In 2017, Ryan was the proud recipient of the CNN Young Wonder award and was awarded the “2017 Citizen of the Year” by his hometown of San Juan Capistrano, California. In 2018, Ryan was in MSN’s top 15 kids changing the world. In 2019 and 2020, Ryan was in Good Housekeeping’s “40 kids who have changed the world” and Reader’s Digest, “Kids of the decade, changing the world”. He was featured in National Geographic and Time Magazine for Kids and was a top finalist for Time Magazine’s “Kid of the Year” award.
All I can say is WOW…one young person making such a difference! But we don’t love Ryan because of all the great publicity he has gotten but rather because of what he stands for and what he has accomplished in such a short time frame! Ryan’s passion and efforts have brought a new awareness to the fact that “waste matters” and dealing with waste, matters. He has made recycling, cool again. Plantlife applauds this super cute 11-year-old kid, who has become an international icon for recycling and environmental awareness. Ryan started recycling when he was just three years old and to date has recycled nearly 1.3 million bottles and cans (over 67 tons) over the past eight years in his effort to clean up the planet and to keep pollution out of our oceans and landfills. Ryan leads and organizes weekly beach cleanup events in his community and he travels internationally speaking about recycling and saving our planet from plastic pollution. Ryan even started a recycling program at his elementary school and volunteers his time recording educational videos for schools. He is inspiring others through his recycling education events and his passion to make the world a cleaner place. He also supports The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, CA, and donates proceeds from Ryan's Recycling apparel from sales on his website. To date, Ryan has donated over $13,000 to their organization to help with sea lion and seal rescue, rehabilitation, and release efforts.
From the foundation of Plantlife (1994), we have been passionate about what Ryan is passionate about. Our original mission statement was “for people and planet”. Since then, our goal has been to manufacture products that contribute to people’s wellness, that does good, not destroy. Plantlife has lived its mission by making biodegradable, earth-friendly products using plant-based and sustainable ingredients. We’ve focused on “no waste” in our manufacturing and business processes and promoted “reduce, reuse and recycle” on our packaging, marketing, and business practices. Sustainability, environmentally friendly, and being green are not marketing slogans for us but rather the choices we make every day in business and for the products we produce.
Ryan's long-term goals are to continue recycling and travel around the world, inspiring others to recycle. Through his website (https://ryansrecycling.com/) and his new nonprofit organization, Project3R, his goal is to continue to educate and bring awareness of the importance of a clean environment and assist with cleanup efforts around the world.As we celebrate Earth Day this month, find out more and show your support for this amazing kid! Plantlife is supporting Ryan’s efforts to change the world, one bottle at a time by donating 25% of all www.plantlife.net proceeds to Project3R (https://ryansrecycling.com/project-3r/) for the month of April.
So that is why we LOVE this kid…Ryan cares about what we care about. Ryan’s young voice is making a difference and as he marches forward with his simple message, we will be rooting for him. We will be standing with him in his efforts, watching and hoping the world grasps the importance of Ryan’s message. We can all recycle like Ryan and make the world a cleaner place.
https://www.instagram.com/ryans_recycling/
https://ryansrecycling.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRs8-DgQCdw