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.
Dark ocean bacteria discovered to play large role in carbon capture
Marine bacteria that live in the dark depths of the ocean play a newly discovered and significant role in the global carbon cycle, according to a new study published in Science. The "dark ocean" - everything that lies below 200 meters - makes up 90 Read More...
Fighting climate change starts with what you put on your plate
While meat is considered to be the main food-related contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, there are plenty of highly processed foods that also add to emissions. Worst of all, these processed foods such as salty snacks and sweets add to the burden of greenhouses gases without doing anything for Read More...
India's farmer network is saving seeds from climate change
Every gardener knows that native weeds can be harder to kill than that one precious, exotic flower that seems ready to droop at the slightest affront. Yet few seem aware that the same principles apply to the Read More...
Swimming against the stream: Seafood company uses data to clean up the oceans
Tuna itself may be good for the heart, but the levels of mercury often found in tuna can wreak havoc on your body over time. To ensure its tuna is free from harmful levels of mercury, a fishing company has mercury standards ten times stricter than the FDA recommends, which it enforces using an Read More...
Georgia is planting a special carbon-capturing crop alongside its highway
On a stretch of highway in Georgia, a project to create the world’s first sustainable highway is currently underway. A solar farm has been installed on the shoulder and “solar pavement” has been paved on the roads, and now a special crop is being planted along the road to absorb carbon. Read More...
Urban wildlife plays a key role in keeping us humans healthy
Sharing our city blocks with trees, birds, and other animals is a good thing. As strange as it sounds, urban wildlife helps control the spread of diseases typically passed from animals to humans. Unfortunately, as the world continues to urbanize, more and more of the natural spaces found within Read More...
London’s iconic red buses to run on biofuel made from waste coffee grounds
Coffee powers more than just people, it’s also starting to power public transportation in London. Using a technique that extracts oil from waste coffee grounds, a technology firm has been able to create a biofuel that will be used to help power some of London’s famous busses starting this week. Read More...
Reduce, reuse, reboot: why electronic recycling must up its game
Tech powers many things, including cognitive dissonance. A few years ago I was travelling through Agbogbloshie, the commercial district in Accra, known as a graveyard for electronic waste, a hotspot for digital Read More...
How your investments impact climate change
How do people lower their carbon footprint? They may buy an electric vehicle or put solar panels on their roofs. They may eat less beef or eat no meat at all. Maybe they reuse their plastic bags each time they go to the supermarket. Everything helps, but there’s one thing that really has a big Read More...
How dirt can clean the air
Soil management doesn't sound snazzy, but scientists say it offers huge potential for keeping carbon emissions in the ground—and out of the atmosphere. A paper published this week in the journal Scientific Reports estimates that improved Read More...