On November 9-11, 2001, an international summit, entitled WASTE (Women Assessing the State of The Environment), was held at Chatham College, drawing over 500 participants and leading figures in the environment, development and human rights fields to Pittsburgh. Sponsored by the Rachel Carson Institute and Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), WASTE was designed to bring women together from across the country and from around the world to build a common agenda, share strategies, and forge a strong constituency for new domestic and global environmental policies. WASTE summit participants produced a U.S. Women's Environmental Action agenda, a comprehensive set of recommendations for the US government, used to lobby for change at the national level and in preparations for the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development, that was held in South Africa in September 2002.

WASTE was a historic event, supporting a nascent women's environmental movement in the country and linking it to global networks of women working on environmental problems and sustainable development strategies. Participants of the WASTE summit included grass roots activists, policy analysts, scientists, scholars and students, as well as many interested individuals concerned about environmental problems and sustainable development. Community leaders and activists arrived from as far away as Brazil and Nigeria. Students flocked in from universities in Washington state, Kentucky, Oregon and others, full of energy and ready for action. Representatives from organizations such as the Sierra Club, EarthRights International, Feminist Majority Foundation, Amnesty International, Conservation International, and Asian Immigrant Woman Advocates were present with their voices raised, ready to share ideas and begin to lobby for change. All parties were prepared and enthusiastic to organize for a common goal: sustainable development that places women at the center in both the United States and around the globe. Experts and activists included Professor Devra Lee Davis, Monica Moore of Pesticide Action Network, Peggy Shepard from West Harlem Environmental Action, Sandra Steingraber, and Eleanor Smeal from the Feminist Majority Foundation.

To view the WASTE summit's "U.S. Women's Environmental Action Agenda" in .pdf format, click here.

Back to the Top