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.
This brand grows its carbon-negative packaging from mycelium
To further minimize its impact on the environment, French brand Amen is now shipping its candles in carbon-negative packing made from mycelium and agricultural waste. Amen is already known as a sustainable luxury brand. They use natural wax from vegetable oil to make candles rather than an animal Read More...
Levi’s is launching a marketplace for your old jeans
Have an old pair of Levi’s jeans lying around? It could fetch you up to $25 if you bring it back to one of the brand’s US stores. In an attempt to embrace the circular economy, Levi has launched a new program in which the company buys old Levi’s jeans, cleans them, and sells them in a new Read More...
Fashion retailer Nordstrom to stop selling fur and exotic animal skins
As consumers become increasingly aware of the underbelly of the fashion industry, including its contribution to climate change as well as its impacts on animal welfare, fashion retailers are starting to respond by ramping up their corporate social responsibility efforts. One of the latest major Read More...
Pilot program uses e-bikes to remove emissions from delivery in Brazil
The city of São Paulo in Brazil is full of hills, making it not the most bike-friendly city. That’s why when you order food there, it’s probably going to arrive via motorcycle, which is one of the main contributors to the city’s serious air pollution problem. A new pilot from iFood Read More...
We need diverse juries. New California law will help make that happen
Making the US criminal justice system more fair and effective requires many changes, but one big one is selecting juries that reflect the demographics of their community. To help achieve this, California governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law last week that draws jurors from income tax Read More...
New project is saving dying restaurants by giving ownership to employees
Like many other sectors of the economy, the restaurant industry has been brought to its knees by the pandemic. As a result, some private equity firms and hedge funds saw the situation as an opportunity to get their hands on large areas of real estate by looking for struggling restaurants to Read More...
Number of young black authors doubles to nearly 20% in UK
People of color have long been underrepresented in the publishing industry, but a new study out of the University College London shows that is starting to change amongst young adult writers in the UK. The study found that only 7.1 percent of YA authors in the UK were people of color in 2017. That Read More...
Ordering to-go creates a lot of waste. Dispatch Goods has a solution
The pandemic has fueled a rise in takeout orders from restaurants. Ordering to-go is a great way to safely support your favorite local businesses during shutdowns, but the rise in single-use takeout containers is increasing pollution across the globe. A new startup, Dispatch Goods, aims to loop Read More...
This initiative matches recently released prisoners with a place to stay
Every year, more than 600,000 people are released from prison in the US, the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world. One of the biggest challenges faced by those getting out of prison is finding a roof over their heads, which can be especially difficult in ultra-expensive housing Read More...
General Mills to become carbon neutral by 2030 by cutting food waste
Major food company General Mills announced this week that it plans to reduce emissions by 30 percent over the next decade and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. A big part of meeting this goal will be reducing food waste by at least 50 percent. In the past year, four percent of the company’s Read More...