Man Or Machine? For Better Customer Service, Use Both

The realities of bad design have crashed Musk’s Cybertruck party. When it comes to cars, bad design can lead to some particularly bad consequences. Poorly designed cars are bad for your body parts, bad for your life span, and bad for your wallet. There’s a single car that has already won that bad design trifecta, and you can probably guess which one we’re talking about.

Food brand collaborations are a byproduct of the attention economy. When will consumers have their fill? In April, Crocs partnered with Pringles to release a limited-edition, chip-themed clog. One of the shoes even came with an ankle holster for carrying Pringles on the go. But it certainly wasn’t the first off-the-walls food brand collaboration we’ve seen this year—and it won’t be the last, even though we’ve had more than our fill.

Through a partnership with ChargePoint, Airbnb wants to help hosts add EV chargers as an extra amenity. When you search for a place to stay on Airbnb, you can narrow your results to listings that have EV chargers. Now Airbnb aims to boost those listings by helping more of its hosts install chargers for electric vehicles.

Washington County implemented a buyback program for residents’ grass, giving them cash if they’d swap their lawns for native plants. This story was originally published by Reasons to Be Cheerful.

A Chinese company is offering up to 10 days of leave for employees feeling unhappy. But mental health days don’t always address the root problem. The idea of a “mental health day” started off as an informal concept. People would talk about taking a day of their sick leave to rest or recharge after a particularly stressful period of work.

Brands are grappling with how to implement truly sustainable practices amid greenwashing, legal hurdles, and fear-driven silence. These strategies can help. Recent reports paint a worrying picture of our planet’s future, with environmental concerns dominating both short- and long-term risks.