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.
These surfers are mobilizing more than 30,000 volunteers to clean ocean plastic
Very few people are as familiar with the problem of ocean plastic as surfers. Tired of riding waves littered with trash, more and more surfers around the world are taking a stand against plastic and finding ways to fight it. In Australia, a duo of surfers created a floating rubbish bin that can Read More...
Scientists closer to finding the optimal eco-friendly replacement for plastic
The quest to keep plastic out of landfills and simultaneously satisfy the needs of the food industry is filled with obstacles. A biodegradable replacement for petroleum-based products has to meet all sorts of standards and, so far, attempts at viable replacements from renewable sources have faced Read More...
Wrapping produce in banana leaves is becoming a trend in Asia
A few weeks ago, we wrote about a supermarket in Thailand that had a surprisingly simple solution to plastic packaging: banana leaves. Instead of wrapping goods such as cucumbers and lettuce in plastic, the store simply used leftover banana leaves. A local real estate person spotted the Read More...
This project shows drones can be the key to restoring the world’s forests
Drones are really starting to prove their worth—beyond just taking cool videos up in the air. Last September, drones were used to drop seeds across abandoned fields in Myanmar where industry or farming once took place. Just a half a year later, tiny mangrove saplings around 20 inches tall are Read More...
Bitcoin mining pollutes the planet. China wants to ban it altogether
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have left their mark on the world, but not in the way most people predicted. In a typical Bitcoin mining operation, powerful banks of computers are dedicated to crunching out “blockchain” numbers and processing transactions. Nearly three-quarters of Read More...
Ecologists are turning to star-spotting cameras to count endangered orangutans
If thermal cameras are capable of spotting distant starts, then they must be capable of finding animals here on Earth, right? Such is the logic of researchers from Liverpool John Moores University who are testing the thermal infrared technology that astrophysicists use to discover stars in order to Read More...
Paris just made the biggest purchase of electric buses Europe has ever seen
Paris has taken a huge step forward in achieving its goal of cleaning up its entire bus fleet by 2025 in a grand effort to curb air pollution. The current bus fleet is mostly made up of old diesel buses, but that’ll change soon after Paris’ public transport operator announced it has ordered up Read More...
This little gadget stops microfibers from going down the washing machine drain
When it comes to stopping microfibers from washing off your clothes and into our waterways, using a washing bag or simply not buying clothes that don’t shed microfibers is the best thing you can do. Unfortunately, for many consumers, taking these precautions is already too much work. Enter the Read More...
Your most basic household products will soon be available in reusable containers
While many of us may want to reduce our consumption of single use plastics, it can be difficult to do so due to the lack of reusable packaging options at conventional grocery stores. The New Jersey based company, TerraCycle, is looking to change this. The company, started by young entrepreneur Tom Read More...
Satellite data can help scientists save endangered shark species
Sharks have patrolled our oceans for more than 400 million years. They survived near-global extinction events and outlived countless other marine species. But according to several studies, shark populations around the world are suffering a serious decline due to human activities like over-fishing, Read More...