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.
New artificial reef at Sydney Opera House will shelter local marine life
Looking to replace some of the natural habitat lost to development in the Sydney Harbor, scientists are set to install an artificial reef outside the iconic Sydney Opera House as a way of preserving local marine biodiversity. The scientists have created specially designed hexagonal-shaped modules, Read More...
Put a price on urban trees – and halt this chainsaw massacre
It’s a grim season for urban trees. The usual bustle of bicycles beneath a grand parade of 140-year-old chestnut trees that crosses Tooting Common, in south London, will cease Read More...
Microbes in flower nectar affect pollination
September 11, 2017 Stanford’s community ecology lab has found that microbes in nectar can affect bird and insect interactions with the flowers and, as a result, whether they get pollinated. Dipping its beak into the sweet nectar of a flower, a Read More...
Zero-waste shop in UK displays how plastic-free lifestyle is possible
Astounded by the sheer amount of waste produced from packaging, a family-run grocery store in the UK has abandoned all forms of packaging to encourage customers to bring any and all of their own reusable containers for packing food. Rather than recycling, customers repurpose old ice-cream tubs or Read More...
Would the world be better off if everyone became vegetarian?
Red meat production, which includes all of the steps that go into supplying animals that turn into hamburgers, takes a toll on the environment in the form of greenhouse gases and the land we use. With that in mind, would the world be ridden of these environmental issues if we just stopped eating Read More...
Why flowering meadows are better than lawns
A groomed, grassy field can be good for certain uses, like sports or picnics. But for broader "ecosystem services" — things like plant pollination, disease control, soil quality and climate regulation — the smart money is in Read More...
Tractor company brings machine learning to farms that will reduce use of chemicals
Agricultural giant Deere & Company has acquired Blue River Technology, which uses machine learning and computer vision to target herbicide spraying at just the weed-infested portions of a farm field. The technology can minimize both waste and the amount of input needed while spraying, saving Read More...
Grand Designs' Kevin McCloud seeks to raise 50m pounds to build 600 homes a year
Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud is seeking to raise up to £50m to build about 600 “beautiful and sustainable” houses a year in a challenge to the soulless, identikit estates built by conventional developers. McCloud’s firm, Read More...
Bolivia sees freefalling pollution levels on nationwide car-free day
When Bolivia banned all non-emergency vehicles from city streets for a day last week, air pollution levels dropped by an astonishing 60-70 percent. The difference in air quality was also noticeably clearer, mostly due to the fact that 70 percent of air contaminants in the country come from Read More...
EU trade deal must protect the Amazon
The proposal to open up the Renca reserve in the Amazon for exploitation by large mining companies would be catastrophic for the earth’s climate, for biodiversity and for local indigenous communities. At the same time, the European Union Read More...