In a time when the planet faces overwhelming environmental challenges, it’s easy to feel powerless. But Sheila Morovati, founder of Habits of Waste (HoW), proves that small, simple changes in our daily routines can add up to monumental shifts. Through creative campaigns and relentless advocacy, Morovati has turned an idea into a movement — one that empowers individuals, corporations, and policymakers to rethink waste and champion sustainability.
Today, Habits of Waste is a widely respected nonprofit inspiring millions to reexamine their consumption patterns and adopt new habits that protect our planet. But the road to impact began with a personal awakening.
From Personal Concern to Global Movement
Sheila Morovati’s journey started in her own backyard — quite literally. As an environmentalist and mother, she noticed when dining out that the crayons given to her daughter at restaurants were thrown away at the end of the meal. These crayons, she found, were not recyclable and contained materials that would take decades to decompose. From there, she began to notice that the use of single-use plastics and disposable items was rampant in her daily life, from straws in restaurants to plastic on TV and more.
Driven by both maternal instinct and a deep moral responsibility to future generations, Morovati asked a simple yet powerful question: What if we could tackle waste not just at the end of its life cycle, but at its very source — our habits?
This led her to found Habits of Waste in 2017, a nonprofit dedicated to reshaping societal norms around consumption and waste. Rather than blaming or shaming individuals, Morovati sought to empower them with achievable actions. Her philosophy was grounded in the science of behavior change: make sustainable choices easy, habitual, and rewarding.
Campaigns That Changed Industries
Since its inception, HoW has launched a series of innovative, highly effective campaigns that have captured public attention and led to measurable change.
Cut Out Cutlery: The Small Change With a Huge Impact
Perhaps the most celebrated of HoW’s initiatives, the Cut Out Cutlery campaign revolutionized the way food delivery platforms operate. By convincing giants like Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, and Postmates to change their default settings and provide plastic cutlery only upon request, Morovati and her team helped eliminate unnecessary plastic items from the waste stream.
This campaign highlighted a powerful truth: convenience drives behavior. By making sustainable choices the default, we can achieve mass adoption effortlessly. Today, this single campaign has saved over a billion plastic utensils from landfills and oceans worldwide.
8 Meals: A Flexible Approach to Climate Action
Recognizing that food choices are the most significant factor in our individual carbon footprints, HoW launched 8 Meals — a friendly challenge that invites people to swap out just eight meals per week for plant-based alternatives. This campaign shatters the all-or-nothing myth around plant-based living and offers a practical, inclusive entry point to sustainable eating.
By focusing on progress over perfection, 8 Meals empowers people of all backgrounds to participate in climate action, regardless of their dietary starting point.
Lights, Camera,Plastic and Sustainable Hollywood
Sheila Morovati understands the cultural power of media. Through the Lights, Camera, Plastic initiative, Habits of Waste has partnered with Hollywood studios to promote eco-friendly practices on-screen. This campaign has turned some of the world’s most influential storytellers into sustainability ambassadors by going plastic-free on screen, highlighting reusable items and eco-friendly lifestyle choices.
By greening the entertainment industry, HoW models responsible behavior to audiences globally, taking advantage of the chameleon effect in which people mimic behavior they see around them (especially in film and television) to create desirability around a greener future.
Championing Reusables: ReThink Tap and Beyond
Habits of Waste continues to champion a cultural shift toward reusable alternatives. Through public education and corporate partnerships, campaigns like ReThink Tap promote the adoption of reusable water bottles, coffee cups, and other sustainable products that minimize dependence on single-use plastics, and encourage individuals to think critically about plastic marketing and reevaluate their relationship to resources, such as tap water, that they have access to.
Policy, Advocacy, and Systemic Change
Beyond grassroots campaigns, Sheila Morovati has emerged as a respected voice in environmental policy circles. HoW advocates for legislation that incentivizes sustainable practices and holds corporations accountable for wasteful operations. Sheila’s ability to translate consumer concerns into policy solutions is one of the organization’s most potent tools for lasting change.
Her work has been spotlighted by The New York Times, Forbes, The Guardian, NPR, and numerous other media outlets, further amplifying HoW’s message to millions worldwide.
Building a Global Community of Changemakers
What sets Habits of Waste apart is its deeply human approach. Sheila Morovati’s message is grounded in optimism and inclusivity. She rejects the narrative of guilt and scarcity, instead focusing on abundance — the abundance of solutions, the abundance of community, and the abundance of impact when people unite behind a common cause.
Through school programs, corporate partnerships, influencer collaborations, and public advocacy, HoW has built a vibrant, growing community of changemakers who understand that even the smallest actions can ripple outward to create systemic change.
The Road Ahead — And How You Can Help
As the climate crisis accelerates, so does the urgency of HoW’s mission. The organization is expanding its reach with new initiatives that target emerging sources of waste and push for even greater corporate accountability. But this work requires resources, and every contribution helps fuel their momentum.
If you’re inspired by Sheila Morovati’s vision and want to be part of the solution, consider supporting Habits of Waste today. Your donation will directly fund innovative campaigns that transform habits and protect our planet for future generations.
Donate now at: https://habitsofwaste.org/donate
You don’t have to be perfect to make a difference. Join us in our pursuit to make better choices today and support sustainable policies for the future, together.
The post Changing the World One Habit at a Time: The Story of Habits of Waste and Its Founder, Sheila Morovati appeared first on Green.org.
