Editor's note

We have a reputation as bringers of bad news here on the Environment and Energy desk. From climate change, to drought, to recycling, to species extinctions, to energy policy, we seem to lurch from one crisis to the next.

So just to prove it’s not all doom and gloom, here are ten uplifting environment stories from 2018 that you may have missed.

Researchers decoded the cane toad genome, developed a high-tech way to help combat illegal tuna fishing, discovered bears can recover from the heartbreaking conditions of bile-farming, and even invented a way to let fish cross roads.

And whether your preferred pick-me-up is coffee or cola, you can enjoy the fact coffee grounds are great for gardens, and container deposit schemes really do reduce the amount of plastic debris in the ocean.

The end of the year is also a time to pause for breath, so you might like to read this calming meditation on how our breath literally helps trees grow. And if feelgood tree facts are your thing, don’t forget to sign up to our Beating Around the Bush newsletter.

Happy new year, and here’s hoping 2019 brings plenty more good news for the environment.

Michael Hopkin

Editor: Energy + Environment

It’s not all doom and gloom

The Epic Duck Challenge: one of 2018’s happier environment stories. Jarrod Hodgson

Ten feelgood environment stories you may have missed in 2018

Michael Hopkin, The Conversation

Yeah, we get it – environment news can be depressing. So here are ten uplifting stories from 2018 that prove it's not all doom and gloom out there in the natural world. Happy reading!

Going to ground: how used coffee beans can help your garden and your health

Tien Huynh, RMIT University

Plenty of cafes these days will let you take home some used coffee grounds, to put on your garden. It's a versatile material with loads of potential uses - as long as you treat it properly first.

Deposit schemes reduce drink containers in the ocean by 40%

Qamar Schuyler, CSIRO; Britta Denise Hardesty, CSIRO; Chris Wilcox, CSIRO

Drink containers end up in the ocean at a truly alarming rate. Simply paying people a small amount to return them cuts that rate by nearly half.

How did the fish cross the road? Our invention helps them get to the other side of a culvert

Jabin Watson, The University of Queensland; Craig E. Franklin, The University of Queensland; Harriet Goodrich, University of Exeter; Jaana Dielenberg, The University of Queensland; Rebecca L. Cramp, The University of Queensland

Our new invention tackles one of the greatest impediments to fish migration in Australia: culverts, those tunnels or drains often found under roads.

We’ve cracked the cane toad genome, and that could help put the brakes on its invasion

Peter White, UNSW; Alice Russo, UNSW; Rick Shine, University of Sydney

New genetic knowledge about cane toads could give us the knowledge we need to throw some more roadblocks in front of this persistent invader as it marches across Australia.

For the global tuna industry, which has historically struggled with illegal and environmentally dubious fishing practices, the use of blockchain could be a turning point. WWF

How blockchain is strengthening tuna traceability to combat illegal fishing

Candice Visser, University of Wollongong; Quentin Hanich, University of Wollongong

Blockchain is now helping to bring much-needed transparency to the global tuna industry, which has been prone to corruption, human slavery and unsustainable fishing practices.

Bears like Polly (pictured) are rescued from bear bile farms and sent to rehabilitation centres. BARBARA WALTON/AAP

With the right help, bears can recover from the torture of bile farming

Edward Narayan, Western Sydney University

Bears in Asia are trapped in bile farms, where they are kept in small cages for decades.

A month into operation, the Tesla lithium-ion battery at Neoen wind farm in Hornsdale, South Australia is already providing essential grid services. REUTERS/Sonali Paul

A month in, Tesla’s SA battery is surpassing expectations

Dylan McConnell, University of Melbourne

After a month of operation, the Tesla battery at Hornsdale Power Reserve in SA is outperforming expectations - and the model is set to be emulated in Victoria

A drone image of a breeding colony of Greater Crested Terns. Researchers used plastic bird decoys to replicate this species in an experiment that compared different ways of counting wildlife. Jarrod Hodgson

‘Epic Duck Challenge’ shows drones can outdo people at surveying wildlife

Jarrod Hodgson, University of Adelaide; Aleks Terauds; Lian Pin Koh, University of Adelaide

A few thousand fake ducks, a group of experienced wildlife spotters and a drone have proven the usefulness and accuracy of drones for wildlife monitoring.

Camel beauty competitions are held throughout the Arabian Peninsula. ALI HAIDER/AAP

Inside the world of million-dollar beauty pageants – for camels

Jaime Gongora, University of Sydney; Mahmood Alamri, University of Sydney

Camel beauty pageants are multi-million-dollar events on the Arabian Peninsula.

Felicity Burke/The Conversation

Trees are made of human breath

Cris Brack, Australian National University

Urban trees are literally made with the help of human breath – they turn the carbon dioxide we breathe out into the building blocks of plant growth. So your local trees have a piece of you inside them.

 

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