AUGUST 2019 InSTYLE 49
7 GRETA THUNBERG
The 16-year-old activist started
protesting alone on the steps
of the Swedish parliament last
August, but in March about
1.6 million people in more than
120 countries participated in
a climate-change-awareness
strike inspired by her efforts. At
the recent U.N. Climate Change
conference she said, “We have
not come here to beg the world
leaders to care for our future.
We have come here to let them
know that change is coming
whether they like it or not.” She
has since been nominated for
the Nobel Peace Prize.
8 RUTH PORAT The CFO of
Google and its parent company,
Alphabet, makes an impact
that goes beyond the numbers.
Porat was one of the few top
female executives to participate
in the Google Walkout for Real
Change, protesting the firm’s
internal handling of sexual-
harassment allegations. And
she is no stranger to fighting for
equality. “Early in my career,
men regularly challenged me as
to whether I would stick around
long enough to succeed,” she
recalls. “The best payback was
surpassing those guys.”
9
SHILPA
YARLAGADDA
Since she launched
sustainable-jewelry brand
Shiffon Co. in 2017 with
a pinkie ring that serves
as a symbolic reminder
to pay it forward, the
Harvard student has been
giving away 50 percent
of each purchase to fund
other female-centric
start-ups across the
globe. Yarlagadda’s
mission has caught the
attention of the likes of
Nicole Kidman, Michelle
Obama, and Serena
Williams. “A badass
woman is able to execute
her vision,” she says.
“But she also should be
able to lift up other
women in the process.”
BADASS WOMEN
AH: I want to talk about how we can
rebound the motion-picture industry
because it’s one of the worst polluters
on the planet. While working on The
Hustle, I noticed disposable coffee
cups, plastic water bottles, idling
trucks, and food waste. When I
finished the film, my family and I went
zero waste. I’m actually putting
together an environmental rider too.
LS: I’m so on board with that!
AH: Now I say if you can remember
your keys and phone in the morning,
you can remember a reusable coffee
cup and water bottle.
LS: Totally. That’s what makes you a
badass. You saw a problem in the
world and did something about it. I’m
proud that I take responsibility for
my planet and show people they can
change the world. I also feel powerful
going into boardrooms with 30 men
on behalf of my companies, Package
Free and The Simply Co., saying,
“I’m going to take the money that
94 percent of you get in venture
capital and redistribute it to my
staff of 96 percent females.”
AH: What pisses you off?
LS: Greenwashing. When
companies make products that
seem sustainable but aren’t. I
deal with it by making better,
cheaper, and cooler products.
My goal is to make things like
toothpaste, razors, and soap with
no plastic packaging, no synthetic
ingredients, and no waste. Even
if you don’t give a shit about
sustainability, what you buy will
already be made with it in mind.
AH: I’m never going to be the
mason-jar girl. [laughs] But I do
feel a oneness with things that
I haven’t felt before—even when
The Oscar-winning actress has had a “major girl crush” on
the Trash Is for Tossers founder, who made headlines for fitting
four years’ worth of waste into a single mason jar. Now they
are teaming up to tackle film-industry pollution.
10 -11
A nne Hathaway
& Lauren Singer
I was a vegan. And I know some of this
seems weird. I grew up in the ’80s,
and filling your house with new stuff
was a big thing. But now, as a mom, it’s
important to me that products I buy
don’t end up as something my son trips
over in the future and says, “What the
eff is that? Why is that here?”
LAUREN
SINGER
ANNE
HATHAWAY
