Business
Looking for positive and inspiring business stories? From green operations to employee rights, from innovative corporate structures to diversity and inclusion, the Business section at The Optimist Daily has got the latest innovative solutions from the corporate sector.
New Unilever brand donates all proceeds to give the homeless access to showers
While we usually think of food and shelter as being the main challenges homeless people face, Unilever is bringing awareness to the importance of cleanliness for all people with the announcement of a new brand called The Right To Shower, which believes, as its name implies, every human deserves Read More...
Fairbnb is the community-oriented alternative we need to Airbnb
The problem with Airbnb is that more and more full-time, short-time rentals are on the market in major cities, which means that housing can’t be used for someone who actually wants to live in the city. This is only encouraging mass tourism in cities like Amsterdam, Venice, and Paris, and makes a Read More...
This new online store is the eco-friendly antidote to online shopping
The convenience of online shopping is unparalleled, but unfortunately, it comes at a major cost to the environment as nearly everything gets shipped in plastic packaging. That’s what inspired a French-Slovak couple living in Luxembourg to create a new online marketplace called Zwoice that will Read More...
Startups are helping the city of Flint turn the tide after the water crisis
Whenever the city of Flint, Michigan, finds itself in the headlines, it’s rarely for anything good. The city has long suffered from divestment and exodus, and the water crisis five years ago didn’t help fix the national image of Flint being a site of intractable poverty. But all of this fails Read More...
Beyond Meat is going public. That's a good sign for the alt-meat industry
Companies that offer plant-based meat alternatives are becoming increasingly popular nowadays as the concept shows great potential in fixing many problems associated with our food system. For instance, Beyond Meat – the company that has managed to produce vegan burgers that look, taste, and even Read More...
This company is out to save our oceans by reprogramming microbes to eat CO2
In our complex, interconnected world, solutions to our biggest problems can come from the most unexpected places—such as a company that makes fish food for fish farms. The feed used for fish farms is made up of the ground-up bodies of tiny fish such as anchovies, and it’s the biggest cost of Read More...
Patagonia to cut ties with businesses that don’t share same climate commitment
The environmentally conscious outdoor retailer Patagonia has long been praised for its company ethos, which promotes fair labor practices and environmental responsibility across its entire chain. Now the company has decided to pump the brakes on its popular corporate branding program and no longer Read More...
Guinness is ditching plastic packaging in favor of 100% recyclable cardboard
As you may have noticed, more and more companies are ditching single-use plastics in favor of, well, not destroying the planet we live on. The latest company to join the trend is Guinness, the beer giant from Ireland. Looks like green beer isn’t just for St. Patricks day! Diageo, the manufacture Read More...
Tesla’s new Gigafactory is as high-tech as you might have expected—and more
When it’s fully complete, Tesla’s Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, will be the largest building in the world, sprawling over 15 million square feet on a plot of land more than three times larger than Central Park. The building, which Elon Musk has called “the machine that builds the machine,” Read More...
London is subsidizing cargo bikes to get delivery trucks off the streets
In London, lorries and vans account for around a fifth of London’s road traffic with the rise in large part driven by online sales. With the introduction of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in London yesterday, those transportation vehicles are going to be charged £24 a day to drive through Read More...