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.
Food waste cafes and urban orchards: five ways people are building a new economy
A new economy is coming into play. No longer wielded as a weapon to legitimise austerity, this is an economy where the community and the environment, not the corporate shareholder, benefits. Related: Free Money Day: what happens when you give money to strangers? Beneath its ruthless, Read More...
Urban farming hits the roof
Arugula in Austin. Mint in Miami. Rhubarb in Rio. While some of the press about the rise of urban farming suggests that it’s merely the province of artisanal-minded hipsters, the truth is that done correctly and at scale, it can be a smart, sustainable, and ultimately profitable use of Read More...
Los Angeles and Beijing team up to fight climate change
Last year, US president Obama and China's president Xi Jinping set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gases over the next decade. Now, also mayors from both nations started collaborating in the fight against climate change, starting with an agreement between two of the world's most polluted Read More...
How modern agriculture can save the gorillas of Virunga
Intensifying agriculture and urbanization is the best way to save what wild places remain For the villager, who asks to be identified only as Bernadette, life is a running battle. On tiny plots of corn, millet and sweet potatoes next to Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Read More...
North Sea carbon storage scheme gets support
The British government said Monday it was ready to sign off on a North Sea carbon capture and storage program for a Scottish power station. Royal Dutch Shell is proposing, with strategic assistance from British energy company SEE, to capture the carbon dioxide emitted from an Aberdeen power station Read More...
On the bright side, this is the year humanity started taking climate change seriously
It could very well be that 2015 will go down in history as the year humanity understood the perils of climate change and stood up to its imminent effects. This isn’t a statement based upon false optimism but rather one based upon the results of the world’s response to the climate emergency. Read More...
Eating bugs could save the planet. But can we stomach it?
Swapping cows for crickets would be a boon for the planet. But can environmentalists convince consumers to embrace insects as food? Between global warming’s rising tides and scorching droughts, industrial pollution, and a population predicted to reach 9 billion within the next few decades, Read More...
Court blocks the use of a pesticide over concerns about its effect on honey bees
It was a big day for beekeepers in the United States yesterday. After years of worrying about declining bee colonies, the appeals court blocked the use of a pesticide that is highly toxic to bees, as studies have shown. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) neglected these studies before Read More...
Solar energy is poised for yet another record year
The U.S. solar industry is on course for a new growth record in 2015, according to a new report that finds that solar photovoltaic installations now exceed 20 gigawatts in capacity and could surpass an unprecedented 7 gigawatts this year alone across all segments. A gigawatt is equivalent to 1 Read More...
People love renewable energy, so why don't politicians get it?
Robin Hood: one of Britain’s best-loved folk heroes. He speaks to our national love of subverting the rules. Fighting against institutional injustice, he protected the most vulnerable from the predatory practices of a corrupt establishment. Nottingham city council’s new not-for-profit energy Read More...