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.
Spain puts plows on hold in favor of regenerative agriculture
The province of Jaén in southern Spain is known for its olive production. It’s called the sea of olives, with 70 million olive trees expanding in all directions—but despite this striking scene, the land has nothing else to offer. There are no other plants, flowers, or critters scurrying about Read More...
Ways to curb your fast fashion habit
Haven’t you heard? Sustainability is in style, while exploitative and wasteful consumerism is out. So why is it so difficult for the fashion industry to catch up with the trends? In the past, many of us would go clothes shopping to buy cheap garments with short lifespans that we end up Read More...
Dole is partnering with Piñatex to scale up vegan leather production
A few months ago we wrote a story about Piñatex, an innovative company turning pineapple leaves into vegan, petroleum-free leather products. Now, food giant and pineapple distributor Dole Sunshine Company has partnered with Piñatex to minimize waste from their operations and scale-up Read More...
Simple parking policy incentivizes employees to take greener routes to work
A key goal of public transportation is to reduce the number of cars on the road and therefore improve air quality and reduce emissions, especially in urban areas, but a small detail in the US federal tax code is actually working against this goal. The federal tax code has an exemption for Read More...
This river revitalization plan prioritizes underprivileged communities in LA
Urban green spaces have historically been more accessible to privileged communities within cities. However, there has been a surge in awareness and activism that calls cities to address the inequity in access to these spaces, as clean air and access to nature is a human right, not only to be Read More...
Priyanka Baira leads the movement to end child marriage in India
The Covid-19 crisis put many people at risk. Whether that risk is related to mental or physical health, financial stability, or, for young girls in India, the risk of being forced into marriage and never obtaining a proper education. According to Childline India, there was a 17 percent increase Read More...
This company plants a tree for every train ticket they sell
Rail travel is making a comeback as a greener way to travel and now, the UK train ticketing service Trainhugger is making rail travel more eco-friendly by pledging to plant a tree in the UK for every trip booked through their website or app. For the passenger, there is no difference in cost when Read More...
US to return Gilgamesh tablet and 17,000 other looted artifacts to Iraq
During a period of unrest in Iraq in 2003, looters stole tens of thousands of ancient artifacts that were later smuggled out of the country, including the 3,500-year-old Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, a rare portion of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem, known as the earliest Read More...
Food transport to become much greener thanks to solar-powered reefers
Transporting food to your local supermarket typically requires refrigerated trailers (also known as reefers). These are usually cooled by diesel fuel, with an idling diesel tractor burning about a gallon of fuel per hour and releasing about 22.4 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as a Read More...
The 3 crucial soft skills you will need to thrive in a hybrid workplace
Although many employees are beginning to return to the office, the flexibility of work-from-home, combined with concerns about the Delta variant, means that many workplace environments are opting to embrace a hybrid model rather than fully returning to the office. Plus, more companies have Read More...