Today’s Solutions: November 23, 2024

Corporate Social Responsibility

Keeping up with the latest news in all four corporate social responsibility categories: environment, human rights, philanthropy, and economic responsibility.

Samsung Galaxy with back cover taken out for repair

Samsung will now make it easy for Galaxy users to repair their own devices

In November of last year, Apple announced that it will start making spare parts for Apple products so its consumers could repair their products at home. This has spurred on competition in their main competitor, Samsung, who has unveiled its own plan to enable customers to repair their own devices Read More...

Brazilian native people

Study finds forests on indigenous lands sequester twice the carbon

We have written at length, in great volume, and with great enthusiasm about the importance of green spaces in cities, carbon sinks, and environmentally helpful trees in general. Forests are absolutely essential to sequestering carbon and our continued adaptation to a changing climate, but some Read More...

Used electric car

Buying a used EV? Not a bad idea

Recently, The Optimist Daily published a story about a few things to keep in mind when buying an electric vehicle. Along with gas prices, the popularity of electric cars is rising, but EVs have been on the rise since before the crisis. Now, thanks to that demand, if you’re in the market for a new Read More...

Whales Iceland

As Iceland’s whaling industry decreases, its whale-watching increases

It’s nice when the economically responsible thing to do is also the right thing to do. Iceland announced in February its intentions to end whaling by 2024 because demand for whale meat has decreased significantly.  “There is little proof that there is any economic advantage to this Read More...

Broken solar panel

How do solar panels break? And how do we fix them?

At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, teams of scientists and researchers spend large parts of their day jumping on, twisting, smashing, and generally coming up with various ways of breaking solar panels.  It’s not malice, it’s not incompetence. It's not Read More...

Carbon Crusher vehicle that crushes old roads for recycling

This startup uses a plant-derived material to make roads carbon negative

Similar to building new roads, repairing existing ones is not an environmentally friendly endeavor. One of the main problems is bitumen, a fossil fuel-derived binder that holds asphalt together. A startup in Norway is recycling old roads using a plant-based binder instead, a process that could Read More...

Home appraisal industry

Administration unveils plan to fix bias in home appraisal industry

Three weeks ago, The Optimist Daily wrote a piece about Congress' aims to fix bias and inequality in the home appraisal industry. This is a much-needed change to a systemic problem that has furthered the wealth gap over years and kept families from building intergenerational wealth.  On Read More...

James Dyson Award

The James Dyson Award: a call to young inventors

The Optimist Daily has written about many winners of the James Dyson Award. This is an international design award that celebrates, encourages, and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It is open to current and recent design engineering students and is run by the James Dyson Foundation, Read More...

NYC New York City Manhattan lower financial district downtown green trees in Zuccotti Park

In win for Earth, new S.E.C. rules would require climate disclosures

On Monday, the top financial regulator of the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), announced new regulations that would require disclosures from public corporations about their climate risks and carbon footprints. This marks a huge step towards acknowledging the reality and Read More...

Electric bike

More people are buying electric bikes

High gas prices are driving some commuters away from the pump and toward alternative means of transportation. Some might consider using public transportation or even buying an electric vehicle, as this offers more than a few energy solutions. There are many that are even turning to electric Read More...