Fast Company posts tagged World Changing Ideas | Fast Company

World Changing Ideas

New workplaces, new food sources, new medicine--even an entirely new economic system.

More than 900 Amazon employees say they’ll walk out to protest the company’s climate failures

As part of the Global Climate Strike, Amazon employees are pushing their company to be bolder in lowering emissions and stop funding climate denial.

More than 900 Amazon employees say they’ll walk out to protest the company’s climate failures

People saved this forest from logging by donating $3 million to a crowdfunding campaign

The forests around a fjord around 60 miles from Vancouver are now protected by a nonprofit.

People saved this forest from logging by donating $3 million to a crowdfunding campaign

Trucking companies—like Uber and Lyft—say their drivers aren’t employees, worsening inequality and pollution

Low-paid drivers can’t afford the costs of updating to low- or zero-emission vehicles, leading to the spread of harmful pollutants. A new California bill aimed at reclassifying workers as employees would also apply to truckers.

Trucking companies—like Uber and Lyft—say their drivers aren’t employees, worsening inequality and pollution

We need to solve the wisdom deficit in business

Businesses need to value creating real value.

We need to solve the wisdom deficit in business

How companies are trying to de-rain-forest their supply chains as the Amazon burns

Beef and leather and soy markets are the root cause of the destruction of the Amazon. Can companies make changes to their supply chains that will save what’s left?

How companies are trying to de-rain-forest their supply chains as the Amazon burns

There’s a new group of workers spreading organic pesticide on crops: bees

As they leave their hives, the bees get coated with a beneficial fungus that they spread to plants, which protects things like strawberries from disease.

There’s a new group of workers spreading organic pesticide on crops: bees

The moment we started using plastic is preserved forever in the planet’s fossil record

Since humans started widely using plastic in the 1940s, the material has become embedded in sediments collected from the Santa Barbara Basin.

The moment we started using plastic is preserved forever in the planet’s fossil record

This gadget scans your trash to tell you if it’s recyclable

This concept device could help end confusion about what bin to put your trash in—and take some pressure off our failing recycling system.

This gadget scans your trash to tell you if it’s recyclable

Are mushrooms the secret ingredient for a realistic plant-based steak?

A company that’s been making mushroom leather is spinning off a new company designed to use fungus as the building block for fake meat steaks.

Are mushrooms the secret ingredient for a realistic plant-based steak?

Timberland is planting 50 million trees

The shoe company will give the world’s forests a boost.

Timberland is planting 50 million trees

We could help prevent deforestation by simply reprogramming logging machines

A little update to the source code for heavy machinery makes it impossible to cut down protected trees. Now developers are trying to get manufacturers to add it to their products.

We could help prevent deforestation by simply reprogramming logging machines

This new accelerator wants to boost the best solutions to food waste

The Nonprofit Food Recovery Accelerator hopes to find technological solutions to put wasted food to better use.

This new accelerator wants to boost the best solutions to food waste

Read the demands from the upcoming climate strike

On September 20, a youth-led event will ask people to walk out from their jobs to call for climate action. Here’s what they’re asking for.

Read the demands from the upcoming climate strike

This Bill Gates-backed startup wants to stop office temperature wars by making your AC smarter

75F is a machine-learning powered control system that controls HVAC systems to make them more responsive and more efficient, to make workers more comfortable and lower buildings’ massive carbon footprints.

This Bill Gates-backed startup wants to stop office temperature wars by making your AC smarter

You can now ride around national parks with a little extra electric assistance

A new policy allows people to use electric bicycles on national parks’ designated bike paths, but not everyone thinks it’s an environmentally friendly idea.

You can now ride around national parks with a little extra electric assistance

This online store eliminated bubble wrap, and it’s a lesson for every company that ships things

The Sill’s new packages for its plants are made to use easily recyclable and compostable material.

This online store eliminated bubble wrap, and it’s a lesson for every company that ships things

How this former high-end chef is helping schools kick chicken nuggets off the menu

Brigaid, headed by a former Noma chef, comes into schools and fully retools their cafeterias to make healthy menus and replace the processed meals they serve students.

How this former high-end chef is helping schools kick chicken nuggets off the menu

Will compostable packaging ever be able to solve our waste problem?

Packages labeled compostable that don’t actually turn into compost. City compost systems that don’t take compostable packaging. The world of compost has huge potential to change how we manage trash, but it’s still deeply flawed. Can we make it work?

Will compostable packaging ever be able to solve our waste problem?

Your boss is going to start using AI to monitor you—and labor laws aren’t ready

Our labor laws are weak enough as they are—and technology is constantly helping companies find ways around the ones that do exist to more closely monitor and analyze their workers.

Your boss is going to start using AI to monitor you—and labor laws aren’t ready

This stunning new film captures how humans have reshaped every part of the Earth

From deforestation to natural resources extraction to the creation of landfills, ‘Anthropocene,’ a meditative new documentary, brings us face-to-face with how we’re wrecking our planet.

This stunning new film captures how humans have reshaped every part of the Earth

Impact

IBM just announced the 5 finalists in its competition to disrupt disaster aid

This ‘personal carbon sequestration’ device uses algae to remove CO2 from the air

How a grassroots group of moms helped push Walmart and other chains to act on guns

Creativity

George Lucas has made more mistakes per hour than any other director

SNL fired Shane Gillis. Here’s what those defending him don’t seem to get

Lego rebuilds the world in first brand campaign in 30 years

Co.Design

This startup wants to rebrand acne care by highlighting zits, not hiding them

This data viz could help cities fight back against Trump’s war on immigrants

Exclusive: Ford’s radical new corporate campus is a glimpse into its future

Work Life

With the U.S. startup visa on hold, immigrant entrepreneurs get creative

This is why feminism needs to be the future

This is what happened when two companies swapped offices—and countries