The New Builders

CHAPTER EIGHTWhere's the Money?

In 2008, Kirsten Quigley was a stay‐at‐home mom of four kids, ranging in age from preschool to fourth grade, when her oldest son brought home information from school about ways to be environmentally friendly. This led their family to discover more research on schools and environmentalism. One of the most shocking statistics they uncovered was that 20 million plastic sandwich bags are sent to landfills every day from kids' lunchboxes. A lifelong environmentalist and not one to shrink from a challenge, Kirsten set out to inspire children to be more environmentally conscious. Determined to encourage kids to become change‐makers and drive them into action – specifically to show people that many small, simple choices every day can have a significant impact on our planet – she and several friends founded 3greenmoms to try to address what they saw was a large and impactful market opportunity. Plastic is a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The extraction of fossil fuels to make plastic, emissions during the manufacturing process, and the eventual disposal of plastic, either into a landfill or through incineration, all have a significant impact on our planet.

“The kitchen table is to women entrepreneurs as the garage is to men: the legendary birthplace of some of the best ideas,” she joked.

The trio of mothers realized that their kids' schools' environmental efforts, to the extent they even had them, were focused on messages ...