Author name: Peggy Chen

Peggy first learned about ins and outs of recycling in middle school thanks to her homeroom teacher, Mrs. Orenstein, and has become a near-militant about separating plastics (and metal, glass and paper) from the trash ever since. She joined her high school’s environmental club, Students Against a Fading Environment (S.A.F.E.) and took Environmental Science 101 in college. But it was not until Peggy met her even more eco-conscious boyfriend last year that she was introduced the diverse range issues that affect people and their environment on a personal, local, and global level—issues such as the benefits of organic food, the ingredients in personal care products and plastics, and viable or up-and-coming alternative energy sources. She has written for the Buddhist organization SGI-USA's publications (World Tribune and Living Buddhism), the arts section of the Queens Chronicle, a local weekly newspaper, and now, eatdrinkbetter.com and www.sustainablog.org. She and the aforementioned boyfriend are in the process of creating an environmental organization. In the meantime, she makes a living as an executive assistant for an owner of a real estate agency and a circuit board distribution company.