Sustainability Matters: An Environmental Legacy Lives on After Founder's Passing

Sari Carp, co-founder and Executive Director of Sustainability Matters, an environmental non-profit based in Virginia, passed away late last week, losing her battle with a terminal illness. A tragic loss for the community, Carp dedicated the last five years of her life to making the world a more sustainable place, educating others on greener living with environmental initiatives through her organization, Sustainability Matters.

A woman holding a black cat — The late Sari Carp and Sustainability Matters 'spokescat', Haym.

Founded in 2018 by Sari Carp, Paula Brownlee, and Amanda Scheetz, the grassroots organization has made an incredible impact on the local community with Carp at the helm. Running workshops, webinars, and outreach programs designed to engage landowners and community members alike in environmental stewardship.

The success of one such program, Making Trash Bloom, was a testament to Carp's ability to provide sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges. The flagship initiative aims to reclaim dead land by planting native pollinator and wildlife habitats at landfills. The program currently runs in three counties, with plans to grow following a scalable model, enabling landfills to bloom everywhere.

Sustainability Matters has also achieved global reach with online webinars, hosting workshops to help promote healthy gardens and landscapes for wildlife. In its five years of operation, the non-profit has seen impressive growth, hosting over 250 programs with over 250,000 participants across the globe.

A woman stands in front of a sign — Making Trash Bloom, a successful environmental initiative

To achieve so much in such a short time with Sustainability Matters, there's no injustice in calling Carp's achievements with the organization impressive. However, what speaks the most about her life was the way her colleagues and friends described her on a personal level, with her humor, tenacity, and passion for nature and animals the most fondly recounted qualities of Carp's legacy.

'We greatly miss Sari's wit, laughter, determination to fight for those who could not advocate for themselves, and creative vodka infusions. She is survived by the rescue animals she shared her life with, a wide international circle of friends, and the organization she passionately developed.

A lifelong vegetarian, her love and compassion for animals knew no bounds. When living in the Ein Kerem neighborhood of Jerusalem, she fed and fostered a colony of feral cats, and when she decided to move to Virginia, she refused to abandon them. She transported 15 cats with her from Israel and continued to love and support them, adding a few Virginia strays to the clowder.

One who found her around the 4th of July was Haym, the “spokescat” for Sustainability Matters, who was named in honor of a Jewish financier of the American Revolutionary War. Sari subsequently adopted a rescue rooster and turkey and was known to drive 40-50 miles to take wounded birds to the Blue Ridge Wildlife Hospital.'

A group of people pose for a photo in front of trees — Sari Carp with volunteers from Sustainability Matters

People often ask themselves how they can make a difference and make an impact in their lifetime. Sari Carp's life and legacy demonstrate the power of starting small and dreaming big. She built and fostered a community of environmental stewards not just in her local community, but on a national and international level.

Though Carp's passing has been a painful loss for many, her legacy lives on through the work of her organization and the dedicated staff and 150 volunteers who give their time to see her vision realized.

In honor of Carp's achievements, her loved ones have offered a fitting request in her memory, encouraging those that have been touched by her life to turn sections of their lawn into a native wildflower meadow or consider making a donation to Sustainability Matters.