A sustainable living advocate residing in a San Francisco suburb, who runs the company Be Simple and promotes a waste-free lifestyle by minimizing purchases and using packaging-free stores.

Founder of ChicoBag, a company specializing in reusable bags, and creator of the Bag Monster character, which is used to promote sustainability and reduce plastic bag use in communities.

An advertising executive influential in the rise of the disposable economy, who used television advertising to promote frequent consumer product upgrades and increased consumption during the 1960s.

Former CEO of Waste Management, the leading trash disposal company, who led initiatives to enhance green practices and waste-to-energy production while maintaining a landfill-dependent business model.

Founder of Nine Dragons Paper Holdings, a major recycling company that made her China’s first female billionaire by importing US paper waste for recycling due to China's timber shortage.

An anthropologist who began the Garbage Project at the University of Arizona, becoming a pioneering figure in garbology by studying garbage to glean insights into human civilization.

Appointed as New York City’s garbage czar in the early 1900s, he established modern municipal waste collection practices, including street cleaning and household recycling programs.

Captain of the ship Kaisei for Project Kaisei, a nonprofit focused on researching and cleaning up oceanic garbage patches by collaborating with innovators to create ocean clean-up devices.