{"id":41467,"date":"2019-08-02T09:54:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-02T13:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=41467"},"modified":"2022-09-21T13:23:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T17:23:58","slug":"women-entrepreneurs-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/women-entrepreneurs-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"How Greta Thunberg, AOC and 10 Women Entrepreneurs Are Battling Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Though
Teenage activist Greta Thunberg has led protests to draw attention to climate change — and the need for immediate action. (Credit: Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Women make up <\/span>less than 20 percent<\/span><\/a> of the clean energy work force, but a Yale <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> in 2018 found that women are consistently “more likely than men to be concerned about the environment and have stronger pro-climate opinions and beliefs.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

From big-name activists to lesser-known startup entrepreneurs, here is a list of business and socially minded women who want to make their opinions heard.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greta Thunberg<\/h5>\n

What were you doing at 15 years old? Swedish teen Greta Thunberg started skipping school to silently protest climate change at 15, even <\/span>handing out leaflets<\/span><\/a> that read, \u201cI am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future.\u201d Since then, she\u2019s inspired hundreds of \u201cschool strikes,\u201d been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and met with the Pope. Thunberg recently told the New York Times, \u201cWe will make our voices heard. It is our future on the line, and we must at least have a say in it.\u201d Have a say in it she will, as she plans to attend two watershed climate change conferences, one in Chile this December and one in New York next month. Catch her riding a 60 ft racing boat (she\u2019s boycotted airplanes for obvious reasons) into the Hudson River soon.<\/p>\n

\"Alexandria
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the new congresswoman for NY-14 – and a queen of social media. (Credit: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Facebook page)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/h5>\n

If the New Deal was championed by a president with an iconic three-initial moniker, then it only seems fit that the Green New Deal be espoused by AOC, or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. As a young woman of color and a U.S. representative, Ocasio-Cortez has also been an open advocate of the Green New Deal, a federal policy resolution combating climate change with new infrastructure projects and clean energy investments. \u201cLiving in the world as it is isn\u2019t an argument against working towards a better future,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez tweeted <\/span><\/a> in March, when the Green New Deal failed to advance in the Senate. When it comes to preserving the health of the world, however, Ocasio-Cortez stops at nothing. She and U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris introduced a bill on Monday to prioritize low-income and otherwise vulnerable communities in future climate change legislation.<\/p>\n

[Related: <\/span><\/i>She believes empathy can save the world<\/span><\/i><\/a>]<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Rachael Miller<\/h5>\n

There\u2019s waste, and then there\u2019s waste you can\u2019t see — that\u2019s why former windsurfing teacher Rachael Miller created Cora Ball, a laundry ball designed to collect microfibers, tiny bits of synthetic material that come off our clothes while in the wash. Imitating the design of coral reefs, the ball picks up around 25% of clothes\u2019 microfibers<\/span><\/a>, by some estimates Granted, that\u2019s still a lot of unwanted microscopic synthetics that flow into the ocean, but Miller\u2019s gadget, successfully crowdfunded two years ago, is doing its part to clean the world\u2019s waste.\u201cYou could either do nothing or do something and make a positive change,\u201d she has said. It\u2019s safe to say Miller\u2019s Cora Ball is doing something indeed and her company follows more sustainable practices than most. Based in Vermont, Miller refuses to distribute the Cora Ball through online retailers like Amazon, but has several eco-friendly retailers in the UK.<\/p>\n

Janice Lao<\/h5>\n

Janice Lao, Director of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, thought of something no hotel manager — not even the ones who graduated from Cornell — had seriously implemented: a way to remove waste. In 2018, Lao initiated the hotelier\u2019s global plan to reduce single-use plastics and better integrate sustainable business practices into luxury offerings. Formally trained in environmental change and management at the University of Oxford, Lao had lobbied for similar environmental change with her former employer, Cathay Pacific Airways, which involved fairer carbon trading solutions. Now, across properties in Asia, Europe, and the United States, Lao is on a mission to stop the company\u2019s use of single-use plastics by 2020.<\/p>\n

[Related: <\/span><\/i>Listen to our podcast ‘Reuse and Recycle’<\/span><\/i><\/a>]<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Kate Orff<\/h5>\n

Better think twice about eating those oysters — esteemed landscape architect Kate Orff won a MacArthur fellow and received federal funding in 2017 to redesign the northern coast of Staten Island with, you guessed it, oysters. Orff is the founder of her own architecture company, SCAPE, and her project, <\/span>Living Breakwaters<\/span><\/a>, will place constructed oyster reefs offshore to filter polluted water, calm wave action at the shoreline, and help restore New York\u2019s oyster population all the while doing wonders for biodiversity and climate change. Add this to the list of projects Orff has undertaken across the country to make her one of the most versatile and prolific landscape architects of the era. Currently the director of Columbia\u2019s graduate urban design department, Orff tells her students it\u2019s \u201cdangerous to look passively upon the Earth as an aesthetic backdrop\u201d and continues using her landscaping powers for environmental good.<\/p>\n

Marija Rucevska<\/h5>\n

Co-founder Marija Rucevska and her team at Kora have recently created a digital currency — yes, a digital currency — that aims to fight climate change. Set to pilot in Berlin, Germany, this September, the currency, called The Kora, is developed as part of an app for users: The more good you do for the environment, the more you are financially rewarded. The app would track acts of environmental kindness as anything from walking to work to buying a vegetarian meal, and pay users in the Kora accordingly. The company, which has raised<\/span><\/a> $650,000 in funding, has stated that \u201cthe difference between Kora and the dollar is that Kora has a purpose, and that\u2019s to fight climate change.\u201d Of course, the concept only works if the Kora actually gains value. Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin that fluctuate in value, the Kora hopes to become a stable currency, one that\u2019s ultimately used and trusted on a global scale.<\/p>\n

[Related: <\/span><\/i>A woman business owner finds global success in eco-friendly furniture<\/span><\/i><\/a>]<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Kim Jordan<\/h5>\n

She started from the bottom (literally, a basement of a house) and now she\u2019s the co-founder and CEO of the fourth largest craft brewery in the U.S, Colorado-based New Belgium<\/span><\/a>. Kim Jordan was worth an estimated $225 million according to Forbes in 2016, and though her business has had its rough patches, she\u2019s always directed it toward environmental sustainability. In the 1990s, the company\u2019s workers turned down a pay bonus to allow Jordan to invest in wind power expansion. The business also reports it has diverted 99.9% of waste from the landfill, 18% of electricity is produced on-site through solar and biogas, and it hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2014 to 2050. As long as Jordan keeps brewing, the world will be a better place than it started, and with good craft beer, too.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Bolstad<\/h5>\n