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.
How farms can heal forests
Let’s admit it, guys: Trees are pretty awesome. They’re nature’s air conditioners, they’re hella pretty to look at, and they’re really efficient carbon sinks. And, it turns out, when they come together to form a forest, trees gain the superpower of living pretty much Read More...
Engineers in Iceland come up with solid way to get rid of CO2 pollution
High up in Iceland’s western volcanic zone, engineers are sequestering carbon dioxide pollution by turning it into rock. Known as the CarbFix project, the engineers dissolve CO2 in water and send it deep beneath the ground where it reacts with basalt rock to become calcite. The engineers claim 95 Read More...
Apple says all 14 final assembly sites in China now zero-waste
Apple has announced that all 14 of its final assembly plants in China are now zero-waste compliant, meaning that none of the waste is sent to landfill. Waste products are instead recycled, re-used, composted or burned to generate energy. Typically, paper and cardboard are sent to paper mills for Read More...
Norwegian oil firms plan carbon emissions cut in decade to 2030
Norwegian oil and gas companies plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2.5 million tonnes in the decade to 2030 as part of efforts to rein in global warming, the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association said on Wednesday. Statoil said it would account for 2 million tonnes of the total cuts planned for Read More...
Conservation efforts pay off as coral reef bursts with life once again
On the floor of a remote island island lagoon halfway between Hawaii and Fiji, a giant reef site named Coral Castles that had been declared dead in 2003 is teeming with life once again. For conservationists, the magnificent news of the revival of this reef raises a serious question: If this coral Read More...
The Clean 200: The world’s greenest large companies
As the global economy makes the monumental transition from an energy system based on fossil fuels to one based on clean renewable energy sources, a clear procedure must be in place for evaluating how well companies are participating in that transition. The inaugural Clean 200 list tries to do just Read More...
Kew Gardens in race to collect and preserve Madagascar's seeds
Scientists are racing against time to create a backup of Madagascar’s famously rich and varied flora in a British seed bank before it is lost forever. The Indian ocean country is known as a biodiversity hotspot with 13,000 plant species, 90% of which are unique to the island and found nowhere Read More...
Eating fish is healthy but how to create sustainable seafood
Fish is an important course on a healthy diet. Fish oils—omega-3 fatty acids—play a major role in preventing inflammation. But, as a result of the growing demand for seafood, overfishing is becoming a threat to the oceans. That’s why sustainable fish farming is a fast growing industry. In Read More...
Tech companies unite to fight illegal animal product trade
Several companies in the tech-industry are taking a stand to the illegal trade of wildlife products. Ebay, Microsoft, and a few other tech companies have signed on to a new commitment last Friday that will prevent people from purchasing illegal wildlife products such as elephant tusks on their Read More...
Meet the woman racing to save the planet
Leilani Münter has a motto: never underestimate a vegan hippy chick with a racing car. She is a fierce environmental activist – who earns a living in one of the most gas-guzzling industries on the planet. But the 42-year-old, a Nascar racing driver, insists she isn’t the walking Read More...