How Dave’s Killer Bread is baking up opportunity by employing ex-convicts
After serving 15 years in prison, Dave Dahl and his brother, Glenn, went to work in their parents’ bakery with two goals - great bread and employment opportunities for ex-convicts. The company, which claims one-third of its workforce is comprised of ex-convicts, began their “Killer Bread” Read More...
A community-designed solution: restorative justice arrives in Oakland
The United States has the largest prison population in the world and the highest per capita rate of incarceration. The punitive justice that lands people behind bars often hits communities of color and poverty much harder than other groups. In Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in Read More...
OPTIMIST VIEW: Circles of Compassion, an exclusive look at The Way of the Rose
“We as a species have got to learn how to surrender to the miraculous and the magical.” - Perdita Finn INTERVIEW By Kristy Jansen I was raised by parents who had rejected their childhood faiths long before I was born, so I never did receive much in the way of religious education. If Read More...
OPTIMIST VIEW: An Emissary Conversation – Understanding what matters to our community
By The Optimist Daily Team “Ideas of every kind are constantly galloping toward us, constantly pass through us, constantly trying to get our attention.” - Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic In today’s Optimist Emissary conversation we covered the top four stories from the last month, Read More...
OPTIMIST VIEW: Living while dying - Notes from the resistance
“It's precisely because we’re finite that life is so sweet.” - Sheldon Solomon By Kristy Jansen Last month I got the opportunity to meet Ady Barkan, a progressive activist who’s become one of the most powerful voices in the fight to move the United States to a universal healthcare Read More...
NEGATIVE: Direct Air Carbon capture bracelet - a climate solution in your hand
We recently featured a cool Kickstarter campaign that was raising funds to streamline production on “SEADPODS” - recycled plastic planters that can be hung on chainlink fences to greenify urban spaces. We love these kinds of innovative ideas, blending commerce and social or environmental Read More...
Stockton UBI experiment: recipients are spending money only to cover basic needs
The first results from a Universal Basic Income (UBI) experiment in Stockton, California are in—and guess what? They’re already disproving one of the most popular arguments levied against UBI, which is that recipients will use the money on frivolous purchases. In Stockton, the early results Read More...
These displaced coal miners are finding new, greener work in beekeeping
Do coal miners really love mining coal—and therefore, advocate to keep coal mines open? Or is it that they need the income that coal mining gives them to support themselves and their families? For most miners, the latter is the truth, but as more coal mines across the country shut down despite a Read More...
This washing machine cleans your clothes AND filters micro-plastic from the water
In the age of synthetic fabrics, 60% of our garments are made of oil-based fabrics which release microfibers when they’re washed. These microfibers make their way into our water systems, fish populations, and even our own bodies. Rethinking our shopping habits is one way to cut down on these Read More...
A Determined Optimist - Meet Our CEO 🎈
By Summers McKay First and foremost, let me thank you for being the most engaged and committed audience I have ever worked with. We are so very grateful to have readers like you who open, read, and share our stories at unprecedented levels. You are why we work! Long ago, I made a commitment to Read More...