Today’s Solutions: April 27, 2024

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.

Filming a movie on sand dunes

Campaign urges Hollywood to trade plastic for sustainable alternatives

Like the "Lights, Camera, Plastic?" campaign we wrote about recently, the Flip the Script on Plastics campaign wants Hollywood to join the fight against plastic pollution by urging popular television shows, movies, and media to stop showcasing single-use plastics and trade them in for more Read More...

Red ladder against a cloudy blue sky

Have to make a tough decision? This “ladder rule” strategy can help

At least occasionally, we’ll find ourselves in a high-pressure situation where we must make a difficult decision quickly. Major life decisions deserve our undivided attention, but the business of life tends to get in the way and we end up feeling frazzled and spread thin. If you can relate to Read More...

Kenyan woman stands outside with pot

This ATM helps Kenyans switch from charcoal to eco-friendly fuel

In Kenya, most people use wood or charcoal to cook in small homes without proper ventilation, and exposure to charcoal smoke causes a myriad of health problems for users and their families. On top of the grave health issues, charcoal use is also to blame for deforestation, another contributor to Read More...

young man helps elderly blind man cross the road

This app connects the blind with guides for safer city travel

This month, UK-based startup Travel Hands, a spin-off from digital accessibility company VIP World Services, plans to launch an app designed to help visually impaired people navigate the busy streets of the London metropolitan area. Back in 2013, Travel Hands founder and CEO Ishan Jha was Read More...

Sign in Lowndes County, Alabama

US launches first-of-its-kind environmental justice investigation

Public health departments have a responsibility to operate waste management in a safe, uniform, and equitable manner, but for years, sewage overflows have plagued Alabama’s Lowndes County, predominantly affecting Black residents. To address this injustice, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Read More...

woman poised to shop online with credit card in hand and laptop open on desk

Shop sustainably with these ethical online marketplaces

Online shopping is a modern-day convenience that many of us enjoy, however, the biggest online marketplaces often have questionable ethics practices. Luckily, there are other lesser-known marketplaces that are committed to ethical and sustainable business practices, support independent artisans, Read More...

Two young girls looking at an iPad

17-year-old develops app to bring the magic of movies to young deaf viewers

For deaf viewers, open captioning makes movies and television more accessible, but for younger viewers who cannot read very quickly, subtitles aren’t very helpful. Fortunately, a new app, developed by 17-year-old student Mariella Satow, is making children’s movies more accessible with sign Read More...

Two happy dolphins swim together underwater

Travel company discontinues bookings with captive whale or dolphin shows

Marine biologists and activists are increasingly calling for the end to dolphins and whales held in captivity, especially for entertainment purposes, as these environments do not give them the space, social connection, and mental stimulation their complex brains need to thrive. Captive sea Read More...

New Navy ship named after gay

New Navy ship named after gay rights leader Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay candidates elected to public office, but before he served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978, he was forced out of the Navy for his sexual orientation. Milk served in the Navy for four years, but was forced to resign because he was gay. Read More...

three sad minks in a small cage

Ireland to become 15th European country to ban fur farming

Minks, foxes, weasels, and other furry friends can breathe a collective sigh of relief—Ireland is to go ahead with its fur farming ban, which will be enforced in 2022. This makes Ireland the 15th European country to do so. Ruth Coppinger, a politician from the People Before Profit/Solidarity Read More...