Image via Complex Original
The word “environmentalist” often conjures images of Birkenstock-clad, serene-faced hopefuls who are chained to trees and doomed for a commercial strip mall fate. This, of course, is thanks to the popularized, stereotypical portrayal of a movement once steeped in the underground politicism of the past and born during a time where folks just didn’t think global warming—or climate change as we call it today—was real.
It wasn’t dope to get down and dirty with nature like it is today. At the forefront of that culture shift are young entrepreneurs. They’re using those loud mouths and supposedly all-too-entitled attitudes to promote the greater good of the earth. From the hills of Cali to the halls of Congress, they’re lobbying in support of stauncher environmental laws and programs. Most importantly, however, is their willingness to use their entrepreneurial smarts to create social programs, lifestyle groups, and even liquor companies that promote a greener lifestyle.
These grassroots efforts get off the ground quicker and have a deeper impact because of their passion and investment in making change happen. Take a trip to Washington, D.C., a.k.a Chocolate City, where nature’s bold bucolic arrive on the scene every spring in the form of those wispy, pink Cherry Blossoms. Here, they’re making healthy living and sustainability an everyday thing. Perhaps promoting their cause in one of the most powerful cities in the world will help them take their movement national. After all, POTUS is here.
Check out these entrepreneurs who are turning Chocolate City green.
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Meredith Shepard
Urban Farmer, Founder of Love & Carrots
Meredith Shepard is literally turning Washington, D.C. green—one organic garden at a time. She took her passion for sustainability, organic food and farming and turned it into a opportunity for entrepreneurship. Housing in the heart of D.C. is unique in that there’s space for gardening, but in this insta-age it often seems like a daunting task for the average city dweller to get a garden started.
Shepard supplied a business for the need in Love & Carrots. They design, install, and maintain organically grown vegetable gardens, for personal use and for businesses. They’ve revolutionized gardening in a small, seemingly unsustainable space through years of experience and specialized irrigation installation.
The city’s taken notice of Shepard’s green mission as well, winning the 2013 Mayor's Award for Sustainability for being a D.C. Sustainable Food Leader. Love & Carrots isn’t just about installing gardens, it’s about passing on the knowledge of why it’s important to go local, and create opportunities for folks to grow their own food.
Philippe Cousteau Jr.
Explorer, Environmental Advocate, Co-Founder & President of EarthEcho International
Being the grandson of a legendary explorer must have its perks. Captain Jacques Cousteau’s name alone is synonymous with marine life, but Philippe Cousteau, Jr. is creating his own adventurous legacy, and a green one at that. Enter EarthEcho International, the D.C. based non-profit with a mission to empower youth through action that restores and protects our water and planet. Let’s be honest, he’s a modern day Captain Planet. EarthEcho educates children on sustainable practices and ocean conservation in D.C. and beyond. Cousteau’s famous last name just serves as a small catalyst to get his message and mission out there—he’s on the ground and in the classroom educating the next generation on how they can be planeteers as well.
Darryl Perkins
Green Social Entrepreneur, Green Community Architect, VP of Broccoli City
Darryl Perkins is the 20-something vice president of Broccoli City and Director of Development for The Green Scheme. You could call him the Obama of green in Chocolate City. His positive attitude and persistent ambition are infectious. After working his way through corporate America and finding that morals are often on the back burner when it comes to making money, he decided to turn his passion for environmentalism into action.
“Am I creating social capital? Am I building financial capital? Am I helping the environment? If I am doing all three of these then I know that I'm on the right path no matter how rocky it can be,” he said. Perkins doesn’t just talk about it, he does it. In 2009 as a senior program coordinator at the Hip-Hop Caucus he was one of the architects and organizers for a unique campaign called Green the Block—an effort that seeks to fight poverty and pollution at the same damn time.
In his capacity as director of development for The Green Scheme, he created Code Green, a program that teaches teens about social entrepreneurship and asset-based thinking through the lens of living healthy, and teaches families about practical and accessible healthy living strategies like eating healthy on a budget and growing food at home. The man leads his life in service to his community and fellow man and is the bridge between going green and the hood.
A trusted voice and knowledgeable green social architect, with his environmental ambition, he’ll turn hoods across the nation into oases of green, urban sustainability. “Taking care of the environment should be a passion for everyone because if we don't take care of it now, there will not be a healthy planet for the next generation. I do this for myself, for you, and for future generations. We only have a little time to turn things around before we head down a dark road.”
A.J. Cooper
Founder of Freedom Farms, Policy Director
A.J. Cooper has realized what a lot of folks have not—that poverty, pollution and unhealthy food are all connected to an urban community's upward mobility and ability to thrive. He’s one of the leaders of the urban sustainability revolution that are using locally-owned and operated aquaponics farming to deliver low-cost healthy food to D.C. residents who wouldn’t normally have access to it.
What’s aquaponics you ask? It’s a dope system of farming that uses waste water produced by farmed fish to fertilize plants and vegetables within the same system—it’s a symbiotic circle of life. A.J. Cooper’s green revolution is about creating a new way of life.
“With a steadfast belief that by producing competitively priced, pesticide-, hormone- and GMO-free fruits, vegetables, and fish, we can eliminate food deserts, create sustainable careers for urban residents, and educate communities on a healthier way of living,” says Cooper.
Because of his belief and desire to see the hoods of D.C. and beyond thrive, Cooper created Freedom Farms D.C., a locally owned and operated commercial aquaponic grower. His mission is two-fold: To provide chemical- and pesticide-free food to the Washington, D.C. metro area, and to employ folks from low-income communities and give them wealth building opportunities. A byproduct of his green-social entrepreneurship? A significant reduction in carbon emissions in the hood.
“I am a product of D.C. Public Schools. This is my city. Since I was a little boy I made the promise to myself that I would make this city a better place for the people who need help the most. Freedom Farms is part of keeping that promise. Connecting residents to sustainability solutions in ways that make their everyday lives happier, healthier and more prosperous is my mission.”
Chef Khepra Anu
Raw Food Chef, Raw Food Scientist, and Owner of Khepra’s Raw Food Juice Bar
Self-made and self-taught seems to be the mantra for this generation’s crop of successful entrepreneurs, and raw food and green-enthusiast Chef Khepra Anu is no different. The owner of D.C.’s popular Khepra’s Raw Food Juice Bar has been making raw food and juice using local, organic produce way before juicing was a fad.
After adopting a raw lifestyle in 2000, he decided that the menu choices for raw foodies like himself were way too limited. Realizing there wasn’t a lot of info out there about creating dishes using raw food, he played around with recipes, and created concoctions that became popular. Because of his green foodie prowess, he was hired as raw food chef at D.C. vegetarian restaurant Senbeb Cafe.
His raw food was so legit that he developed a reputation in D.C. for being the king of making food without heat. His natural next course of action was to open his own spot in northeast D.C. Sticking to his mission to bring living food and juice, as well as information and education about raw food and green lifestyle to Chocolate City, his name and business have easily become synonymous with the city’s effort to step up its resident’s health and well being.
Brandon McEarchern
Broccoli City Founder, Blackleaf Vodka Co-Owner
Brandon McEarchern is perhaps the antithesis of the stereotypical environmentalist. A low-cut fade, New Balances and stylish Levi denim are his usual uniform, but there’s a genius mind for green behind the cool facade.
Creating a lifestyle group centered on bringing sustainability awareness to the urban community, his green brainchild Broccoli City has become synonymous with urban, cool environmentalism in Washington, D.C. and beyond. The annual Broccoli City Festival has featured headliners like Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T, Dom Kennedy, and Jojo. While the musical acts add to the fun, the main events are the yoga classes, fresh organic juice, sustainability demonstrations and overall honest effort to helps folks go green.
The Greensboro, North Carolina native thinks an important part of the green effort is to make sure people know you don't have to be a tree-hugging hippie to live a sustainable lifestyle. “We ought to make it fly, make it cool. It’s about meeting people where they’re at. These cats live healthy! Fabolous and all these different rappers, they work out, drink water, drink green juice. They’re on it! I wish more rappers would say stuff about this,” said McEarchern.
He is well on his way to creating a green lifestyle empire with the recent release of Broccoli City’s Live 100 Raw Juice line, which made its debut at this year’s Broccoli City Fest. The most recent installment of the festival was held at the newly constructed Gateway Pavilion, and was the largest event held in southeast Washington, D.C. in 15 years.
“This is Chocolate City, this is the home of so many prominent African-Americans on both sides, whether it’s a drug dealer or a senator. We can all be involved in the sustainability movement. D.C. is amazing.”