Special Report

Our Sustainable Future

A hub dedicated to the latest on how global change affects life on Earth today and on what solutions scientists, including those at the Smithsonian, are researching to build a more sustainable planet

Hiroshi Watanabe/Getty Images

Dairy farms like this one run by the Barstow family in Hadley, Massachusetts, make smart use of a substance cows produce in abundance.

How Dairy Farmers Are Turning Manure Into Money

Cacao growing on a tree at Zorzal Cacao, the first farm certified by Smithsonian's new Bird Friendly cocoa program.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Why Buying ‘Bird Friendly Cocoa’ Is a Sweet Deal

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WATCH

What Does It Mean to Live on a Sustainable Planet?

Sustainability at the Smithsonian

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Centering Relationships Between People and Place: A Critical Step Towards Improving Science's Contributions to Society

National Museum of the American Indian

Connecting Community and Collections

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Harnessing the Wisdom of Indigenous Communities for Marine Conservation

A swarm of yellow fish and silver fish with yellow tailfins swim around a coral reef

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Adult Fish Aren't Truly 'Protected' in Many Marine Protected Areas

Kristen Goodhue

American bison

Six Animals the Smithsonian Has Helped Save From Extinction

Ben Marcus

Black monkey perches in a tree staring directly at camera

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Eight Weird and Wondrous Discoveries From 2023

Kristen Goodhue

Underwater photo of a pink and gold coral reef in bright blue water, with small blue and yellow fish. A blurry reflection of the reef appears in the water at the top of the photo.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

New Study Reveals Large Holes In America’s Ocean Protection. Here’s How We Can Fix Them.

Kristen Goodhue

Sustainability News From Smithsonian Magazine

Travelers can get rewarded for participating in sustainable activities.

Copenhagen Is Rewarding Tourists for Good Behavior

In order to build ships strong and technically savvy enough to traverse through some of the most remote and challenging landscapes on Earth, several cruise companies borrowed designs from other parts of the shipping industry.

How a New Line of Expedition Ships Is Turning the Tides on Polar Seas

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More Than 98 Percent of Costa Rica’s Energy Is Renewable—Here’s How

The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station. Geothermal power has long been popular in volcanic countries like Iceland, where hot water bubbles from the ground.

Is Geothermal Power Heating Up as an Energy Source?

Katarina Zimmer, Knowable Magazine

Workers install solar panels on the roof of King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England.

How King's College Added 438 Solar Panels to a 500-Year-Old Chapel

Julia Binswanger

Climate Change News

Flaring, the burning of natural gas at an oil well, takes place on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. A large portion of Marathon Oil's emissions comes from flaring.

EPA Reaches $241 Million Settlement With Marathon Oil

On July 5, Peruvian authorities recovered the mummified remains of American climber Bill Stampfl from the slopes of Huascarán.

Melting Ice Reveals Body of American Mountaineer Missing for 22 Years in the Peruvian Andes

Crickets, beetles and moths are just some of the insects recently approved for human consumption by the Singapore government.

Singapore Approves 16 Insect Species for Human Consumption

The Mount Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan is one of the few animals that spends its entire life at high elevations.

Meet the Rare, 'Beautiful' Birds That Thrive in Snow and Are at Risk Because of Climate Change

Gilkey Trench in the Juneau Icefield

Alaska's Juneau Icefield Is Melting at an 'Incredibly Worrying' 50,000 Gallons per Second, Researchers Find

Christian Thorsberg

Delos is a small, rocky island just west of Mykonos in Greece.

The Island Known as the Birthplace of Apollo Is Sinking

Rice coral grows over another species of coral.

These Supercorals Are Causing Problems

Fanni Szakal, Hakai