Eco-Heroes

Grassroots personal action is the key to sustainability. Making personal choices is one way to make a difference, a big difference. This page is dedicated to the people out there, making personal choices and also taking action to energize other folks to make a difference. Of course, if you would like to see yourself on here or there's someone you know who fits on this page, please e-mail us at: recycle@uoregon.edu

On this page, we offer inspiration on the possibilities.....because everything is possible, to do is possible!

	Last updated 6-11-2012
	EDWARD ABBEY 1927 - 1989 Abbey authored twenty-one books in his lifetime, including Desert Solitaire, The Monkey Wrench Gang, The Brave Cowboy, and The Fool's Progress. His comic novel The Monkey Wrench Gang helped inspire a whole generation of environmental activism. http://ecotopia.org/ecology-hall-of-fame/edward-abbey/biography/

	SHARIF ABDULLAH 1951 - An author, proponent and catalyst for inclusivity and spiritual transformation. His work on inclusivity has taken him to over two dozen countries. Sharif has appeared in several international forums. His books include The Power of One: Authentic Leadership in Turbulent Times and Creating a World That Works for All. He is Director of Commonway Institute in Portland, OR. http://www.commonway.org and http://www.commonway.org/node/33

	ANSEL ADAMS 1902 - 1984 At one with the power of the American landscape, and renowned for the patient skill and timeless beauty of his work, photographer Ansel Adams has been visionary in his efforts to preserve this country's wild and scenic areas, both on film and on Earth. Drawn to the beauty of nature's monuments, he is regarded by environmentalists as a monument himself, and by photographers as a national institution. It is through his foresight and fortitude that so much of America has been saved for future Americans http://www.anseladams.com/

	STEVEN RAY APOTHEKER 1952 - 2011 Co-founded the Community Recycling Center in Champaign-Urbana and directed it from 1978 to 1989. He secured public funding for recycling at both the city and state levels, established the Illinois Association of Recycling Centers, helped organize the Midwest Recycling Coalition and drafted a statewide recycling and solid waste management act. He served as the president of the Illinois Recycling Association from 1985 to 1987 and was named Recycler of the Year at both the National Recycling Congress in 1990 and the Association of Oregon Recyclers in 2007

	CARL ANTHONY Carl Anthony is an architect, a former president of the Earth Island Institute, and a founder of the Urban Habitat Program in San Francisco, which works to promote multicultural leadership in the environmental movement. http://www.bioneers.org/presenters/carl-anthony

	JIM BACA 1954 - Jim Baca's environmental views have defined much of his political life. As head of the Bureau of Land Management under President Bill Clinton, he resigned when the administration failed to support his efforts to reform the agency's wild lands grazing policy. A former television anchorman, Baca is now mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico. See Sierra Magazine For More Information http://www.blogger.com/profile/14019944863771287149

	JOHN BALDWIN 1951 - 2005 John wrote the best early book on environmental planning in 1984 (Environmental Planning and Management) and co-authored Corporate Environmental Policy and Government Regulation (1994). As Associate Professor in Planning, Public Policy and Management, he taught courses on environmental planning and impact analysis, world energy policy and planning, sustainable development, and on the Oregon Land Use Program. He served twice as PPPM Department chair. http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2005/03/17/essay.html http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2005/03/31/views.html

	WENDELL BERRY 1934 - Wendell Berry is an educator and the author of more than 40 works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. He focuses primarily on the role of agriculture in society and human connections with the land. His work has earned him many prestigious awards such as the National Institute of the Arts and Letters award for writing, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Jean Stein Award, Membership in the Fellowship of Southern Writers, and the Ingersoll Foundation's T.S. Eliot Award to name a few. He and his wife live and work on their farm in Kentucky .- http://www.wendellberrybooks.com/author.html

	JOSÉ BOVÉ 1953 - A French farmer who dismantled a McDonald's Briarpatch, July 2001 - From Arms To Farms http://www.bbcf.ca/_articles/josebove.htm

	DAVID BROWER 1912 - 2000 David Ross Brower was born in Berkeley, California on July 1, 1912. He founded Earth Island Institute and was president of Earth Island Action Group. Brower was a life-long wilderness enthusiast and engaged in conservation battles starting in 1938. http://www.browercenter.org/node/179

	JACKSON BROWNE 1948 - In 2002, he was the fourth recipient of the John Steinbeck Award, given to artists whose works exemplify the environmental and social values that were essential to the great California-born author. He has received Duke University’s LEAF award for Lifetime Environmental Achievement in the Fine Arts, and both the Chapin-World Hunger Year and NARM Harry Chapin Humanitarian Awards. In 2004, Jackson was given an honorary Doctorate of Music by Occidental College in Los Angeles, for "a remarkable musical career that has successfully combined an intensely personal artistry with a broader vision of social justice." http://www.jacksonbrowne.com/

	DENISE CERRETA As founder of One World Everybody Eats, a pay-what-you-want restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah, Cerreta is determined to change the way restaurants do business and to bring delicious, healthful food to everyone, even those who can't pay. http://www.oneworldeverybodyeatsfoundation.org/

	MAJORA CARTER 1966 - Majora Carter Group builds efficient relationships between across sectors - helping civic, business and nonprofit organizations meet their individual interests via green economic projects. Majora Video http://www.majoracartergroup.com/

	CARLA CLOER Schoolteacher Carla Cloer grew up in California 's Sierra foothills. In the year 2000, she received the John Muir Award , the Sierra Club's highest honor, in recognition of her two decades of work protecting the giant sequoia groves she has visited since childhood. Her efforts culminated in President Clinton's creation of the Giant Sequoia National Monument in April 2000. See Sierra Magazine For

	DIANNE COHEN The co-founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, a group that addresses the pervasive problem of plastic pollution. She was inspired to co-found the group by her work as an artist -- because her chosen material is the ubiquitous plastic bag. She writes: "Having worked with the plastic bag as my primary material for the past fifteen years, all of the obvious references to recycling, first-world culture, class, high and low art give way to an almost formal process which reflects the unique flexibility of the medium." http://www.diannacohen.com/_portfolio/home.html

	THEO COLBORN 1927 - Theo Colborn was a pharmacist and sheep farmer before going back to school for a doctorate in zoology. In 1987 she began studying the Great Lakes ecosystem and discovered that a broad range of synthetic chemicals, including dioxin and PCBs, were disrupting the endocrine systems of the region's fish, birds, and mammals. Her groundbreaking research indicated that very small amounts of these chemicals can have long-term health effects on children exposed to them in the womb. She is now a senior scientist at the World Wildlife Fund . http://www.rachelcarsonprisen.no/eng/Prize-Winners/Theo-Colborn

	ROSSANO ERCOLINI 1957 - Primary school teacher by profession and Zero Waste leader by passion. Rossano has more than 20 years experience in the field of waste and is the alma mater of the Zero Waste movement in Italy. Thanks to his commitment his hometown Capannori was the first European city to declare the goal of Zero Waste for 2020. He has helped the Zero Waste movement grow beyond Italian borders in what is now the Zero Waste Europe movement. http://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/rossano-ercolini

	MARC ONA ESSANGUI 1962 - http://www.goldmanprize.org/2009/africa Marc Ona Essangui, 45, is president and founder of the environmental NGO Brainforest and president of the network of NGOs called Environment Gabon. Wheelchair-bound due to childhood polio, Ona also works for handicapped rights and Internet availability for Africans. - http://www.facebook.com/marc.onaessangui

	PATRICIA FRANKLIN 1941 - 2012 A former teacher and political activist, Pat founded the Container Recycling Institute in 1991 after advocating for container deposit legislation at the local, state and national level for 15 years. Pat is recognized as an expert on container recycling and bottle bills, and has spoken and written widely on the issue. She has served on numerous local and national boards, including the Virginia Forestry Board (as an appointee of Governor Gerry Baliles), the Parks and Conservation Association Advisory Board, the National Recycling Coalition, the Virginia Forum, and the American Forum. http://ma-sierra-members.blogspot.com/2012/10/pat-franklin-founder-of-container.html

	MAHATMA GANDHI 1869 - 1948 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was among India's most fervent nationalists, fighting for Indian independence from British rule. Gandhi spearheaded the non-violent method of protest, which was termed "Satyagraha". For his dedicated service to the Indian Independence movement, Gandhi is often called the "Father of the Nation." http://www.mahatma.org.in/

	LOIS GIBBS 1951 - was responsible for creating the Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste which is now the Center for Health Environment and Justice. Her claim to fame was single-handedly stopping the Love Canal and not only did she get that stopped but she started this organization out of that fight. She also is a dioxin expert. She won the Heinz Award and Goldman Award, both international awards for environmental activism. Gibbs biography - http://www.heroism.org/class/1970/gibbs.html

	RANDY GILSON Welcome to Randyland. That's what Randy Gilson calls his creation. Though volunteers and civic groups have pitched in, Gilson, 50, has done most of the work himself, using recycled and trashed materials to fashion a magnet for a neighborhood reinventing itself. http://www.facebook.com/gilsonrandy

	JEROME GOLDSTEIN 1941 - Publisher and Editor Emeritus of BioCycle and In Business , and founder of The JG Press, Inc., one of the world's leading ecopioneers, was an early and persistent advocate of conserving and reusing natural resources, composting, recycling and ecoentrepreunering. His vision for a sustainable planet touched many, encouraging people around the world to do what they could with the resources they had. http://www.biocycle.net/2012/05/jerome-goldstein-1931-2012/

	JANE GOODALL 1934 - In July 1960, at the age of 26, Jane Goodall traveled from England to what is today Tanzania and bravely entered the little-known world of wild chimpanzees. She was equipped with nothing more than a notebook and a pair of binoculars. But with her unyielding patience and characteristic optimism, she won the trust of these initially shy creatures. She managed to open a window into their sometimes strange and often familiar-seeming lives. The public was fascinated and remains so to this day. Jane Goodall Institute - http://www.janegoodall.org/

	AL GORE 1948 - Former Vice President Al Gore is co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management, a partnership that is focused on a new approach to sustainable investing. He is also co-founder and chairman of Current TV, an Emmy Award-winning, independent cable and satellite television news and information network based on viewer-created content and citizen journalism. In addition, Gore is a senior partner with the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a member of the board of directors of Apple and senior adviser to Google. http://www.algore.com/

	WOODY HARRELSON 1961 - Well known for his acting career, Woody Harrelson promotes sustainable living, including the use of industrial hemp. From 2001-2009 he and his wife Laura directed an online community called Voiceyourself dedicated to news briefs, comment forums, tips on how to become involved with environmental actions, and creating a place for people to connect with one another. http://www.voiceyourself.com/ . Also See Our Hemp Alternative Page

	ROBERT HASS 1941 - Robert Hass is a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. As the U.S. poet laureate from 1995 to 1997, he sponsored a week-long celebration of American nature writing called "Watershed" and founded the River of Words Project, an international environmental poetry and art contest for children. http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/194

	PAUL HAWKEN 1946 - Paul Hawken has dedicated his life to redefining the relationship between business and the environment through sustainable practices. Hawken founded the Natural Capital Institute which created Wiser Earth (an open source networking tool for those concerned about social and environmental justice.). http://www.paulhawken.com

	COURTNEY HIGHT Courtney began organizing around environmental issues as a student at the University of Oregon and has since spent most of her career working to build the collective voice of young people. Courtney helped develop a campaign to make her campus more energy efficient, educating students on ways to reduce energy consumption as well as working with the University to retrofit some of the campus buildings. Post-college, Courtney worked with the Oregon Student Association, organizing students at the UO, and statewide, around increasing access to higher education for all people. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/courtney-hight

	JULIA "BUTTERFLY" HILL 1974 - Environmental activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill lived on a 200-foot- tall ancient redwood tree named Luna from December 10, 1997 to December 18, 1999, above the community of Stafford, California, about 230 miles north of San Francisco. http://www.ecotopia.org/ehof/hill/

	DAVID HOLMGREN 1955 - David Holmgren is the co-originator of permaculture, along with Bill Mollison. Since he and Mollison published Permaculture One in 1978, Holmgren has continued to write books outlining permaculture principles and how they can be applied and has developed three properties according to these principles. He promotes the practicality of permaculture and the realism of sustainable living in contrast to dependency based consumerism. http://www.chelseagreen.com/authors/david_holmgren/

	SEPP AND VERONIKA HOLZER (Sepp, 1945 - ) Sepp and Veronika Holzer are farmers living on the Krameterhof in Austria and implementing permaculture design strategies on their 45 hectare property. They have been living on the farm for over 30 years and were using sustainable agriculture techniques- working with ecological systems- long before they ever heard their integrated approach described as permaculture. Sepp Holzer now travels around the world sharing his knowledge about producing high yields while living lightly on the land http://www.krameterhof.at/en/

	VAN JONES 1968 - Van is not a lone voice in the wilderness. He is part of a large and growing movement of Americans working to build a clean-energy future for our country and the world. A clean-energy economy will move us past some of our most pressing challenges. By making us energy independent, it will improve our national and economic security. By radically reducing the pollution that causes global warming, it will improve the health of our families and neighborhoods. http://vanjones.net/

	CAROLE KING 1942 - Carole King is best known as a singer and songwriter, but over the past 16 years she's also made a name for herself as an environmental activist, working tirelessly to protect some of the nation's most pristine wilderness through the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act. See Sierra Magazine For More Information http://www.caroleking.com/home.php

	SVITLANA KRAVCHENKO: 1950 - 2012 Dr. Kravchenko is remembered as an international force in environmental law. Environmental advocates and scholars around the world have suggested that a global treaty protecting citizens’ rights to information, participation, and access to courts, especially in environmental matters, would be the best way to continue Dr. Kravchenko’s vision. View Oregon Law's Tribute to Svitlana Kravchenko: - http://law.uoregon.edu/2012/02/13/kravchenko/

	ENRIQUE LEFF Enrique Leff is a philosopher and environmentalist from Mexico who focuses his work on epistemology, the political economy, and environmental education. His work has inspired many and he has continued to educate the public in Mexico as well as internationally through his involvement with the United Nations Environment Program. http://proyecto.ecofondo.org.co/downloads/QUIEN%20ES%20ENRIQUE%20LEFF.pdf

	ALDO LEOPOLD 1887 - 1948 Aldo Leopold was a key figure in the developing wildlife management and conservation systems in the United States . He worked within the newly formed U.S. Forest Service and participated in creating a management plan to designate Gila National Forest as wilderness area in 1924- the first area with such a designation. http://www.aldoleopold.org

	AMORY LOVINS 1947 - Amory Lovins is an experimental physicist and consultant who co-founded the Rocky Mountain Institute and continues to work there as Chairman and Chief Scientist. He is internationally active in the fields of energy, resources, environment, development, and security. Lovins is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, Lindbergh Award, and Mitchell Prize among others. http://www.rmi.org/rmi/Amory+B.+Lovins

	L. HUNTER LOVINS 1950 - Hunter Lovins is the co-founder of the California Conservation Project (Tree People) and the Rocky Mountain Institute, and the president and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions. She is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, Lindbergh Award, and Mitchell Prize among others. http://natcapsolutions.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=247&Itemid=54

	WANGARI MAATHAI 1940 - 2011 As the first female in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate, Wangari Maathai used her academic background in Biological Sciences to found the Green Belt Movement in 1986. She serves as a constant voice advocating for environmental conservation, and human rights. Passed away Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. http://greenbeltmovement.org/w.php?id=3

	CYNTHIA McKINNEY 1955 - Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) rated 100 percent on the League of Conservation Voters scorecard for 2000. In 1998 she and Representative Jim Leach (R-Iowa) won the Sierra Club's Edgar Wayburn Award for their introduction of the National Forest Protection and Restoration Act, which would protect all federal public lands from commercial logging. See Sierra Magazine For More Information. http://www.allthingscynthiamckinney.com/

	RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ 1959 - Her commitment to creating a better world began early on when she became involved in the women's right movement as a teenager. Her human rights advocacy ties directly to environmental conservation as she works to preserve cultures that are suffering the horrors of genocide in part because of environmental racism. Her work earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1992/tum-bio.html

	SAMUEL "SAMBO" MOCKBEE 1944 - 2001 Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee dedicated his life, as a teacher and as an architect, to creating architecture that not only elevated the living standards of the rural poor but also provided “shelter for the soul.”. http://samuelmockbee.net/

	BILL MOLLISON 1928 - Bill Mollison is one of the "Fathers of Permaculture." Permaculture (a combination of the words permanent and agriculture ) is an integrated design system which focuses on producing high yields with low impact techniques that obey ecological principles. http://www.rightlivelihood.org/mollison.html

	ARNE NAESS 1912 - 2009 Arne Naess was a Norwegian philosopher who coined the term "Deep Ecology". Deep Ecology focuses on the intrinsic value of nature and the interconnectedness of reality, acknowledges the spiritual aspect of nature, and denies the idea that nature is merely a physical object to be exploited by humans. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/world/europe/15naess.html

	POPPA NEUTRINO 1933 - 2011 Poppa Neutrino and his family have lived a nomadic lifestyle by working odd jobs and living in structures that they have built out of discarded waste. In 1998, Neutrino, with a crew that included his wife and a few friends, became the second known person in history to cross the Atlantic Ocean by raft and the first to do so on a raft made of scrap and recycled materials. http://www.floatingneutrinos.com/Message/Poppa%20Neutrino%20Speaks.html

	ED NEWMAN Ohio University's manager of recycling and refuse has spent three decades in public service — he had an eight-year stint with the local health department — but his achievement developing OU's recycling program is the crown jewel of his career. He has pushed OU to move toward Zero Waste, initiated the Move-Out program and spearheaded the national RecycleMania competition. http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-37364-mr-recycling-retires-from-ou.html

	PAUL NEWMAN 1925 - 2008 Eating organic food is good for you, but when you choose Newman's Own Organics, you're choosing to help a good cause. All of our after-tax profits are donated to charity. Newman's Own Organics - http://www.newmansownorganics.com/index.html

	ROBERT REDFORD 1936 - I am so appalled by President Bush's plan to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to massive oil development that I feel I must do whatever I can to help stop it. http://www.alaskatrekker.com/redford.htm Sundance Institute - http://www.sundance.org/

	STEPHEN SCHNEIDER 1945 - 2010 Stephen Schneider was an internationally renowned climate scientist, dedicated to sharing information about global warming with the public. As a staff member at the National Center for Atmospheric Research from 1973-1996, Schneider co-founded the Climate Project. http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/

	RICHARD SCUDDER 1913 - 2012 In the 1950s, Mr. Scudder began researching ways to wash ink from newsprint so it could be recycled. In 1961, he founded Garden State Paper, the world's first newsprint recycling plant, on the Passaic River in Garfield. http://www.paperhall.org/inductees/bios/1995/richard_scudder.php

	VANDANA SHIVA 1952 - Born in India , and a member of the Chipko movement to save the Himalayan forests in the 1970's, Vandana Shiva, Ph.D. is the author of numerous books related to environmental and social justice. In 1987, she founded Navdanya in defense of seed, food, and water security and to promote peace, harmony, justice, and sustainability. http://www.rightlivelihood.org/v-shiva.html

	DAVID SUZUKI 1936 - Geneticist, broadcaster, author, and environmental activist David Suzuki is the host of Canadian television's long-running science program, The Nature of Things, and author of 32 books, including 15 for children. David Suzuki Foundation - http://www.davidsuzuki.org/ See Sierra Magazine For More Information http://www.davidsuzuki.org/

	TERRI SWEARINGEN The Recipient of the 1997 Goldman Award, the world's most significant award for grassroots environmental activism. Ms. Swearingen led efforts to halt the building of the nation's largest toxic waste incinerator located in East Liverpool, Ohio, just 1,100 feet from an elementary school. http://www.goldmanprize.org/node/166

	EDGAR WAYBURN 1906 - 2010 Dr. Edgar Wayburn served five terms as president of the Sierra Club. During his many years of activism he helped establish California's Point Reyes National Seashore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Redwood National Park, and successfully campaigned for the preservation of 104 million acres of Alaskan open space. http://scfoj.tumblr.com/post/431162267/dr-edgar-wayburn

CHRIS SCHOAP
Chris Schoap buys houses that are slated for demolition. He gently disconnects them from their location and moves them on large dollies to a new location. At that point, he renovates them and brings them back to life. Chris purchases these for a token amount of money and saves thousands in demolition costs while keeping these out of the landfill, and reviving them for low cost housing. A win win situation for all. The ultimate recycling, moving and restoring old houses! Thanx for recycling Chris!

ECO-HEROES