Whether it’s a watercolor sunrise atop a mountain or an ocean horizon pulled straight from a painting, scenes from nature can make even the busiest of people stop, appreciate, and reflect. It’s views like these, paired with the sobering realization that human activity is threatening them, that have inspired environmental activists to commit their time, energy, and passion to protecting the earth. Here, 11 leaders in the fight against climate change give a snapshot of the moment they committed to this cause. May their experience inspire you to make some small, positive action today too.

3. A simple observation

At a young age, I became interested in how some people don’t see value in things, yet others do. Seeing how people threw away things that could still be used led me to think about garbage. The world uses so many of its finite resources, only to eventually throw it away without recovering any of the value. My entrepreneur nature led to this idea: Can you be profitable and do better by the environment at the same time? I’m always thinking about new ways to develop solutions for some of the world’s worst waste streams and to work with companies and organizations to get consumers thinking more about the choices they make. –Tom Szaky, sustainable entrepreneur and founder of TerraCycle