Rock, paper, progress
From The Intelligent Optimist Magazine Summer 2016 A new “stone” paper devised in Taiwan uses calcium carbonate instead of wood pulp. It could save the forests, but is the world ready for the ultimate paper-vs.-plastic question? By Karin Klein The first thing I notice about my new notebook is Read More...
Invest like a bee
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Biomimicry teaches us that a well-functioning system relies less on balance sheets and more on human ingenuity. by Katherine Collins We are all investors. We invest our time, our energy, our money. We invest every single day—as citizens, as consumers, as Read More...
Clearing the air
From The Optimist Magazine Summer 2014 Forget the airpocalypse—the skies are getting cleaner. Hopeful signs from Mexico City, no longer the world’s dirtiest. On a cool Saturday morning, I check the air quality report on Twitter before putting on my running shoes. “Good,” the tweet says—as Read More...
True Grid
The solution to our overburdened, outdated power grid? One word: microgrids—localized power networks that are cheaper, cleaner and more reliable. What’s not to like? By Greg Nichols From The Optimist Magazine Fall 2015 In late 2000 and early 2001, rolling blackouts swept across California. Read More...
Ditch the plastic, drink through a rye straw
500 million plastic straws are used every single day in the world, enough to fill 127 school buses headed for the landfill. They are ubiquitous. Unlike plastic cutlery, no compostable or otherwise sustainable alternative is available to consumers. This may change if the Kickstarter campaign Read More...
6 tips to keep your wedding (or your daughter’s) a reasonably sustainable affair
Weddings make for incredibly special and memorable times. Which is not to say that they need to inflate into expensive extravaganzas marked by careless consumption and unsustainable behavior. Here are six suggestions of sustainable alternatives to any wedding Read More...
Can coffee-waste furniture get people excited about sustainability?
Such is the bet made by British designer and materials development expert Adam Fairweather, who is striving to turn upcycling into an art form. His latest obssession are coffee grounds. Addressing food waste is less on his mind than “using materials that have a perceived value to them, to Read More...
First LEED Platinum-certified soap factory opens in Chicago
Method has come a long way since its early days in San Francisco. The detergent company first aimed at transforming a traditionally toxic industry by developing environmentally-friendly products. It is now setting a green manufacturing standard with its Soapbox, a facility designed by Cradle to Read More...
Indian tribal women successfully claim titles to ancestral forestland
The plight of indigenous people robbed of their land by greedy corporations with the complicity of corrupt governments is a familiar story around the world. A less ordinary story is that of communities being given the legal opportunity to claim titles to the land that has been sustaining them for Read More...
Consumers more likely to buy from companies with a conscience, new study finds
Those consumer-facing companies who have no vision beyond growing revenue, no true sense of corporate responsibility and no interest in investing in making a positive impact in the world, ought to think again. Today’s consumers are more likely to spend money on goods and services from Read More...