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.
Beer hops beneficial to honey bees
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies reached all-time highs throughout the US between 2007 through 2009. Though several factors have been linked to CCD, varroa mites (Varroa destructor) remain as a major pest of honey bees throughout the world, often forcing Read More...
More than 200 whales swim away after New Zealand stranding
Whale lovers in New Zealand finally got some good news on Sunday after more than 200 stranded whales managed to refloat themselves overnight and swim away, while volunteers managed to save another 17 whales at high tide. More than 650 Read More...
Microfibers are polluting our food chain. This laundry bag can stop that
For the past three years, Alexander Nolte and Oliver Spies, surfing buddies and co-owners of Langbrett, a German retailer with four stores that sells surf gear and outdoor apparel, have been haunted by news reports connecting many of the products they sell to an emerging but serious environmental Read More...
This high-quality ink is made from air pollution harvested from vehicle tailpipes
What if the ugly, in this case air pollutants, could give birth to something beautiful? One of our most common industrial outputs, soot, has a harmful effect on human and environmental health, but thanks to some resourceful thinking and innovation in pollution capture technology, combined with the Read More...
Republican senior statesmen are pushing for a carbon tax
Not all Republicans are skeptics of climate change. In fact, a group of Republic senior statesmen are pushing for a carbon tax to combat the effects of climate change. They want to put in place a gradually increasing carbon tax, with dividends being returned to the people, as well as border Read More...
In Paris you can pee to grow flowers
Nocturnal peeing is a problem. It leaves an unpleasant stench that is surprisingly costly and labor intensive to clean up. For example: Paris scrubs 1,800 square miles of pavement every day. So, cities are working hard to find a fix: Amsterdam has retractable toilets that rise from the ground. Read More...
And here's a guide to reducing your plastics consumption
And what about plastics? At the rate in which we create and consume plastics, soon there will be more pieces of plastic in the ocean than there are fish. So what can you do? First: You should try to avoid plastic packaging. If you truly can’t, make sure the packaging is a straightforward polymer Read More...
You can reprint this paper 80 times without using a drop of ink
While the production of lab-grown leather can eliminate a major issue within the fashion industry, researchers from around the world have come up with a solution to an even greater environmental problem: Paper waste. According to the Paperless Project, the average office worker goes through 10,000 Read More...
Growing leather to protect animals and save the environment
The global economy runs on production and consumption, creating a relentless demand for the world’s most precious resources. It’s an unsustainable system, one that, without care, will lead to a complete depletion of the earth’s natural resources. That’s why innovative solutions are needed Read More...
Is America's most common pesticide responsible for killing our bees?
The most widely used class of insecticides in the world is facing a slow death. Called neonicotinoids, or neonics, these bug killers have long been used to coat seeds or treat millions of acres of farmland in the US. Research showing that they sicken or kill bees and other pollinators has already Read More...