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.
Fantastic beasts: Our secret weapon in combating man-made climate change
In a viral video released late last year, Koko the Gorilla used sign language to call mankind “stupid” and warn about the dangers of global warming. The video was debunked as a skillful editing job, but it wasn’t so hard to believe an animal of Koko’s intelligence would be pissed about Read More...
Hemp can’t get you high but it can support a sustainable economy
Hemp is not the same as marijuana. And that confusion stands in the way of much progress towards more sustainability. Hemp is the industrial strain of Cannabis Sativa. It grows very easily without the need for chemical fertilizers or pesticides and has been used for many purposes—food, fuel Read More...
Europe takes the lead in building urban resilience
An EU-funded project has been helping cities face the future with confidence by tackling climate change, putting the green back into cities, and preventing urban sprawl in new and exciting ways. By the time TURAS, a five-year EU project aimed at making cities better, greener places to live, ended Read More...
This giant vacuum cleaner sucks pollution out of the air
A Dutch company recently unveiled a giant vacuum that sucks pollution right out of the air. The vacuum cleans the air within a 300-meter radius and up to a seven-kilometer height, filtering out 100 percent of fine particles and 95 percent of all ultra-fine particles from ambient air. The company Read More...
Meet the tiny towns taking on climate change
Ugh! Everything is miserable, you might be thinking, plopping down on the couch. Climate change is too big and I’m too tired to deal with it. I’m just going to sit here watch Netflix for eternity. Not so fast, lazypants. Take some inspiration from the tiny communities around the world Read More...
Prince of Wales joins global soil boosting project
The Prince of Wales is joining an Anglo-French government initiative to improve the condition of global soils. Ministers from both governments are meeting the prince to discuss how to improve soil health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farming. Typically the focus of cutting greenhouse Read More...
Sweden is on target to run entirely on renewable energy by 2040
Sweden is on target to run entirely on renewable energy within the next 25 years, a regulatory official has said. Last year, 57 per cent of Sweden's power came from renewables such as hydropower and wind sources, with the remainder coming from nuclear power. The country now plans to tap into its Read More...
Climate-resilient organic cotton stages a comeback
On the outskirts of Raichur, once known as Karnataka’s cotton city, Ramesh Rangappa proudly shows off his recently planted acre of organic cotton. “It’s rain-fed and we haven’t added any chemical fertiliser,” he says. Although there hasn’t been any rain in recent Read More...
Dutch students use hemp and flex fibers to build ‘biobridge’ for foot traffic
The clean sustainable economy requires more than the use of renewable energy. The building industry is very dependent on fossil resources as well. That’s why a technical university experimented with building bridge using only biocomposite materials. The foot bridge was constructed out of hemp and Read More...
15% of Australia’s tomatoes are grown without soil, fresh water or fossil fuels
Farmers in drought-stricken California should take note: In a desert in Australia is a farm that grows and supplies 15 percent of the country's tomatoes without using soil, fresh water or fossil fuels. The farm uses solar energy to de-salinate sea water and operates greenhouses in order to grow Read More...