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.
German ministry goes vegetarian to set example for climate policy
Eating less meat is a major contribution to the fight against climate change. Governments should set the example. That’s why Germany's Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks is only serving vegetarian food at official functions. The food served at official events should also be organic, Read More...
50,000 new seeds deposited in arctic circle's Svalbard global seed vault
Nearly 10 years ago, a group of scientists got together to build the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Arctic Circle, to prepare for a world threatened by climate change, wars, and natural disasters. According to The Crop Trust, an organization that supports the storage facility, the vault holds Read More...
The first 100 percent recyclable carpets are here
Second only to diapers when it comes to taking up landfill space, around 3.5 billion pounds of carpet are tossed each year in the U.S. And because carpets made up of such a complex array of chemicals, they’re next to impossible to recycle. That’s set to change after Dutch manufacturing company Read More...
Iowa is creating a wildlife sanctuary to help honeybee populations recover
There’s no understating the crucial role bees play in life. Without them, the world would literally have no fruit, nuts, vegetables or seeds. That’s why there is much reason to be alarmed about the drastic decline in bee populations within the U.S. To reverse this trend, the state of Iowa, Read More...
The 12 cities with the most trees around the world
There's a global movement to encourage cities to grow more trees and plan more parks. But which ones have the most green space today? To get a clearer picture, MIT's Senseable Lab partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to create Treepedia, a site with interactive maps that show the density Read More...
Can money grow on trees? A commercial case for regreening the planet
What do chocolate, rubber, nuts, fruit, charcoal and timber all have in common? These products all provide the backbone of major global industries—and they all grow on trees. So in a sense, money does grow on trees. Traditionally conservationists have advocated for protecting trees, not Read More...
Report: Most companies say Trump will have ‘no impact’ on sustainability
Former businessman and new president Donald Trump may be an ardent skeptic of climate change, but that’s not stopping U.S. companies from maintaining their commitment to sustainability. In a new survey consisting of 400 large companies from a cross-section of industries, 60 percent of companies Read More...
Packaging from leftover bamboo to cut down trash in Thailand
Trash is a problem in many developing countries where environmental regulations trail economic development. But the problem of trash can also provide an economic opportunity. This company in Thailand has developed packaging made from the leftover scraps of bamboo chopstick manufacturing. The Read More...
Farmers respond to climate change but don’t talk about it
Talking about climate change is almost politically incorrect in Washington D.C. these days. But farmers in red—Republican—states are responding to the impact of global warming nonetheless. “If politicians want to exhaust themselves debating the climate, that’s their choice,” says one Read More...
Air pollution is finally getting the attention it deserves
“Air pollution” is never written as the cause on death certificates. If it were, it would be the biggest killer in the world. Air pollution causes 6.5 million early deaths a year. That is double the number of people lost to Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, and four times the number Read More...