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.
This Danish power plant will poetically inform residents of how much carbon they’re using
In less than a decade, Copenhagen expects to become the first carbon-neutral city on the planet. There are plenty of reminders around the Danish capital to will the locals towards achieving a zero-carbon future by 2025: a 20-turbine wind farm, half of its population zipping around in bikes (and an Read More...
Finally, fireworks that are safe for our health and the environment
When it comes to fireworks, we tend to think about safety in terms of fingers or eyes. A more neglected concern with fireworks is the impact on our health and the environment. Yet, after exploding, the chlorine-based compounds that make for the nice red color in the explosions can transform into Read More...
Sydney has been carbon neutral since 2008. But they aren’t stopping there…
The City of Sydney has been carbon neutral since 2008. Amidst strong economic growth, emissions across our Local Government Area have fallen 12 per cent since 2006 and we have reduced emissions in our own buildings and operations by over 23 per cent. In continuing our work to create a sustainable Read More...
Coca-Cola to replenish 100% of water it uses 5 years earlier than planned
Coca-Cola Co. and its bottling partners expect to be replenishing 100% of the water used in their factories by the end of 2015, reaching a longstanding conservation goal five years ahead of schedule. The beverage giant, which announced the replenishment target in 2007, said it's already "balancing" Read More...
Fashion chain H&M offers $1m recycling prize for reusable clothing
Swedish firm Hennes & Mauritz reacts to critics of ‘throwaway culture’ by encouraging ideas for recycling fibre Monday 24 August 2015 22.38 EDT Last modified on Monday 24 August 2015 23.07 EDT Hennes & Mauritz, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, is Read More...
Canadian scientists are tackling climate change, one air-sucking wall at a time.
Think of it as a giant, high-tech, carbon-dioxide-sucking Lego wall. …They’re a thing. We love them. We also know they’re hard to come by on the Internet. That’s why we have a team of fact-checkers double-checking everything we post, with standards that meet or exceed anyone else on the Read More...
Hydrogen-powered iPhone 6 lasts a week without recharging
British company Intelligent Energy is reportedly working with Apple to create a hydrogen fuel cell system that could keep an iPhone 6 charged for a whole week. A British company thought to be working closely with Apple has created a hydrogen fuel cell for an iPhone 6 that allows the device to go a Read More...
Toyota has sold about 8 million hybrid cars, saving 5.8 billion gallons of gasoline
Prius is latin for "to go before", and the name suits Toyota's car, the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle in the world. It's now 20 years ago that a concept car version of the Prius hybrid was shown at the Tokyo Motor show in 1995. The car went into production in 1997 and has since inspired many Read More...
Researchers use solar power to make carbon fiber out of thin air
Carbon capture is an idea that’s been around for a while, but it’s always seemed like a bit of an afterthought, a way to slightly slow the pace at which we’re pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But what if we could do at a scale that would suck all the carbon we’ve emitted since Read More...
In climate change era, new idea for conservation takes shape
Conservation has long been about protecting communities of plants and animals where they are. But climate change is leading to a nascent form of conservation that embraces change and instead seeks to provide a thriving stage on which it can happen. Chester, Mass. — It's a late-July morning, Read More...