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.
Why women are the key to creating a sustainable future
We need more women at the table to create sustainable cities that drive positive global change. Why? Because women have been shown to take a long-term view and are more willing to engage the difficult issues that have an everyday impact not only on a company’s bottom line but across our society Read More...
New study demonstrates that biodiversity inoculates against extinction
Biodiversity has long been touted as important for staving off extinction. The more kinds of critters you have, in other words, the less likely any one of them—or a whole bunch of them—will disappear forever. The trouble is, no one has ever really demonstrated this idea in a lab setting. Read More...
Blue Planet II will convince you to start giving up plastics
In the new nature documentary series Blue Planet II, narrator Sir David Attenborough and his wonderful voice asks people around the world to start taking plastic pollution more seriously. So far it seems to be working. The BBC, the broadcasting company behind the series, has moved to ban all Read More...
Farming has a huge impact on the environment. Enter carbon trapping
Globally, our food system is thought to account for as much as a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, making it a huge contributor to the effects of climate change. However, there are hopes that the agriculture industry could also be a part of the solution. A paper published in Scientific Read More...
How mushrooms can help us build a greener planet
The real magic behind mushrooms is not their psychedelic properties. It’s the fact that they have special applications that can help us build a greener planet. From making biofuels to eating harmful plastics, here’s how mushrooms can help us solve some of Earth’s most pressing Read More...
How indigenous tribes are saving the bison from extinction
Only a century ago, millions of bison roamed across the North American land, now, indigenous people are fighting to prevent their extinction, and it is working. Native American tribes are continuously negotiating with state officials to allow for the extension of the wild ox’s habitat and try to Read More...
There’s a huge financial incentive for cleaning up the environment
While some people may say that nature is priceless, the truth is that it has an economical value. Economists will tell you that a dirty beach, for instance, has much less value than a clean one. Here’s how economists do the numbers and why there’s a serious financial incentive for keeping the Read More...
EU passes measures to ban single-use plastics by 2021
The European Union has decided to ban single-use plastics in its member states by 2021 in an effort to reduce marine litter. The ban will include throw-away plastics such as cotton buds, cutlery, plates, straws, and polystyrene cups. In regards to other plastic items, the focus will be on limiting Read More...
Scientists develop a new efficient method of capturing CO2 from power plants
Scientists have unveiled an efficient method to turn CO2 emissions from power plants into fuel that could be used for running cars, planes, as well as multi-purpose chemical feedstock. The carbon-capturing technique involves a membrane made from hybrid materials that can absorb enormous quantities Read More...
Agriculture is a big climate problem—now farmers are sharing solutions
Hans Herren began his farm as a hobby almost 20 years ago. He’s been planting grapes and growing apple orchards on an 11-acre plot of land near Napa Valley in Read More...