Planet & Nature 14 stories
The floating scarecrow saving seabirds from fishing nets
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A bird-shaped kite and a floating scarecrow with spinning eyes reduced seabird deaths in Cornish fishing nets by up to 71 percent in a two-year trial. The devices cost relatively litt…
How NYC Students Saved School Lunch
There were three clear reasons why Leslie Gomez Rivera avoided the cafeteria at her high school in Brooklyn: She didn’t like the food, the room felt hectic and there was a stigma attached to eating school meals. She pref…
Berlin mapped 900,000 street trees. Now 12,000 people water them.
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Amanda Gläser-Bligh named her street tree Linda. Linda is a linden, eight years old, growing outside Gläser-Bligh’s apartment building in Charlottenburg, and once a week during Berlin…
London’s Oxford Street gets fully pedestrianized this month: here’s what that means
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Oxford Street, one of the busiest shopping streets in the world, goes traffic-free on October 26. London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the closure of the stretch from Orchard Street to G…
Strangers Showed Up to Man’s Destroyed House to Put Up a Tarp Having Seen His Televised Plea
After a storm dumped a silver maple tree down through his roof, Kansas resident Gilbert Kirk told local news that he wasn’t looking for a miracle or an insurance handout. He just wanted a tarp. Two days later, last Frida…
England to plant half a million trees, Switzerland bans fur sales and imports, LA’s gang rehabilitation
In today's edition: the UK's environment secretary is to announce the upcoming planting of 500,000 trees across England by 2029, Switzerland becomes the first country in the world to officially ban all fur sales and impo…
Saudi Solar Park Proves Brilliant Breeding Ground for Threatened Sand Gazelles
In clearing two hurdles with one bound, Saudi conservationists have turned a large solar farm into a breeding shelter for a vulnerable species of native gazelle. Located near the Red Sea coastline in a massive, 24,500-sq…
What We’re Reading: California Joins the Balcony Solar Revolution
Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Sunny outlook Last year, Cont…
The women putting community at the heart of elephant conservation
Across Africa, women are challenging old assumptions about who conservation is for – and who gets to lead it The post The women putting community at the heart of elephant conservation appeared first on Positive News .
6 things that will bring more birds to your backyard this autumn
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM If you’ve ever caught a flash of movement in the branches in early October – something small and unfamiliar, not the usual backyard regulars – there’s a good chance it was a migrating…
Uzbekistan cuts poverty rate by a third, Norway unveils its largest-ever marine reserve, Berlin’s open-source tree map
In today's edition: Uzbekistan has seen its poverty rate drop by a third in a single year, Norway opens its biggest-ever marine protected area, and an interactive map tracks almost 1,000,000 trees across Berlin and calcu…
Hungary imposes wealth tax on the super-rich, underwater solar power, mobile methadone vans
In today's edition: Hungary's new government fulfils one of their key election promises by announcing a wealth tax on its wealthiest residents, underwater solar panels are able to function ten metres below sea level, and…
Forget Recycling. What If We Could Compost or Reuse Everything?
Nora Griefahn’s office showcases her work better than words: The interior walls at the C2C LAB on a busy street in Berlin, Germany, are alive with lush, air-purifying plants; lamp shades have been grown from mycelium; in…
What went right this week: a brighter future for Kosovo, plus more
Kosovo was cleared of landmines, Germany set a date for quitting oil, and a new species was discovered, plus more The post What went right this week: a brighter future for Kosovo, plus more appeared first on Positive New…