Today’s Solutions: July 12, 2026

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 new online store is the e

This new online store is the eco-friendly antidote to online shopping

The convenience of online shopping is unparalleled, but unfortunately, it comes at a major cost to the environment as nearly everything gets shipped in plastic packaging. That’s what inspired a French-Slovak couple living in Luxembourg to create a new online marketplace called Zwoice that will Read More...

Startups are helping the city

Startups are helping the city of Flint turn the tide after the water crisis

Whenever the city of Flint, Michigan, finds itself in the headlines, it’s rarely for anything good. The city has long suffered from divestment and exodus, and the water crisis five years ago didn’t help fix the national image of Flint being a site of intractable poverty. But all of this fails Read More...

Beyond Meat is going public. T

Beyond Meat is going public. That's a good sign for the alt-meat industry

Companies that offer plant-based meat alternatives are becoming increasingly popular nowadays as the concept shows great potential in fixing many problems associated with our food system. For instance, Beyond Meat – the company that has managed to produce vegan burgers that look, taste, and even Read More...

This company is out to save ou

This company is out to save our oceans by reprogramming microbes to eat CO2

In our complex, interconnected world, solutions to our biggest problems can come from the most unexpected places—such as a company that makes fish food for fish farms. The feed used for fish farms is made up of the ground-up bodies of tiny fish such as anchovies, and it’s the biggest cost of Read More...

Patagonia to cut ties with bus

Patagonia to cut ties with businesses that don’t share same climate commitment

The environmentally conscious outdoor retailer Patagonia has long been praised for its company ethos, which promotes fair labor practices and environmental responsibility across its entire chain. Now the company has decided to pump the brakes on its popular corporate branding program and no longer Read More...

Guinness is ditching plastic p

Guinness is ditching plastic packaging in favor of 100% recyclable cardboard

As you may have noticed, more and more companies are ditching single-use plastics in favor of, well, not destroying the planet we live on. The latest company to join the trend is Guinness, the beer giant from Ireland. Looks like green beer isn’t just for St. Patricks day! Diageo, the manufacture Read More...

Tesla’s new Gigafactory is a

Tesla’s new Gigafactory is as high-tech as you might have expected—and more

When it’s fully complete, Tesla’s Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, will be the largest building in the world, sprawling over 15 million square feet on a plot of land more than three times larger than Central Park. The building, which Elon Musk has called “the machine that builds the machine,” Read More...

London is subsidizing cargo bi

London is subsidizing cargo bikes to get delivery trucks off the streets

In London, lorries and vans account for around a fifth of London’s road traffic with the rise in large part driven by online sales. With the introduction of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in London yesterday, those transportation vehicles are going to be charged £24 a day to drive through Read More...

A Swiss startup claims to have

A Swiss startup claims to have made a battery with more than 600 miles of range

City dwellers tend to make up the great proportion of electric car buyers, but if the range of EVs were to improve, those of us living in more rural areas would be more tempted to buy one. The good news is a Swiss startup by the name of Innolith says it has developed new high-density lithium-ion Read More...

Toyota is offering royalty-fre

Toyota is offering royalty-free access to 24,000 patents related to EVs

In a move rarely seen by major corporations, Toyota has announced it will allow royalty-free access to its nearly 24,000 patents for hybrid and other vehicles using electrification technology in a bid to expand competition in the market as the industry adopts stricter emissions regulations. Read More...