:Annie Leonard
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Annie Louise Leonard
| image = Annie Leonard by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Leonard in February 2018
| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1964}}
| birth_place = Seattle, Washington
| death_date =
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| occupation = Executive Director, Greenpeace USA
| nationality =
| citizenship =
| alma_mater =
| genre = Consumerism, Ecology
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = The Story of Stuff
| spouse =
| partner =
| children = 1
| signature =
| website = {{URL|https://storyofstuff.org/}}
| portaldisp =
}}
Annie Marie Leonard (born 1964) is an American proponent of sustainability and a critic of consumerism.{{cite web|url=http://www.alternet.org/story/72568/consuming_our_way_to_unhappiness|title=Consuming Our Way to Unhappiness|author=Terrence McNally|date=January 10, 2008|publisher=AlterNet}} She created the animated film The Story of Stuff (2007), which describes the life cycle of material goods. In 2014, she became the executive director of Greenpeace USA.{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/media-center/news-releases/Greenpeace-USA-Announces-New-Leader-Annie-Leonard-Creator-of-Story-of-Stuff-Video-and-Project/|title=Greenpeace USA Announces New Leader: Annie Leonard, Creator of 'Story of Stuff' Video and Project|date=May 6, 2014|publisher=Greenpeace}}
Biography
=Early life and education=
Leonard was born in Seattle, Washington, where she also grew up. She graduated from the Lakeside School, and received an undergraduate degree from Barnard College in 1987 and a graduate degree from Cornell University in City and Regional Planning.{{cite web |url=http://www.storyofstuff.com/anniesbio.html |title=Annie Leonard's bio |accessdate=January 22, 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120071857/http://www.storyofstuff.com/anniesbio.html |archivedate=January 20, 2008 |url-status=dead }}
=Career=
After interning at the National Wildlife Federation in the late 1980s, Leonard began working with Greenpeace on a campaign to ban international waste dumping, traveling around the world to track garbage and hazardous waste sent from developed to less developed countries. "I was sneaking into the factories where it was being disposed, interviewing the workers, taking hair samples and soil samples to prove the environmental health harm," she later explained in an interview with Cornell University.{{Cite news |url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/05/after-25-years-story-stuff-creator-finishes-her-degree |title=After 25 years, 'Story of Stuff' creator finishes her degree |first=Joe |last=Wilensky |newspaper=Cornell Chronicle |date=2013-05-25 |access-date=2024-06-21}}
In 1992, she testified in front of the US Congress on the topic of international waste trafficking. The work of Greenpeace and other organizations led to the 1992 Basel Convention, an international treaty to protect less developed countries from the dumping of hazardous waste by transnational corporations based in developed countries.{{cite web|url=http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/05/after-25-years-story-stuff-creator-finishes-her-degree|title= After 25 years, 'Story of Stuff' creator finishes her degree|website=news.cornell.edu|date=May 2013}}
Leonard is best known as the creator and narrator of the animated documentary about the life cycle of material goods, The Story of Stuff (2007). The documentary began as an hour-long talk and was made into a condensed film version based on popular demand. She also wrote a book version of the film, published in 2010 in the United States by Free Press of Simon & Schuster,{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/profiles/storyofstuff|title=Annie Leonard Google Profile|accessdate=November 18, 2009}} in the UK by Constable & Robinson, and in Germany by Econ Verlag.{{cite book|title=The Story of Stuff|author=Leonard, Annie|date=2010 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-1-4391-2566-3 |oclc=377665558 |url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6936019-the-story-of-stuff}}
After The Story of Stuff, she created The Story of Cap and Trade (2009), which addresses emissions trading. Subsequent productions include The Story of Bottled Water,{{cite web|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/1593405/annie-leonards-story-bottled-water-should-make-fiji-nervous|title=Annie Leonard's "Story of Bottled Water" Should Make Fiji Nervous|accessdate=May 21, 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100528141525/http://www.fastcompany.com/1593405/annie-leonards-story-of-bottled-water-should-make-fiji-nervous| archivedate= 28 May 2010 | url-status= live}} The Story of Cosmetics, The Story of Electronics, The Story of Citizens United v. FEC, The Story of Broke, The Story of Change, and The Story of Solutions.
In addition to her work on the Story of Stuff films, Leonard was co-creator and coordinator of GAIA (the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives{{cite web|url=http://www.no-burn.org/index.php |website=No-Burn.org |title=Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131234337/http://www.no-burn.org/index.php |archivedate=2016-01-31 }}{{cite web|url=https://secure.bioneers.org/node/645 |title=Zero Waste: A New Vision review |accessdate=January 14, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023111205/https://secure.bioneers.org/node/645 |archivedate=October 23, 2007 }}), serving on the boards of International Forum on Globalization (IFG) and the Environmental Health Fund.{{cite web|url=http://environmentalhealthfund.org/|title= Environmental Health Fund|website=environmentalhealthfund.org}} She previously worked for [http://www.noharm.org/ Health Care Without Harm], Essential Information, and Greenpeace International, and was coordinator of the Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption.
Leonard was named the executive director for Greenpeace USA in May 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/may/23/-sp-greenpeace-usa-leader-annie-leonard|title=Greenpeace USA's new leader: 'You don't have to chain yourself to something'|work=The Guardian |date=May 23, 2014 |accessdate=July 16, 2014 |last1=Goldenberg |first1=Suzanne }}
In March 2022, actress and climate activist Jane Fonda co-founded the Jane Fonda Climate PAC (political action committee) with Leonard.{{Cite web |last=Hirsh |first=Sophie |date=2022-03-18 |title=The Jane Fonda Climate PAC Is Working to Keep Fossil Fuel-Funded Candidates Out of Office |url=https://www.greenmatters.com/p/jane-fonda-climate-pac |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=Green Matters |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022-09-30 |title=Jane Fonda discusses her climate activism while campaigning for Garcia Richard |url=https://news.yahoo.com/jane-fonda-discusses-her-climate-150700776.html |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}
=Personal life=
Leonard lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her daughter Dewi, born in 1999.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://storyofstuff.com/}}
- {{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5BcJb3BBz8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/P5BcJb3BBz8 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title= Annie Leonard: The Story of Stuff |date= 2010 |first= Patty |last= Satalia |series= Conversations |publisher= Penn State |work= WPSU-TV }}{{cbignore}}
- {{C-SPAN|9267257}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Annie}}
Category:American sustainability advocates
Category:Barnard College alumni
Category:Cornell University alumni
Category:Lakeside School (Seattle) alumni