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.
In the future, air conditioners could capture carbon rather than creating it
The air-conditioner has become somewhat of a poster child for climate change, cooling your home while eating lots of energy and spewing heat and emissions into the atmosphere. But what if we could weaponize air conditioning units to help pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere instead? According Read More...
A new algorithm is helping California scrub thousands of cannabis convictions
In the US, having a criminal record has dramatic consequences on your ability to live a normal life. From not being able to buy a home to being rejected from a job, one conviction can make it almost impossible for a person to assimilate back into society. This reality is especially sour for people Read More...
How close is Apple to fulfilling its circular ambitions?
Since Apple announced in 2017 its ambitious goal of making all new iPhones, Macs and other products from 100 percent recycled or renewable materials, its progress has been hard to track. Last month, however, Apple grounded its aspirations in action, publicly sharing materials recovery rates and Read More...
25 endangered bird species in the UK debut on the country’s singles chart
More than 40 million birds have vanished from the UK skies in just 50 years, 56 species are currently in decline, and one in ten of UK’s wildlife are critically endangered. However, only 15 percent of people in the UK realize that nature is in crisis, and even more worryingly, over a quarter of Read More...
Los Angeles just announced its own Green New Deal
Los Angeles has big plans to clean up its smoggy, traffic-filled image. This week, while Congress is only discussing the Green New Deal, Los Angeles is announcing a version of their own—an ambitious plan to transform itself in order to tackle climate change. Under the plan, LA plans to run on 55 Read More...
World’s first ‘biosolar leaf’ to tackle pollution on London campus
Reducing the amount of heat-trapping emissions we are putting into the atmosphere is imperative in order to reverse climate change. But scientists and campaigners have warned repeatedly that governments are dangerously falling behind in meeting the rate of carbon emission reductions needed to Read More...
Surprisingly enough, central banks are leading calls for climate action
As groups of Extinction Rebellion protestors glued themselves to public transit and closed down large swathes of central London last week in a series of demonstrations that continued Thursday, a very different group was gathering just a couple hours’ train journey away in Paris. They, too, Read More...
This foundation is on a mission to plant 100 million trees by 2022
The largest non-profit dedicated to planting trees announced a special goal during America’s oldest environmental celebration: Arbor Day. The non-profit, which goes by the name Arbor Day Foundation, made it known to the world that it wants to plant 100 million trees by 2022. As the foundation Read More...
Washington becomes first state to make human composting legal
Isn’t it weird that humanity has advanced so far when it comes to technology, and yet, we have only two options for disposing of human bodies after death? There’s a traditional burial, which requires wood and steel and means leaking dangerous chemicals into the ground, and cremation, which both Read More...
The London Marathon replaced plastic bottles with edible seaweed pouches
If you’ve ever been to a huge sporting event such as a marathon, you’re probably aware of the massive amount of plastic waste that gets left behind. The London marathon is usually no different, but this year, the organizers arranged for participants to be handed edible pods made of seaweed Read More...