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.
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...
Why the Green New Deal can help to fix economic inequality in America
The much-hyped Green New Deal, which laid out the broad strokes of a U.S. transition to green energy by 2030, failed in Congress. But its champions haven’t given up. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and other like-minded legislators are working on a series of smaller bills Read More...
Every city and town should have a tool library
The tool library: it’s a brilliant concept that embodies the true meaning of the shared economy. At its core, a tool library is a place where civilians can rent or borrow community-owned tools such as hammers and drills instead of having to buy separate tools themselves. Having a tool library in Read More...
This Swiss entrepreneur just donated $1 billion towards conservation efforts
Billionaires around the world sit atop mass amounts of money that could go a long way towards solving the world’s climate issues. Take Jeff Bezos, for example. If the head of Amazon donated just one percent of his total wealth towards climate solutions, which would amount to around $1.5 billion, Read More...
Could used coffee grounds hold the key to replacing palm oil?
If you look at the list of ingredients on the labels of your household products, chances are most of them have palm oil included on the list. The problem with palm oil is that it leads to mass deforestation in Southeast Asia, devastating areas that once teemed with life. In search of a solution, a Read More...