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.
India and Ikea are giving single-use plastics the boot
Single-use plastics are finally getting the negative attention they deserve, and it’s leading companies and governments to take action. To coincide with World Environment Day, the government of India announced it will be banning single-use plastics from all of its 22 states by 2022. That’s a Read More...
Plastic pollution is a problem — These kids are working for a solution
Sometimes a couple of kids can help change the world. Siblings Carter and Olivia Ries founded their nonprofit One More Generation (OMG) in 2009, when they were just 8 and 7 years old, out of a desire to protect the world's endangered species. Their journey to heal the planet has taken them Read More...
Help us reach the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge!
I've been in the process of making our yard more pollinator friendly, and was delighted this year to see what I believe to be our first monarch butterfly in the garden. (It may have been a viceroy. I do get confused.) There's something immensely powerful about taking steps to beautify your own Read More...
Cost plunges for capturing carbon dioxide from the air
Pulling carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and using it to make synthetic fuel seems like the ultimate solution to climate change: Instead of adding ever more CO2 to the air from fossil fuels, we can simply recycle the same CO2 molecules over and over. But such technology is expensive—about $600 Read More...
Finally, the world’s first zero-waste biodegradable bra has been created
Bras can be made from a variety of unsustainable materials, from water-intensive cotton, to spandex and petroleum-based foam for padding. So once they’re tossed, these synthetic fibers will sit in landfills and take forever to disappear. To lessen bras’ impact on the earth, a lingerie designer Read More...
50 countries are actively targeting plastics. That’s a good start
Kenya has banned plastic bags, the Galapagos will ban single-use plastics, Sri Lanka will ban styrofoam and China is insisting on biodegradable bags. These are some of the recent developments to come out of a UN report, which outlined that fifty nations around the world are now taking action to Read More...
How Indonesia could help solve the world’s plastic problem
Since the world is currently too reliant on conventional plastics, we need to produce bioplastics that don’t destroy the planet. Seaweed is so far the best candidate for use in bioplastics as it is both cheap and can be grown without land or fertilizers, and the best place to grow seaweed is in Read More...
India will abolish all single-use plastic by 2022, vows Narendra Modi
India will eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022, prime minister Narendra Modi has announced. The pledge is the most ambitious yet of the global actions to combat plastic pollution that are taking place in 60 nations around the world. Modi’s move aims to drastically stem the Read More...
Each car in London costs society £8,000 due to air pollution, report finds
Air pollution from cars and vans racks up health bills of nearly £6bn every year in the UK, according to a new report by researchers at the universities of Oxford and Bath. The costs to both the NHS and society at large were highest in cities, and diesel vehicles were the worst offenders in Read More...
Fashion has become disposable. This subscription model could change that
Of the 10 T-shirts the average consumer buys in a year, six might end up in the landfill. A fashion brand is attempting to stamp out this wasteful consumption of clothing through a new subscription model where, instead of owning T-shirts, you can use them until you get an inevitable stain or hole. Read More...