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.
Companies are recycling baby diapers into insulation, compost and more
The U.K throws away approximately 3 bn disposable diapers each year. And what’s more horrible than the stench is that it can take hundreds of years for each diaper to degrade, which is why companies are developing ways of converting used diapers into pet litter, insulation and compost. One Read More...
Can video games clean up the environment and save the planet?
Can videogames trigger real-world change? Pokémon Go has inspired people to rescue abandoned animals, thwart would-be robbers and pick up thrash. If virtual reality gaming can lead to such unintended payoffs, imagine the result if social change was built into the game. That’s what a new Read More...
The comeback of the giant panda; no longer endangered, global experts declare
For years, giant pandas were the symbol of the sad state of the natural environment of the planet. But now, experts say that they have been brought back from the brink of extinction largely due to Chinese conservation efforts. The success is due to Chinese efforts to recreate and repopulate bamboo Read More...
Barangaroo: Sydney's largest urban renewal project aims to recycle more water than it uses
Sun, sea and sand might be among Australia’s finest selling points but this combination comes at a cost, given the country is also the driest inhabited continent in the world. With a drop in average annual rainfall in recent years, ominous climate change projections and an ever-increasing Read More...
Dubai to build a rainforest inside a hotel
Just when we thought the world's largest indoor theme park was hard to top, Dubai proves us wrong yet again. Its latest jaw-dropping megaproject is a tropical rainforest in a skyscraper hotel -- another world-first for the emirate. The 7,000-square-meter rainforest will be part of the upcoming Read More...
U.K set to ban microbeads from cosmetics
Highly touted by beauty companies as the best way to exfoliate, microbeads are actually a bane to the environment. Microbeads are very small pieces of plastic put in products such as facial scrubs and makeup, and when they are washed down the drain, they end up in the oceans only to be eaten by Read More...
U.S and China ratify Paris Agreement ahead of schedule
The Paris climate agreement seeks to keep the global average rise in temperatures below 2C, but until it’s ratified, it will achieve nothing. Saturday, the deal came one step closer to coming into force legally after China and the U.S, who together are responsible for 40 percent of the world’s Read More...
Conservation progress: Nearly 15% of earth’s land is now protected
Biodiversity plays a key role in protecting human life. So, it’s good news that according to a new report nearly 15 percent of land on earth is now protected. The scientists behind the report say that some 200,000 protected areas cover 7.7 million square miles of the planet. There’s more Read More...
Bollywood star buys up land in Himalayas to save wild tigers
Wild tiger populations are increasing for the first time in 100 years as conservation efforts succeed. In the foothills of the Himalayas, where the largest population of wild tigers in the world lives, a famous Bollywood actor has decided to use his movie star earnings to buy forest land to create Read More...
A state in Australia is giving fracking the boot
Gas exploration is going cold turkey in the Australian state of Victoria. On Tuesday, the state became the first to introduce a permanent ban on all onshore conventional gas exploration, including fracking and coal seam gas. The government said it received more than 1,600 submissions last year Read More...