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.
This 6-point plan leads the way to a new carbon economy
If we want to maintain average global temperatures at or below 1.5°C preindustrial levels and avoid runaway climate change, we must build a new carbon economy that sequesters more carbon than it emits. So where to begin? According to researchers, these are the six priorities we must give our Read More...
China and California have joined forces in the fight against climate change
By the time the landmark Paris agreement was ratified in 2015, climate change was one of the rare issues on which China and the United States — the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 polluters, respectively — could find common purpose. This shared purpose was dealt a serious setback when the Trump Read More...
The Ocean Cleanup system is on its way to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
After five years of gathering money through crowdfunding and testing different prototypes, the Ocean Cleanup aimed at cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is finally heading out to sea. The Ocean Cleanup uses currents and waves to collect trash in the system’s center. Floating particles Read More...
Carlsberg becomes first company to ditch plastic six-pack rings
Danish brewing giant Carlsberg has come up with an innovative replacement for the plastic six-pack rings that holds its beer together. After testing more than 4,000 different adhesive formulations, Carlsberg settled on using a type of strong glue that firmly holds cans together but allows them to Read More...
The Future of Water
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Why goats are in crazy demand in America’s West Coast
Across California and the West, goats are being dispatched to overgrown patches of land to chomp down vegetation and help create firebreaks to prevent fires from jumping from woodlands to homes and businesses. Thanks to their voracious appetites—goats can eat up to 10 pounds of vegetation per Read More...
Indian safaris saved the Bactrian camel from going extinct
The double-humped Bactrian camel used to carry heavy lands along the rugged terrain of the Silk Road. With the closure of the Silk Road, many were left abandoned in the Nubra Valley in the north of India. Overlooked and uncared for, their numbers dwindled, pushing them to the brink of extinction. Read More...
A massive cleanup of the Great Pacific Ocean Patch is about to get underway
Years ago, a young Dutch entrepreneur designed a system that could effectively clean up tons of plastic in the ocean using the water’s currents. Now that system is actually getting ready to launch a massive cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on September 8. The ultimate goal of the Read More...
These three things could help the world solve its air-conditioning problem
Air-conditioning is one of the world’s great overlooked industries. Automobiles and air-conditioners were invented at roughly the same time, and both have had a huge impact on where people live and work. Unlike cars, though, air-conditioners have drawn little criticism for their social impact, Read More...
Conservationists in Louisiana are turning to oysters to save the state’s wetlands
Louisiana’s wetlands play a pivotal role for the state. They underpin Louisiana’s seafood industry and are home to key infrastructures, like pipes that carry oil and gas all the way up to Washington DC. On top of that, the wetlands are a natural barrier against storms and flooding. Read More...