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.
Virgin Atlantic finds cheapest way to save fuel is to tell pilots to do so
In an innovative experiment, Virgin Atlantic has used behavioral science to ‘nudge’ its pilots into using less fuel. The experiment shows that significant fuel savings can be achieved with very little investment. The pilots were split into four groups: One which was simply told that fuel use Read More...
Can the advertising industry sell us waste-free living?
It was diving in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia that sparked Andy Ridley’s interest in environmental issues. Shocked at its state, he joined WWF and went on to launch Earth Hour in 2007, the huge climate change awareness campaign that sees buildings in 7,000 cities turn off their lights. Read More...
Technology bridges deaf and hearing worlds
The San Francisco Bay Area is the world center of technology. So it makes sense that it hosts the first pizzeria run entirely by people who are deaf but still can communicate with the outside world as though their hearing is perfect. The pizzeria uses a “video relay service”. This service Read More...
Floating hotel to open in London as part of social enterprise project
A floating hotel that aims to help long-term unemployed people get back into work is to open in London this autumn. The Good Hotel will take up a berth in Newham’s Royal Docks in September, after being transported across the North Sea from its current base in Amsterdam with the help of tug Read More...
Vintage fashion from recycled cotton
Everyone has heard about the plastic waste ruining our planet by now. But who knows about the 13.1 million tons of textile waste (worth roughly USD 350 billion) the United States alone produce every year? And who knows that 11 million of that textile waste goes almost directly to landfills? Read More...
This company wants to save millions of lives, using a $25 plastic bag
Singapore-based WateROAM aims to tackle this issue through a cost-effective way to convert waste water into drinking water. At just 400g, the company's palm-size Fieldtrate Lite appears as a non-descript plastic bag but the portable filtration system claims to remove bacteria and other pathogens, Read More...
New credit card lets you give to your favorite charitable causes
America's 200 million credit cardholders are better at accruing rewards than spending them. As one survey showed, in 2015 credit card holders failed to redeem about $16 billion worth of loyalty points. That’s why you may want to consider Charity Charge. This new MasterCard, issued by Read More...
Philips Electronics commits to carbon neutral operations by 2020
Dutch multinational technology company Philips has committed to a new sustainability 5-year program that is aimed at rendering its operations carbon neutral by 2020. The “Healthy people, sustainable planet” program builds on Philips’ objective to “improve the lives of three billion people a Read More...
Social enterprise a practical solution in tight times
When Wrexham Council decided to close down the Plas Madoc Leisure Centre in 2014, members of the local community clubbed together to save what they saw was a “vital local landmark.” After applying for funding and writing to various groups for advice on how to set up a community trust, Read More...
Black gold from the Amazon: fighting climate change while improving soil
“Terra preta” or “black soil” is very fertile, dark and manmade soil found in the Amazon. It’s the result of an indigenous farmers’ practice 3000 years ago, they would bury charcoal in the ground to boost the otherwise relatively infertile Amazonian soil. The charcoal allows the soil to Read More...