Today’s Solutions: August 26, 2026

Creeping thyme on lawn

Six eco-friendly, edible ground cover alternatives to the grassy lawn

Given the environmentally intensive practices it takes to maintain, it’s high time the traditional lawn makes way for more sustainable alternatives, demands fewer resources, and can even make a great addition to your culinary ingredients. Replacing only part of your lawn with edible ground Read More...

Front-loading washing machine with the door open and denim jeans in the drum.

Here’s why you should wash your clothes with cold water

Washing your clothes with hot water may be an effective way to remove stains, but doing so with every laundry batch takes its toll on the environment. About 90 percent of a laundry machine's energy use goes towards heating up the water. As a result, home laundries in the US are responsible for Read More...

Clothes hanging out to dry on a hanging rack outside on a sunny day

5 simple ways you can do less laundry

Apart from being an extremely mundane task, doing your laundry is also rather far from being an eco-friendly chore. It involves an energy-intensive process that uses a lot of water and, in the case of synthetic fabrics, releases countless microplastics into the environment, threatening public Read More...

image of doctor's torso with hands shaped as a heart

UK surgeons perform first carbon-neutral operation

Healthcare and sustainability have been at the forefront of global discussion lately. Doctors at the UK’s Solihull Hospital in the West Midlands have accomplished something that prioritizes both of these major issues: the world’s first “net-zero” surgery. To take care of patients Read More...

Finally! A stylish, sustainabl

Finally! A stylish, sustainable sneaker that doesn’t break the bank

Sneakers are one of the most versatile and popular types of footwear, so it’s no wonder the global athletic footwear market is estimated to exceed $95 billion by 2025. Unfortunately, most sneakers are made from non-recyclable materials, manufactured with environmentally harmful chemicals, and Read More...

Nighttime Solar Panels

The pursuit of nocturnal solar technology is growing

Last month, we wrote a story on solar cells developed by Stanford University that could draw a small amount of power at night, when most would think solar panels would be useless.  The endeavor to create solar panels that can draw additional power at night is growing. Now, a collaboration of Read More...

Reusable kitchen essentials

Eight reusable essentials for your kitchen

Most of us recycle, and many of us compost our food waste, but there are still so many single-use products we feel we can’t avoid using and then chucking in the garbage once we’re done. We want to live sustainably, and the kitchen is a great place to do this, yet our trash cans still fill up Read More...

Green College life

7 tips for sustainable and affordable college life

For our college student readers, you might already be tired of people telling you that you are the future of our society. Well, you are, but you don’t need to wait until you’re out in the workforce to make a difference in the world.  Socially and environmentally conscious behavior can begin Read More...

Standford University against dramatic sky

Stanford’s first new school in decades is dedicated to the climate crisis

For the first time in 70 years, Stanford University is opening a new school—The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, a school dedicated solely to studying the climate crisis. The doors of Stanford’s school of sustainability will open this fall, an event made possible by generous Read More...

Used electric car

Buying a used EV? Not a bad idea

Recently, The Optimist Daily published a story about a few things to keep in mind when buying an electric vehicle. Along with gas prices, the popularity of electric cars is rising, but EVs have been on the rise since before the crisis. Now, thanks to that demand, if you’re in the market for a new Read More...