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.
China to cap coal at 55 percent of total power output by 2020
China has begun moving away from coal. The country is leading worldwide renewable energy investments. Now it has announced in its new five-year plan for the power industry that coal-fired power will be capped at 55% of total power output by Read More...
COP22 host Morocco launches action plan to fight devastating climate change
“Last December we had temperatures of 25C. Normally it is 1 or 2C at that time of year,” says Mohammed Ibrahimi, a farmer with one hectare of apple trees in Boumia, a village near Midelt in Morocco. “These trees need at least 1,200 hours of near-freezing temperatures in the winter to help Read More...
Prosperity in sustainability
President John F. Kennedy inspired Americans to great undertakings by setting bold goals: to go the moon, to overcome racial discrimination, to make peace with the Soviet Union. “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man Read More...
World's largest oil firms launch green fund to cut climate impact fossil fuels
Ten of the world’s biggest oil companies have come together to announce a $1bn fund for cutting climate change impact from oil and gas. The fund is part of the Paris climate change agreement and will focus on reducing leaks of natural gas while looking into technology that will effectively Read More...
Adidas introduces running shoes made from recycled ocean plastic
Adidas is setting a good example about what can be done with plastic waste found swirling in the ocean. Along with environmental organization Parley for the Oceans, the company has created running shoes made from the ocean’s recycled plastic that will go on sale within the month. Adidas produced Read More...
Can 3D printing solve problems of poverty and plastic waste in slums?
When Sidhant Pai visited a local rubbish dump in his home city of Pune, India, he was struck by the size and intensity of the operation. Large black crows swooping overhead, roaming pigs, overwhelming odours and groups of waste pickers collecting plastic bottles in large white sacks. There are an Read More...
Carbon-eating bacteria can help in the fight against climate change
A few years ago, scientists discovered a bacterium that breaks down cellulose—a tough organic compound found in plants—into usable biofuels without added enzymes. Now scientists have made another discovery about this bacterium: It can take up and metabolize carbon dioxide (CO2) as well. That Read More...
The people who are opposing the Dakota Access pipeline have a message for all us
The authorities in North Dakota keep arresting native people who oppose the intrusion by an oil pipeline on their sacred land. These indigenous leaders are just a few of the thousands of water protectors who know first-hand the toxic legacy of fossil fuel extraction and exploitation. They are Read More...
Open-source plastic recycling machine to convert waste into new products
Take one of the world's most accessible waste products, plastic, and turn it into a resource with a Precious Plastic V2.0 setup. Within just a few generations, plastic has already taken over the world, and while this material enabled a revolution in manufacturing and design, plastic has also Read More...
Dutch dairy farmers are turning cow manure into power on a big scale
It’s a perfect example of the emerging circular economy. The Dutch dairy industry is harvesting the power of poo with a $165 million biogas project. The process is simple: the dung is broken down by bacteria into biogas in an anaerobic digester. Other machines then extract nitrates and phosphates Read More...