As we celebrate Earth Day/week/month, we also celebrate Marie Steinwachs. Her activism has focused on issues of sustainability and the environment, including waste management and environmental protection. Engaging with the environment was always important to her entire family.
At age 18, Marie left home to hitchhike across the U.S.A. She lived in the southwestern desert at the Hog Farm Commune, where they harvested organic grapes.
Later, she moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, where she managed a food co-op. During this time, Marie got involved with organizations working on local and international sustainability issues. She connected with civil rights activists, environmental activists, and antinuclear activists.
In 1980, Marie attended her first Bioregional Congress in the Ozarks, which resulted in her taking a position as caretaker of the New Life Farm, an âappropriate technologyâ demonstration farm in the Ozarks.
She proceeded to help coordinate several successful, bioregional conferences. That year, she also fell in love with a woman. They lived together on the farm, and they later moved to town. There, Marie got involved with recycling, and with programs for low-income people.
Marie confronted authority and educated hundreds on environmental concerns and sustainability practices. She organized against the incineration of toxic waste that was being done at the local landfill, which affected mostly poor neighborhoods
She became active in educating the public about hazardous waste. She spoke at the International Conference of Women and the Environment and at the White House.
The programs Marie spearheaded won several awards. She decided to go back to school and complete her college degrees. She got a Truman Scholarship that prompted her to get her Master's degree in sociology, and she added teaching to her community activism.
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