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.
Thousands of climate activists just stormed a coal mine in Germany
After school kids woke up the world to the immediacy of the climate crisis with their Fridays4Future school strikes this year, the stage was set for a new wave of civil disobedience protests to urge stronger climate action. A prime example of this happened in Germany this week as thousands of Read More...
Argentina’s wild bees are choosing a strange material to build nests: plastic
The ways that bees adapt to problems created by humans is both brilliant and saddening. Just look to Argentina where researchers have discovered bees constructing nests entirely made of the flimsy plastic packaging material left on farms. From 2017 to 2018, researchers at Argentina's National Read More...
Engineering students develop giant vacuum that sucks plastic from the beach
A remote beach on the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island is known for its trash: In a typical year, volunteers collect around 20 tons of plastic waste from the area as currents wash up old toothbrushes, plastic bottles and other single-use packaging, and mounds of fishing nets. This spring, a Read More...
Pink Floyd frontman’s guitar auction nets $21 million for climate action group
As if former Pink Floyd frontman David Gilmour wasn’t already enough of a legend, the guitarist has just donated $21 million to a climate action group after selling 126 of his guitars in a record-breaking auction in New York. One of those guitars included the iconic black Fender Stratocaster Read More...
Here's what you can do to save the bees!
This week we’re giving a lot of attention to the bee, one of nature’s most important creatures. Why? Because bee populations have been plummeting, and we must do everything in our power to save them. Since bees pollinate almost every major crop, we’d lose one-third of our food sources if bees Read More...
Together with MIT, the Maldives are using waves to fight rising sea levels
As sea levels continue to rise, coastal regions and island nations have to come up with smart solutions to prevent themselves from flooding and sinking altogether. For instance, the Maldives have been working with MIT to develop a wild idea called “Growing Islands” that aims to create a Read More...
How to identify sunscreen that doesn't damage coral reefs
The same stuff you put on to protect your skin from the sun on a day at the beach is killing the coral reefs that live beneath the waves. That is unless you apply reef-safe sunscreens. But it can be rather difficult to tell which sunscreens are actually safe and which ones are just pretending to Read More...
New York is close to enacting one of America’s most aggressive climate bills
In recent months, we’ve written about New York’s grand climate plans, which aim to achieve a net-zero economy in New York by 2050. At the time of writing, those ambitious plans still had to jump over several hurdles before they became official policy. Flash forward to today, and those plans are Read More...
The singing of the world’s rarest whales has been recorded for the first time
The North Pacific right whale is one of the rarest whales on the planet. In fact, these slow-moving whales were nearly wiped out due to intensive whaling, with only about 30 of these precious animals remaining. That’s why it’s wonderful news that marine biologists have recorded singing by one Read More...
Boston is launching a new curbside compositing initiative for city residents
Boston is going all-in on composting in order to help reach its goal of being carbon-neutral by midcentury. Under a new plan from Mayor Marty Walsh, Boston will provide citywide composting pickup, meaning that city residents will now be able to place their food and gardening waste curbside to be Read More...