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.
Companies are already capturing CO2 and turning it into something good
New companies are capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and are putting it to good use. A couple of factories in Italy and Canada are sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and turning it into carbon-neutral fuel. These technologies could make ground for a “new carbon economy” where captured Read More...
The European Union will get rid of single-use plastic by 2021
The EU has adopted the most ambitious legislation against single-use plastics ever proposed. Members of the European Parliament voted to ban a range of single-use plastics such as straws, cotton buds, and cutlery. The legislation targets the top 10 single-use items that litter Europe’s beach or Read More...
Some of the countries leading on climate change might surprise you
Countries that may not be thought of as climate leaders are emerging at the front-lines on responding to climate change. One great example is Read More...
Reduction is no longer enough: Welcome to the new age of carbon removal
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions isn’t enough. The stark report in early October by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, exhorting companies and countries to move quickly to throttle global warming, is fueling heightened interest in high-tech and low-tech solutions for sucking the Read More...
Residents of this Indonesian city can trade plastic bottles for bus tickets
Istanbul isn't the only city where recycling can be rewarded with a reduction in transportation costs. In Indonesia, the city of Surabaya allows residents to get free bus rides in exchange for used plastic bottles and cups. Under the new recycling initiative, a two-hour bus ticket costs up to five Read More...
Startup accelerator to fund ambitious efforts to rid our atmosphere of CO2
To prevent accelerated climate change and the catastrophic consequences that are bound to follow it, new efforts must come about to capture the already existing CO2 in the atmosphere. Y Combinator, a leadership development company, wants to bring businesses into play to take much wilder approaches Read More...
How blockchain could help to protect the world’s forests
Deforestation is responsible for an estimated 15 percent of global emissions every year. Since Europe and North America deforested much of their forested land long ago, most of this deforestation is occurring in the tropics, an area that also happens to be home to a staggering 50 bazillion Read More...
How a regenerative revolution could reverse climate change
Earlier this month the world’s leading climate scientists released the most urgent warning on climate change to date. It describes the implications of our current warming trajectory, including dire food shortages, large-scale human migration and crises ranging from a mass die-off of coral reefs Read More...
The Boring Company’s first tunnel beneath LA will open to the public in December
The Los Angeles public will get their first ride on Elon Musk’s underground public transportation system quicker than expected. In December, the two-mile test tunnel built beneath SpaceX’s headquarters will offer free rides on autonomously driven electric platforms called “skates.” The Read More...
Recycling bottles in the UK can help drivers pay for parking costs
It’s difficult to regard the process of recycling as inconvenient when it can pay for your parking. That’s how a parking service provider in the UK is encouraging people to recycle plastic bottles. Every 0.5l bottle that is recycled takes 20p off motorists’ car parking vouchers. This may seem Read More...