In honor of International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, we wanted to take a moment to recognize just a few of the women environmentalists that inspire us every day. This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #EachforEqual – the belief that our individual actions have an impact and that collectively we can affect change. The following women, not to mention our very own founders, have each inspired us through their individual actions and we believe they will continue to affect positive, global change.

Ocean advocate and Skipper, Emily Penn

Emily Penn is the  Co-Founder and Director of eXXpedition. Exxpedition is a 2 year, around the world plastic expedition on a sailboat through the world’s oceans. And it’s all women. (Our founder, Lindsey, recently spent 10 days aboard – you can read all about it here.) Emily is dedicated to studying environmental challenges in the most remote parts of our planet, and to raising awareness about the global plastics problem.

Zero Waste Advocate, Kathryn Kellogg

Kathryn Kellogg, blogger at Going Zero Waste and author of 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste, shares tips and advice to reducing your waste and living more sustainably. Plus, she’s a fan of Plaine Products and gave us a shoutout in her book. Her book and blog are extremely accessible with simple approaches to reducing our environmental footprints.

Environmental Engineering Professor at the University of Georgia and fighter against plastic waste, Jenna Jambeck

 Dr. Jenna Jambeck was the first one to calculate the amount of plastic debris that was going into the ocean each year. In 2015 she estimated that in 2010 alone, 8 million tons of plastic went into the ocean from litter, dump leakage, and wind or water carrying plastic to the sea. In addition to being a global waste and plastic contamination expert and testifying before Congress, she is also co-developer of the open data citizen science mobile app Marine Debris Tracker.

Climate Justice Activist, Fridays 4 Future organizer and founder of Earth Uprising, Alexandria Villaseñor

At 14 years old, Alexandria Villaseñor is one of the youngest organizers of the global climate strike. She has had been demonstrating every Friday outside the United Nations for 65 weeks to date. She, along with all of the other young, female powerhouses of climate justice activism like Greta Thunberg and Vanessa Nakate, are leading the climate fight and give us the hope we need for the future.

There are so many more women environmentalists we could have included here. Jane Goodall, Sylvia Earle, Winona LaDuke, Wangari Maathai, Lois Gibbs, Rachel Carson, Vandana Shiva, Lady Bird Johnson, Hunter Lovins… Who would you include?