Women Leaders Are Key to the Future: Peggy Whitlow-Ratcliffe
Women are playing a crucial role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Peggy Whitlow-Ratcliffe, Founder and Executive Director of Live Thrive, is one of these assertive women working towards a cleaner future for us all. With a background in education and a proclivity for making positive change, her mission to create a healthy sustainable environment through action and education would touch the city of Atlanta.
In 2010, a time where sustainability was not a mainstream conversation, Whitlow-Ratcliffe coordinated Atlanta’s first non-profit hazardous waste collection. The research for this implementation began after her parents passed. Going through her father’s gardening herbicides, she would discover there were no reasonable safe disposal options. Whitlow-Ratcliffe had discovered an environmental issue needing rectification. A blog was launched to open lines of communication for sharing on a personal, community, and business level. The communication tool sharing education and awareness would lead to change. Georgia has a $2.5-billion recycling industry and ranks #2 in the nation for manufacturing recycled materials. Ratcliffe would contribute to this circular economy. Her philosophy of ‘take a chance to make a change’ would establish sustainability as a conversation in Atlanta.
When you are passionate about a cause, you can make a difference ~ Peggy Whitlow-Ratcliffe
The next few years consisted of community events and education, including, beginning in 2011 in partnership with Livable Buckhead, Buckhead’s annual Eco Collection. The remarkable turnout at events such as the Eco Collection showed a permanent facility was both wanted and needed, though funding would be an uphill climb. Raising funds is an arduous process and more so for women. Last year in the U.S., women founders received only 2% of venture capital. The percentages would be an obstacle for Whitlow-Ratcliffe and her team. Her unfaltering devotion would lead to the 2015 opening of the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials facility or CHaRM.
Whitlow-Ratcliffe with Livable Buckhead’s Denise Starling at the 2013 Buckhead Eco Collection
CHaRM would not only be a place to bring your Styrofoam, chemicals, glass, or mattresses but a educational tool for community youth, schools, corporate groups, and the public. In 2022, CHaRM recycled a total of 2,800 tons of material. With a Styrofoam compression machine on site, the facility recycled 121 tons of Styrofoam sending the broken, crushed, compacted material to Dow Chemicals who turns it into roofing insulation.
Studies have shown worldwide when women are uplifted and given the opportunity, there are immense benefits to communities and societies. Climate transitions are about people and at its center the challenge of gender equality. Whitlow-Ratcliffe empowers women assuring exposure to as many opportunities as possible to make a choice. She cultivates a diverse table by leaving the ladder down allowing access for other women to follow up on merit.
Nothing easy is worthwhile. Busy mothers devoted to washing and bringing in weekly Styrofoam cups validates the importance of her work. When she closes the gates at the end of the day, she has made a difference. Connecting with people and allowing them to feel seen and valued is her power.
Women all over the world are rising and acting as caretakers to the Earth and its inhabitants. Increased transparency around climate impact in the workplace is associated with women in leadership positions. Director Whitlow-Ratcliffe, we celebrate and recognize your contributions. Sharing your story will inspire, educate, and create hope through the undisputable power of human connections.
Also in the series:
Denise Starling – Executive Director, Livable Buckhead
Ashley Bella – Founder and CEO of Artzybella
