Gunter Pauli is an entrepreneur, global speaker, economist, innovator and bestselling author whose projects and activities can be found all over the world. He is most widely known for his book The Blue Economy (2010), in which he proposes a new type of business model in order for our society to become more sustainable.
Read MoreCanadian scientist, television personality, author, and environmental activist David Takayoshi Suzuki has the talent to make scientific and environmental issues understandable to the public. He has written or co-authored more than 50 books, of which 20 for children. In 1975, he helped launch and host the long-running CBC Radio’s, Quirks and Quarks.
Read MoreNemonte Nenquimo, an indigenous leader from the Ecuadorian Amazon, was one of the winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize of 2020 for her success in protecting 500,000 acres of rainforest from oil extraction. Nenquimo, also winner of of the 2020 United Nations Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth award for Inspiration and Action, is a member of the Waorani indigenous community. She says she is of “warrior blood” and she has shown the world what a warrior like her can achieve. Not by engaging in war, but by fighting a fight on a different level: by filing a lawsuit.
Read MoreSir David Attenborough has made so many documentaries that many will recognize his voice out of thousands. He has brought the natural world into our homes and by doing so he has also inspired many to protect it. For more than 60 years he has been describing wildlife on all continents, but since the turn of the millennium he has also warned us about climate change.
Read MoreIn 2011, when he was only 9 years old, Milo Cress started to convince restaurants to stop automatically bringing a straw with every drink. His project, Be Straw Free, not only focuses on restaurants but also motivates consumers to order their drinks without a straw whenever they don’t want or need to use one. Straws are items that in most cases are not needed, so not serving them is not only a cost saver for restaurants, but it also made customers more aware of plastic they use and eventually throw away.
Read MoreShawn Heinrichs, born in Durban, South Africa, is an artist and Emmy-award winning cinematographer, photographer and marine conservationist and one of the co-creators of the documentary Racing Extinction. He is also the founder of Blue Sphere Media, a production company specializing in underwater, adventure and conservation films. Art is his passion and he uses his photography skills as a tool to contribute to help protect the oceans most threatened species and habitats.
Read MoreSister Dorothy Stang was born in Dayton, Ohio, one of nine children. She was raised on a farm in a traditional Catholic family and decided early on that she would give her life to God. She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur community in 1948 and professed final vows in 1956.
Read MoreAnne Marieke Eveleens, Saskia Studer and Francis Zoet (who became friends teaching sailing classes at the same sailing school) were continuously confronted with plastic debris while on the water. They wanted to come up with a solution to stop plastic from entering the oceans without blocking the continuous ship traffic or fish migration. The solutions that already existed only caught floating debris while a huge part of waste travels lower.
Read MoreBoyan Slat, born in 1994 in the Netherlands, has devoted his time and energy to investigating how to clean up plastic pollution in the oceans since he was 16. He quit his Aerospace Engineering studies at TU Delft University to be able to work full-time on bringing his ideas to life. In 2013 he founded The Ocean Cleanup, a foundation that develops technologies to extract plastic pollution from the oceans and prevent more plastic debris from entering them.
Read MoreSuzanne Lee is a fashion designer based in Brooklyn, New York. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, the Director of The BioCouture Research Project, and Chief Creative Officer at Modern Meadow. The idea for these ventures came from the need to reconsider the approach to manufacturing in the fashion industry.
Read MoreLivia Firth (née Giuggioli, 1969), executive producer of the 2015 documentary “The True Cost”, is also founder and creative director of Eco-Age, a consultancy firm that provides sustainability solutions for brands looking to improve their supply chain. Clients of the company, founded in 2009, include fashion names like Chopard, Erdem, Stella McCartney and Gucci, as well as non-fashion companies like Welltower, the English Football Assiociation and Wembley stadium.
Read More“It’s shocking, its horrendous, it’s getting worse not better … but this is a systemic failure and we are trying to go back to the beginning of the pipe and stop that systemic failure through redesigning the system,” said Ellen MacArthur in a recent interview. MacArthur, born in 1976 in Derbyshire, England, is a retired sailor who now fights against plastic pollution.
Read MoreSisters and founders of Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB) Melati and Isabel Wijsen started the NGO in 2013 to have plastic bags banned in Bali, Indonesia. The idea started with a lesson in causes at the Green School, where they learned about the positive changes created by leaders and individuals such as Mahatma Gandhi and Princess Diana. The sisters learned how the small gestures of one person can turn into huge global social and economic movements.
Read MoreSylvia Alice Earle (née Reade) was born on August 30, 1935 in Gibbstown, New Jersey, U.S. as the second of three children. Her father was electrical engineer Lewis Reade and her mother was Alice Freas Richie. Dr. Sylvia Earle is a “living legend”, according to the Library of Congress. She is a woman of many firsts, including the first female chief scientist of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the first Time Magazine Hero for the Planet in 1998, and the first, and still only, human being to dive solo to a depth of over half a mile.
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