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Man literally frolics in the street after quitting high-stress corporate job

"I'm free! I'm free!"

Canva Photos

One man holds his head at his desk; a man jumps for joy.

Saad Akhtar has been documenting his life on TikTok for a while now. From the outside, he's got it all. He's 25, living in New York City, and working his way up the ranks in finance. He's also engaging and funny enough to rack up hundreds of thousands of followers on social media through his updates.

But there was definitely a sad pattern emerging in his videos. His stress and anxiety over his soul-sucking corporate job was leaking into the content. One update, a lengthy early-morning rant, was captioned "Try not to crash out with me before work." In others, he laments the never-ending barrage of work emails and the poor treatment by his boss. For weeks, he openly toyed with the idea of quitting.

And then one day in early May, he finally pulled the plug on his "finance bro" career.

Akhtar bought himself a cake to celebrate the occasion. On his last day of work, he filmed a giddy video before heading in to ultimately clock out for the last time. The next day, he woke up at the usual time—5 a.m.—just to experience those same early morning hours as a free man. The video he filmed is pure magic.

As a free, unemployed human being, Akhtar literally and physically frolics through the streets of New York. You might think he's running at first, as in, for exercise. But no. This is a frolic.

"My days of being a finance bro are over," he shouts excitedly. "I'm free! I'm free"

"I quit my job. I can do whatever I want. I can live my life. ... I can be a baker. I can be a painter. ... I'm gonna go see the sunrise right now from the Brooklyn Bridge. I've never been able to do this in my life."

It's actually pretty emotional and beautiful. There's a whole wide world out there. Akhtar's been too busy "staring at the back of other desks" to go explore it. Until now, anyway.

@sodakhtar
my first 5am morning as a free man #quit #quitmyjob

Over four million people tuned in to watch Akhtar's joyous celebration of newfound freedom and it struck a nerve in all of them.

Commenters couldn't contain their excitement for him. Others found that his bravery to cut the cord gave them hope for their own lives:

"I haven’t been this happy for a stranger in a minute"

"I’m crying. It shouldn’t cost us this much to exist."

"May everyone experience this in their lifetime"

"Every goodhearted person in a corporate job desperately wants to quit"

"being up at 5am knowing you don’t have to work is such a good feeling"

The freedom of unemployment is absolutely intoxicating, so it's no wonder people are mesmerized by the viral video. When my wife and I moved to a new city a little over a decade ago and had a week before starting at our new school and job, respectively, it was incredible. Waking up with each day full of possibility and exploration and adventure was really the thrill of a lifetime. Living life like a tourist, seeing new parts of the city, eating good food, making time for rest and play.

It's a damn shame we don't get to live like that all the time.

@sodakhtar
1:32 am biking cuz im free, Alhumdulillah for it all ❤️ #freedom #unemployment

Job burnout is at an all-time high, studies find. That means a majority of people find the demands of their job impossible to meet, and all the while they're working extra hours and struggling to keep up, they can still barely pay the bills.

A majority of working Americans find that they barely have the capacity to go on. Akhtar is far from the only one feeling that way.

What's exciting is that Gen Z—which includes people like Akhtar—is really leading the charge for better work-life balance. They're a generation that refuses to settle. That means they get mocked for setting hard boundaries with work, not wanting to answer emails after hours, and maxing out their vacation days, but honestly... good for them. They're the ones who will ultimately, hopefully drive some change and bring us back to a world where working 9-5 and leaving work at work is the norm.

As for Akhtar, he may have to return to the corporate workforce eventually, especially if he wants to keep living in New York City. But for now he's making the most of his unemployment with a recent trip to Australia, whimsical bike rides through the city, time with friends, and documenting it all for his growing TikTok channel.

Best of all, he's staying up late living his life to the fullest, and leaving the 5 a.m. wake-ups in the past.

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Culture

A woman noticed a striking resemblance between JPMorgan's office perks and the show 'Severance'

Lumon would be proud.

Apple TV

Adam Scott and Tramell Tillman in Severance

RIP remote work? Now that we're 4-plus years removed from the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more companies are beginning to mandate that employees return to the office, on a full or part-time basis. JPMorgan Chase is just one of the latest (and biggest) names to make the move. Starting March, the company announced, all employees must return to the office five days per week. Their CEO even ditched the policy that allowed employees to work-from-home two days per week.

To mark the occasion, and welcome everyone back, JPMorgan is planning to soon unveil a massive $3 billion, 2.5 millions square foot tower on New York's famous Park Avenue. The building will house 14,000 workers and feature state of the art architecture and technology.

The United State's largest bank is loading up its new corporate headquarters with perks to help employees transition back to office life. Some of the perks are great and truly enticing. Others are... questionable, to say the least.

Grace Tallon on LinkedIn noticed that some of the benefits of working in the JPMorgan Office seemed like they were yanked right out of one of the most popular current TV shows on the planet: Severance

If you don't know it, Severance is a psychological thriller on Apple TV that doubles as a dark and biting satire of corporate office culture and capitalism. Employees at a mysterious company called Lumon are "severed" — meaning their brains, memories, and personalities are literally split in half. While at work, they are a different person and retain no memories when they leave the office every night. In return for their sacrifice and for hitting key milestones, the employees receive ludicrous rewards like short dance parties with their boss, melon parties with carved watermelons, and handfuls of balloons. Employees are also expected to marvel at bizarre pieces of art that line the hall, featuring stoic images of Lumon's revered (and more than a bit creepy) founders.

Man in a white turtleneck smiling and laughing in an office hallway. Giphy

Conversely, JPMorgan's new tower will feature 19-restaurants with at-your-desk delivery, an Irish pub, and on-site physical therapy and yoga. But that's not all!

Tallon notes, however, that JPMorgan is also trying to entice employees with things like "personalized climate" in rooms and offices, a "signature scent" that wafts through the halls and somehow reinforces the brand, and, get this, even a "corporate art collection" that celebrates the company's history and values. Be more on the nose next time, will you JPMorgan? That's to say nothing of design elements that support worker's circadian rhythms and coffee machines that learn your favorites over time.

"Let’s stop pretending this is about connecting and doing better work," she writes.

Read Tallon's full post below on the striking similarities:

Commenters agreed that the perks came off more than a little tone deaf.

While some folks defended the corporation for doing their best to make employees feel cared for and taken care of, others didn't quite see it that way.

"the climate in my own home office is just right. Along with my own coffee, artwork, lighting (window wide open), and other perks and it cost me zero dollars to drive there and I don't have to wear shoes! Way out of touch," wrote Alix Z.

"Those perks sound more like a high-tech museum experience than actual employee benefits. Instead of a 'signature scent,' how about giving employees real reasons to feel good about coming to work?" said Diana Alayon

"Working at home perks: My own candle collection, curated to suit my preferences, Coffee and tea on tap, from our favourite brands, Comfortable cushions and blankets to help regulate my temperature at my desk, A variety of lighting options, ranging from warm white lamps to 'the big light', Freedom to work anywhere I want, such as my office desk, sofa, kitchen table or a coffee shop near by, Personalised art with photos of family and pictures we enjoy, Working space decorated to my own specifications, Plenty of spaces nearby for fresh air and dog walks" wrote Eloise Todd in a mic-drop comment.

Man joyfully dancing in an office with a clock on the wall, labeled "Severance." Giphy

Hey, I'm not totally naive. I do think there is something positive about working together in-person with your colleagues. And sure, if I'm going to be there, I'd love to have delicious lunches and free yoga classes available to me. But to take away even the option of occasionally working from home and duct-taping over it with an algorithm that tracks my coffee order and temperature preferences, and filling the halls with strange paintings that move when I walk by? It kind of loses the thread, and it's exactly the kind of thinking that the creators of Severance are so good at skewering.

It turns out that what people really want out of their jobs is actually pretty simple. They want fair pay, autonomy, some level of flexibility, and good benefits. Perks are nice — even the kind of weird ones — but they can only go so far. It remains to be seen if companies that dictate back-to-the-office edicts are willing to follow through on the things that really matter.

One anonymous worker reiterated as much when they told the NY Post: "I'm looking forward to some of those little amenities — but I'm still not down for having to go to the office five days a week."

This article originally appeared in February

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Family

Trump's tweet about the breastfeeding resolution was complete nonsense. Here's why.

In a move that baffled much of the world, the U.S. tried to shut down a global resolution to encourage breastfeeding.

For decades, research has tended to show that human breast milk — when it's possible to use it — is the safest, healthiest food for babies around the world. A 2016 series in the British medical journal The Lancet — the most in-depth analysis of the health impact of breastfeeding to date — concluded that more than 800,000 babies and 20,000 mothers' lives could be saved each year with universal breastfeeding, at a cost savings of $300 billion.

A mother in the Central African Republic breastfeeds her child while they wait to see the doctor in a clinic with no running water. Photo via Florent Vergnes/Getty Images.

So when the U.S. delegation to the World Health Assembly voiced strong opposition to a resolution that encourages breastfeeding — not barring access to formula or curtailing mothers' choices in feeding their children but just encouraging breastfeeding — many were understandably flummoxed. The purpose of the resolution was to prevent misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes and limit the promotion of formula in hospitals around the world.

But at the spring 2018 World Health Assembly, the U.S. tried to shut the resolution down, even going so far as to threaten small countries proposing the measure with trade punishments and military aid withdrawal.

Threatening other nations. Over breastfeeding. Yes, really.

President Donald Trump retorted to the Times report with a tweet, displaying a stunning lack of knowledge on the subject.

"The failing NY Times Fake News story today about breast feeding must be called out," Trump wrote. "The U.S. strongly supports breast feeding but we don't believe women should be denied access to formula. Many women need this option because of malnutrition and poverty."

— (@)

Each sentence of that tweet contains falsehoods:

1. The New York Times has doubled its stock shares since the 2016 election. It has also won more Pulitzer prizes — the highest award in journalism — than any other news outlet. By no measure is it "failing."

2. Nothing in the breastfeeding resolution suggested denying women access to formula. Formula is sometimes necessary, and women should definitely have the option to choose how they feed their babies — but nothing in the resolution would prevent that. It was about limiting the misleading and predatory marketing and promotionof formula.

3. Malnutrition and poverty are exactly why formula should notbe heavily marketed to mothers, especially in developing nations. Formula is expensive, requires clean water to make, and requires bottles to be sanitized. When moms can't afford it long term, formula gets diluted, and babies don't get the nutrients they need. And unless it's severe, a mother's malnutrition doesn't affect the quantity or quality of her breast milk, so in places where poverty and moderate malnutrition are prevalent breastfeeding is especially important.

So why oppose a measure designed to promote the health and save the lives of infants and mothers? Follow the money.

Since the early 1980s, health advocates have fought to protect vulnerable mothers from predatory baby formula marketers, especially in developing nations. Many resolutions have been passed over the years to promote breastfeeding education and limit such marketing tactics.

But it's not in the baby formula companies' interest to have their product promotion hampered. When the U.S. so clearly puts the interests of corporations over the health of moms and babies, we're in a world of hurt.

Photo via Noel Celis/Getty Images.

To be fair, the Trump administration is not the first to put corporate interests ahead of the public.

Kowtowing to big business isn't new to American politics. A landmark 2014 study from Princeton and Northwestern researchers concluded that "economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."

— (@)

While the U.S. has been a corporatocracy for much longer than two years, this administration has been far more bold and brazen about it than most. Trump's cabinet has more big business leaders with no government or public service experience than any other president's. Some of them have been leading departments that they directly or indirectly opposed when they were in the private sector. Some (*cough* Ben Carson) have been leading departments they had no experience with. There are real-world consequences to such elections and appointments.

The move to halt the breastfeeding resolution, like so many other moves influenced by corporate money, would have gone unnoticed if not for the Times report.

For a long time, our lawmakers have placed corporate interests above the will of the people — a fact that we would not know were it not for journalists shedding light on what's happening under the radar.

People's faith and trust in the news media has taken a beating with the constant barrage of attacks from Trump and others. But how are we supposed to place faith in our government when we know that policy is being bought and paid for by profit-driven industries?

The press must keep playing its vital role in our democracy — or rather, our corporatocracy — to preserve whatever power the people have left. And the people must use our power at the ballot box if we don't want to continue to be ruled by big business.

From Your Site Articles

Study: breastmilk and formula lead to similar IQs by age 16 - Upworthy ›

Heroes

This blogger got into 'green' beauty for an extremely personal reason.

Liz Mimran was a teenager when she started losing her hair.

This is, obviously, not a common problem for someone so young to have.

"I tried every possible hair care line and supplement on the market [to stop the hair loss], but to no avail," writes Liz in an email. "Worse, some products only aggravated the problem and irritated my scalp."

Since this was before all-natural products had become a staple of the mainstream beauty market, Liz decided to research homeopathic and holistic remedies to see if they'd make a difference.

Liking what she read, she began to dip her toe into the world of "green" hair care. She started using products that contained less, if any, synthetics, as well as homemade concoctions.

Liz Mimran. Photo courtesy of Liz Mimran.

And slowly but surely, her hair got healthier.

"A couple of months later, my hair loss diminished tremendously and my hair felt less greasy and fragile," Liz writes. "It did not happen overnight, but it worked."

That was it for Liz: She was now a green beauty product convert.

Two years later, she start blogging about her experiences to help others.

Her blog, Smells Like a Green Spirit, is a fun, down-to-earth guide for anyone interested in trying the sustainable beauty lifestyle.

Coucou, c’est moi 👋🏻. Thank you all for your sweet messages regarding my previous post. It means everything💚 This year my enthusiasm for highlighters reached its pinnacle and I do plan on doing a huge highlighter round up like the one I did with the eyeshadows. On my face, I am wearing the @w3llpeople biocorrect concealer. The coverage is just excellent. On my cheeks, @lavera_naturkosmetik natural mousse blush in soft cherry. Lavera has mastered the art of creating a whipped texture that stays on. Last but not least, @rmsbeauty luminizer in Champagne rosé. Rms is spoiling us with all these highlighters. Champagne Rosé has a pink iridescence to it that looks super cool on the skin. Also pretty as a lip topper. Happy Monday lovely people!
A post shared by Liz (green/eco writer 🌿) (@lizthegreenspirit) on Nov 13, 2017 at 7:05am PST

"I try my best to help people navigate the world of organic and natural beauty and avoid some of the mistakes that I made when I first started my green journey," Liz says.

For example, just because a brand claims its product is "100% natural" or "organic" doesn't mean it is.

Sometimes brands greenwash, which means they claim to be eco-friendly through advertising and marketing but don't actually implement practices that minimize environmental impact.

Since Liz began exploring actual green, sustainable products when they weren't facets of cosmetic stores or beauty magazines, it was more of a challenge for her to find things that were the real deal.

Today, she gets notes from readers having the opposite problem — there are so many green products on the market that they simply don't know where to start.

So Liz gives the following advice: "Read the labels, take your time, and listen to your body. Certain ingredients are natural but that doesn't mean that your skin will react positively to it."

I love a good Friday mask session to reset and cleanse my skin after a busy week. Be it powder, cream, gel, or sheet masks, I just love experimenting and having this little me-time. Starting tomorrow, I'll share a different mask on IG with a mini review for a week. Which mask(s) are you loving lately? 💚 . Ps. @rainbowfeetblog tagged me ages ago for a #maskselfie so Tammy, I hope this collage makes up for it. 😁
A post shared by Liz (green/eco writer 🌿) (@lizthegreenspirit) on Jan 13, 2017 at 11:29am PST

Liz is far from the only millennial to pledge herself to sustainable beauty. It's a movement that's become firmly embedded in the younger generations.

In fact, according to Fast Company,90% of millennials say they'll buy from a brand if they believe its social and environmental practices are legit.

And they have good reason to feel this way. According to the EPA, 30% of the trash in landfills is packaging. Beauty products are a $500 billion industry, so its packaging contributes significantly to that percentage. The more beauty brands commit to making their packaging more sustainable, the less they'll compromise our planet.

Due to climate change and a whole host of other environmental issues, millennials are living in an endangered world. As such, it's often appealing to them to purchase products that don't make things worse.

The wonderful @linahanson has launched the #iamglobalbeauty campaign, which serves a great cause. To me, global beauty means adhering to the idea that there's not one but countless definitions of beauty. There's beauty in each and everyone of us, by coming together we form global beauty. For each post, Lina Hanson will donate $1 to Change International, a non-profit NGO working to end violence against women and children. How to be involved : 1.Post a pic of yourself on IG. 2. Complete the phrase: Global Beauty means___ 3.Use #iamglobalbeauty and tag @linahanson. 4.Tell your followers. 💚
A post shared by Liz (green/eco writer 🌿) (@lizthegreenspirit) on Feb 22, 2017 at 11:57am PST

While Liz wholeheartedly believes investing in green beauty is about saving the planet, she also thinks it's important to focus on what we're are putting into and onto our bodies.

"I believe that the internet and access to [tons] of information has contributed to raising awareness of the significance of living in a more mindful way," Liz writes.

This attention toward personal well-being goes hand-in-hand with sustainability, which is why consumers like Liz look for products that highlight it when purchasing and recommending products.

But it's not just about what they're made of — it's how they're packaged too.

Save water. It makes rainbows. For this year's #worldwaterday, @stopthewater launched their third project aiming to provide clean water access to regions in need. This year, they are committed to bring clean water in the south of Madagascar with their #waterkiosk project. 2/3 of the population lacks access to clean water. I've been using this Lemon Honey soap for a few years now and hands feel nourished and clean after each use. It's an amazing product by a outstanding brand. Their special rainbow edition (500 mL) retails for 21.90 Eur. 10% of the proceeds of each soap goes directly to the #waterkiosk initiative. Available on @stopthewater website. . #goodwaterprojects #stopthewaterwhileusingme #savewateritmakesrainbows
A post shared by Liz (green/eco writer 🌿) (@lizthegreenspirit) on Mar 22, 2017 at 6:32am PDT

Eco-friendly packaging is just as much a part of what makes a product sustainable as what's inside. Thankfully, Liz is noticing beauty brands making efforts there too.

"There's still a long way to go, but I have the impression that brands now understand that a product has to be eco-friendly from head to toe in order to 'earn' the sustainable/ethical label," Liz writes.

Since she's a known beauty blogger, she gets loads of products to review, so she's even more appreciative of repurposed or 100% recyclable packaging than the average buyer.

Liz hopes her generation will continue to demand transparency from beauty brands as more and more go green — and not just for her skin's sake.

Holding companies to such high standards will not only keep us looking and feeling better, it'll help reinvigorate our planet. While they may be younger, millennials and generation Z understand that better than most because they're seeing firsthand the effects that decades of the alternative have made.

So, perhaps we shouldn't call green beauty a trend but rather a necessary shift.

After all, environmentalism as a whole isn't fashionable — it's the cornerstone of our future.

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California is about to become the first state to ban discrimination based on hair style. - Upworthy ›

Do you know how many Fortune 500 companies are run by women?

True

If you spend much time with young kids, you're sure to encounter one question: "Can you tell me a story?"

For all except the most gifted storytellers among us, it can cause a moment of anxiety. "What story do I tell?"you ask yourself. You want to fill little heads with wholesome and encouraging ideas — damsels in distress and damagingly masculine heroes are all out of the question. But on the other hand, spinning a completely original tale on the spot is a pretty tall order.

This is one story that you might be able to tell kids is true just a few years from now:

This is what life could look like for women in 2025.
Posted by Upworthy on Wednesday, April 26, 2017

It's wonderful to imagine a world run by both women and men. But as of right now, it's still a fantasy.

In the first part of 2017, there were only 27 female CEOs leading Fortune 500 companies. What's worse? That's a record high. Women hold only 12% of board seats worldwide, and only 4% of boards around the world are chaired by women — which makes it even harder to set policies that allow women to rise to leadership positions.

Photo via iStock.

It's time for us — all of us — to end the gender inequality that dictates corporate culture.

It's in everyone's best interest to have more women at the executive level. Companies with female leaders tend to have policies that grant more generous family leave and make progress toward narrowing the gender pay gap. Research also suggests that female-led businesses are better at creating inclusive workplace cultures, meaning that gender diversity helps increase other types of diversity, too.

Oh, and also? Financially, companies with female leaders knock it out of the park.

Photo via iStock.

The Rockefeller Foundation's goal of 100 (or more!) women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies by 2025 means charting the path of progress toward a fairer, better world of work.

"100x25" may be ambitious, but it could — and should — become reality. With more women at the helm, we'll also see increased opportunities for people of all identities at every level. When the work world is fairer, it will be possible for everyone to write their own story.

So when that happens and you hear, "Can you tell me a story?" you'll know just which one to tell: ours.

Meet Nic Smith. He's got some powerful things to say.

Nic, who works at a Waffle House in Virginia, comes from a long line of union coal miners. His grandfathers were coal miners. His great-grandfathers were coal miners. Cousins, uncles, you name it. However, the coal industry has been shedding jobs for a while now. And, while President-elect Donald Trump has promised to bring all those coal jobs back, Nic isn't buying it.

In the video below, he lays out the facts pretty clearly as to why. Really bluntly.

If you don't have time to watch all of his powerful answers, here are the highlights of what Nic had to say:

1. "Coal's not coming back."

Yeah, Trump has claimed he's going to bring back all the coal jobs. But according to experts, those jobs are just not coming back, between automation of systems and lower demand for the polluting energy source. From 2008-2012 alone, the coal industry lost almost 50,000 jobs while natural gas, wind, and solar all had huge gains in the same time period.

2. "Ain't no damn immigrant stole a coal job. I'll tell you that right now."

"Even if they did," he continued, "would you be blaming the immigrants or the people that hired them? The only reason they'd hire an immigrant over an American citizen is if it benefits their wallets."

He's right. The reality is that uneducated immigrants are vying for different jobs than American workers.

3. "I do $2.35 an hour plus tips. ... We need $15 an hour."

In a second video, Nic explains how little he earns, by waiting tables at the local Waffle House. He makes $2.35 per hour plus tips, unless those tips are less than minimum wage, then he makes $7.35 per hour. He'd make more as a cook on the grill on most nights than he does as a waiter, but even that isn't enough to support himself. It's only $15,000 per year.

In Dickenson County, Virginia, where Nic lives, 1 in 5 people live below the poverty line, and the average income is barely half that of the rest of Virginia.

4. "[Trump supporters] are desperate to believe in something."

The reason many blue-collar workers and low-income people in the coal industry voted for Trump? "There's 80% [of people], they're struggling day to day," Nic says. "The only industry they've got there is coal, and they're trying to hold onto what little bit there is. And they really don't care what it takes to keep that industry there or bring it back. "

If there's one thing Nic hopes people take away from his interview, it's that we can't ignore people in dying industries.

"If we invested in Appalachian people and helped diversify the economy, these people would stop clinging to coal," he says. "There is a culture-wide Stockholm syndrome we have with the coal industry, and people don't get that."

You can learn more about Fight for $15 here.

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A U.S. Senate candidate asked people to prove her racist assertion wrong. And boy, did they ever. - Upworthy ›

Google's New Year's resolution is good for all of us.

If Google was at a holiday party with the rest of the Fortune 500 companies, it would definitely have a New Year's resolution worth bragging about.

The company intends to be powered entirely be renewable energy in 2017.

Image via iStock.

Now those other Fortune 500 companies might go, "Hold on, Google, not so fast. We know you're one heck of an impressive tech company, but you employ over 60,000 people all over the world! Think you might want to set a more realistic goal?"

To which Google would probably say, "Nah, I'm good."

Of course, this isn't the kind of goal you hit overnight. Google has been laying the groundwork to hit this "landmark moment" for years.

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in the Mojave Desert. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images.

According to a post on Google's blog by senior vice president of technical infrastructure, Urs Hölzle, Google is the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world. Last year, the company purchased 44% of the power needed to run the entire company from solar and wind farms, but it began pursuing renewable energy much earlier than that.

In 2010, Google contracted with 114-watt wind farm in Iowa. The company also became one of three investors of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS), the world's largest solar power tower plant back in 2011. Oh and no big deal, but Google's been working toward carbon neutrality (meaning its energy production cancels out its emissions) since 2007.

Photo via Google. Used with permission.

So yeah, you could say Google had a bit of a head start on its 2017 New Year's resolution.

If you're thinking this is the kind of initiative that only a company like Google can do because Google has a ton of money and renewable energy is expensive, think again.

According to Google's extensive environmental report, the cost of wind and solar energy has dropped 60%-80% over the last six years. So not only is that 2017 renewable energy goal good for the planet, it's good for their business as well. And if there's anything most companies can get behind, it's saving money.

All in all, Google has invested more than $2.5 billion in renewable energy sources all over the world and also works to help other organizations lower their emissions as part of its commitment to doing whatever it can to combat the very real threat climate change poses to our planet.

Photo via Google. Used with permission.

Google isn't alone in trying to make a shift toward renewable energy. Microsoft reports that its been carbon neutral since 2012. Pearson, the world's largest education company has been committed to total carbon neutrality since 2009, and has maintained it ever since. And that's just two of 100 companies in the United States that have committed to operating on 100% renewable energy sources in the next few years.

According to data collected by the Climate Group, if companies worldwide committed to this endeavor, global carbon emissions would drop by 15%.

In cleaning up their energy acts, companies like Google, Microsoft, and Pearson are setting a great example for other companies worldwide to follow.

Photo by AFP.

It will take a certain amount of initiative, especially from smaller companies, to make a full shift to renewable energy. Even Google is facing some challenges in meeting its 2017 goal. For one, its data centers require the most amount of energy, and even though use of artificial intelligence has cut the need down by 15%, needs keep mounting.

Google is determined to keep pushing forward, facing each new challenge as it arises because combatting climate change is a marathon, not a sprint. And thanks to the climate summit in Paris in 2015, more countries' industries are taking up similar emissions pledges.

The clean energy gauntlet has been thrown by some of the most influential companies in the world. Hopefully their resolutions will inspire others who don't want to be left behind in the pollution dust.

We have a small favor to ask of you

corporations

"I'm free! I'm free!"

Lumon would be proud.

Commenters agreed that the perks came off more than a little tone deaf.

In a move that baffled much of the world, the U.S. tried to shut down a global resolution to encourage breastfeeding.

President Donald Trump retorted to the Times report with a tweet, displaying a stunning lack of knowledge on the subject.

So why oppose a measure designed to promote the health and save the lives of infants and mothers? Follow the money.

To be fair, the Trump administration is not the first to put corporate interests ahead of the public.

The move to halt the breastfeeding resolution, like so many other moves influenced by corporate money, would have gone unnoticed if not for the Times report.

Liz Mimran was a teenager when she started losing her hair.

Two years later, she start blogging about her experiences to help others.

Liz is far from the only millennial to pledge herself to sustainable beauty. It's a movement that's become firmly embedded in the younger generations.

Eco-friendly packaging is just as much a part of what makes a product sustainable as what's inside. Thankfully, Liz is noticing beauty brands making efforts there too.

Liz hopes her generation will continue to demand transparency from beauty brands as more and more go green — and not just for her skin's sake.

If you spend much time with young kids, you're sure to encounter one question: "Can you tell me a story?"

It's time for us — all of us — to end the gender inequality that dictates corporate culture.

The Rockefeller Foundation's goal of 100 (or more!) women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies by 2025 means charting the path of progress toward a fairer, better world of work.

Meet Nic Smith. He's got some powerful things to say.

1. "Coal's not coming back."

2. "Ain't no damn immigrant stole a coal job. I'll tell you that right now."

3. "I do $2.35 an hour plus tips. ... We need $15 an hour."

4. "[Trump supporters] are desperate to believe in something."

If there's one thing Nic hopes people take away from his interview, it's that we can't ignore people in dying industries.

Google's New Year's resolution is good for all of us.

If Google was at a holiday party with the rest of the Fortune 500 companies, it would definitely have a New Year's resolution worth bragging about.

Of course, this isn't the kind of goal you hit overnight. Google has been laying the groundwork to hit this "landmark moment" for years.

If you're thinking this is the kind of initiative that only a company like Google can do because Google has a ton of money and renewable energy is expensive, think again.

In cleaning up their energy acts, companies like Google, Microsoft, and Pearson are setting a great example for other companies worldwide to follow.