Sustainability at the Smithsonian

Gray headstones and green grass and trees in a cemetery.

Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

Cemeteries That Save the American Landscape

Table with one folded newspaper, one unfolded newspaper and a pencil

Smithsonian Education

A New Smithsonian Guide for How You Can Make Your Daily Routine More Sustainable

When people come together to find solutions to environmental problems, we have a better chance to find sustainable and equitable solutions! Photo courtesy of Anacostia Community Museum.

Earth Optimism

Why Environmental Justice is Key to Life on a Sustainable Planet

Earth Optimism

How to Celebrate Earth Day Every Day

A pair of silhouetted people stargaze

Earth Optimism

Stars, Seas and Other Scientific Successes

Map of Panama MPAs

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Bigger Is Better: Panama Expands MPA to Protect More Than 54 Percent of Its Oceans

A view of an island with a wave revealing a coral reef underwater. Photo courtesy of Ishan on Unsplash.

Earth Optimism

Science from Sea to Sky

Sustainability News From Smithsonian Magazine

Electric cars from Tesla, photographed in 2018

SMART NEWS

EPA Proposes Tightest-Ever Emissions Limits for Cars

Driver-optional e-tractors promise to increase efficiency while cutting emissions.

INNOVATION

Could Electric Tractors Revolutionize Farming?

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

INNOVATION

How Dairy Farmers Are Turning Manure Into Money

Solar panels float on a mountain lake in Switzerland. The first such system was installed in 2008.

SMART NEWS

Are Floating Solar Panels the Future of Clean Energy Production?

The hydrogen-powered train will travel between Parc de la Chute-Montmorency and Baie-Saint-Paul.

SMART NEWS

North America's First Hydrogen-Powered Train Will Debut This Summer

Climate Change News

The submersible Alvin collects samples from rocky outcrop in the newly discovered coral reef.

SMART NEWS

See the Pristine Coral Reefs Found off the Galápagos Islands

Electric cars from Tesla, photographed in 2018

SMART NEWS

EPA Proposes Tightest-Ever Emissions Limits for Cars

Despite making up roughly 14 percent of Cape Town's population, the wealthiest residents used 51 percent of the city's water—often for non-essential uses like swimming pools, gardens and car-washing.

SMART NEWS

Wealthy Residents' Pools and Gardens Are Driving Water Crises

Records of lunar eclipses that appeared unusually dark are telling scientists when volcanic eruptions might have occurred in the past.

SMART NEWS

Medieval Eclipse Records Help Scientists Understand Volcanic Eruptions

Lake Mead in July 2021—the lighter colored rocks indicate how high water levels used to be. Last summer, the lake was filled to just 27 percent of capacity, its lowest water levels since 1937.

SMART NEWS

U.S. Proposes Cuts to Colorado River Water Usage

The Smithsonian's podcast Sidedoor uncovers the climate change insights hidden in old paintings (above: Shivalal, Maharana Fateh Singh Crossing a River During the Monsoon (detail), c. 1893).

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

What Centuries-Old Indian Court Paintings Tell Us About Climate Change

A person clears snow off their car in February 2023 after a snowstorm in Provo, Utah.

SMART NEWS

Utah Shatters Snowpack Records, but Its Drought Remains