share stories and work together to report on the complex challenges of climate change. The founding members include the Miami Read More...
What startups in Europe are doing to tackle the microplastic problem
Microplastics are found everywhere, from the tallest mountain peaks and the deepest ocean trenches to within the bodies of human beings. We know microplastics are killing coral reefs and poisoning fish, and potentially posing a risk to our health. We also know that if we want to fix the problem of Read More...
To save the Monarch butterfly, grow this plant in your garden
Monarch butterflies need all the help they can get. Eastern Monarch populations have plummeted 90 percent in just the last two decades, and their Western comrades aren’t fairing all too much better. This is partially to blame on the loss of milkweed in America, a perennial flower that serves Read More...
Tobacco manufacturers to be held accountable for cigarette butt pollution
While it's all fine and dandy that plastic straws are being eliminated from popular use, the cigarette butt has largely evaded such regulation despite being the biggest ocean contaminant. Americans alone toss 360 billion cigarette butts each year – enough to fill almost four baseball Read More...
Round 2: The Ocean Cleanup project has been redeployed to capture plastic
The Ocean Cleanup project was heralded as the big solution we needed to the problem of ocean plastic. Then it broke. The 2,000 ft long floating boom that uses currents to collect waste fell apart under constant waves and wind, and it wasn’t successful in retaining all the plastic it caught. But Read More...
Why beekeeping is big business these days
How do beekeepers make most of their money? While honey may seem like the obvious answer, the real answer is that beekeepers make most of their money from pollination services where they provide hives to farmers. Just look to California where nearly 80 percent of the world’s almonds are grown. Read More...
How hemp crops can help save pollinators during the summer months
For honeybees, the months between July and September aren’t the finest months for collecting pollen in America—which is problematic considering these are the months that honeybees are supposed to thrive. The reason behind this is that there’s a lack of farm crops during that time that Read More...
Researchers have finally found a greener way to produce graphene
We’ve written about graphene before and for good reason: it is extremely strong, ultra-thin, and has an excellent electrical and thermal conductivity that opens up all kinds of possibilities. The only problem is that producing it is resource-intensive and expensive. But that’s all set to change Read More...
These companies are turning CO2 into useful products
Until recently, it was assumed that companies burning fossil-fuels would eventually need to capture the resulting carbon emissions and bury them underground. This option turned out to be inefficient and costly. That’s why innovators have been digging for new ideas that would eventually slash the Read More...