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.
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...
A Swiss startup claims to have made a battery with more than 600 miles of range
City dwellers tend to make up the great proportion of electric car buyers, but if the range of EVs were to improve, those of us living in more rural areas would be more tempted to buy one. The good news is a Swiss startup by the name of Innolith says it has developed new high-density lithium-ion Read More...
Toyota is offering royalty-free access to 24,000 patents related to EVs
In a move rarely seen by major corporations, Toyota has announced it will allow royalty-free access to its nearly 24,000 patents for hybrid and other vehicles using electrification technology in a bid to expand competition in the market as the industry adopts stricter emissions regulations. Read More...
Volkswagen’s electric self-driving cars are hitting the streets of Hamburg
Anyone who truly cares about the environment probably shudders a little at the mention of Volkswagen. Nonetheless, Volkswagen has a goal of making automated driving a practical reality by 2025, and is hustling to make that happen. The German Automaker is now testing self-driving versions of its Read More...
Patagonia is showing the beer industry how to brew a sustainable beer
Patagonia is not your typical outdoor gear retailer. This privately-owned company does not shy away from opportunities to take a political stance, to mount counterintuitive advertising campaigns, and to seek more sustainable ways of doing business. So, really, we shouldn't be all that surprised Read More...
A battery-swapping scheme is electrifying rickshaws in India
In India, where fewer than four million cars are sold annually, auto rickshaws (called tuk-tuks in other Asian countries) are one of the dominant modes of transportation. As India attempts to clean up the country’s troublesome air pollution, some manufacturers are now, for the first time, Read More...
70% of IKEA’s products in 2018 were either renewable or recycled
IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, has revealed that 70 percent of its production materials in 2018 were either repurposed or recycled. The progress was posted in the retailer’s latest sustainability report, which also documents the actions the furniture giant has taken to date to Read More...
A couple finally came up with a sustainable solution to elastic hair ties
People around the world lose hair ties on a daily basis. It happens to the best of us, but the problem is most of these end up in the trash or litter the environment which is why a couple from Canada founded a company by the name of Kooshoo that makes hair ties that are completely biodegradable. Read More...
This company wants to clean up the household cleaner industry
The household cleaning aisle at the store features dozens of spray cleaners for different surfaces, and the ingredient lists are a mile long with chemical names that are impossible to pronounce. While many of those cleaners are effective for getting rid of dirt and germs, some of the chemicals Read More...