Happy Women’s History Month!
As we move forward in creating solutions to combat our persistent environmental distress, sustainability leaders must come forth to pioneer our collective, never-ending, uphill battle.
Sustainability shouldn’t just be a green-washing buzzword anymore, it should be a standard, and a diverse set of leaders are needed to hold this standard to its highest capacity.
Who are the leaders innovating their way through our changing climate, though? Well, in light of March being globally recognized as Women’s History Month, we thought it necessary to highlight just a few of the most infamous female change-makers in sustainability.
Isatou Ceesay
Originally from Gambia, Istaou Ceesay pioneered an arguably revolutionary recycling movement, and is now recognized as the “Queen of Recycling.” You may have heard of this movement, known as One Plastic Bag.
She embraced knowledge gained from the Peace Corps after volunteering, and led dozens of women to the craft of upcycling single-use plastic into bags, purses, and backpacks. Ceesay, in turn, pioneered the N’jau Recycling and Income Generation Group.
West Africa experiences a low-income flow amongst women in general. In addition to lessening the impact of plastic waste throughout Gambia, it’s through Ceesay’s innovation of this movement that hundreds of West African women were tremendously uplifted and granted an income.
Precious Brady-Davis
Brady-Davis is the leader of a plethora of socially innovative movements; for instance, she’s an LGBTQ+ rights activist and The Sierra Club’s associate regional communications director.
In regards to sustainability, she’s a climate activist who emphasizes how essential it is to recognize the social implications residing within climate change. More specifically, climate change is, in fact, just as much of a social justice issue as it is an environmental one.
With public health as her special interest, Brady-Davis is one of the many female leaders in sustainability and education revolving around it.
Autumn Peltier
At 16 years old, Autumn Peltier is yet another essential leader and advocate for collective environmental consciousness. Peltier’s focus revolves around clean and safe drinking water for all.
Her impact on sustainability going forward has already been tremendous, especially after speaking at the United Nations World Water Day and speaking directly to the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, about protecting water sources throughout the country.
Brandi Susewitz
After receiving a 50% pay cut during the pandemic alongside her husband, Eric, she decided to start a company that would revolutionize the office furniture industry: Reseat. That’s right, this very platform.
For decades, businesses ran into the same conflict lease after lease: office furniture waste. When the 7-year lease runs its time, it’s likely that offices hold floors upon floors of gently-used, high-grade office furniture that’s built to last nearly 15 years. In a fit of reaction, facility managers had no other choice than to dump their building’s furniture into landfill.
As a solution, Susewitz created a platform where buyers and sellers of gently-used office furniture can connect directly, with add-to-cart checkout, design solutions, and a Reseat ID to track your furniture’s previous owners and maintenance.
