About us
We’re a grassroots environmental nonprofit, operating in Virginia’s rural Northern Shenandoah Valley and Piedmont regions, as well as in the DC suburbs. We’re also an architect
of transformative, scalable projects like Making Trash Bloom,
the host of webinars with global reach, and the creator of conservation education videos reaching millions of viewers across social media.
Since our founding in 2018, Sustainability Matters has organized more than 250 educational and outreach programs for over 25,000 participants. Whether you’re a sixth-generation farmer
in the Valley, a New American settling in Northern Virginia, or
a webinar guest from the other side of the world, we welcome you to our programs and to our family.
Mission
We cultivate community through conservation.
We make sustainability fun, realistic, and inclusive of all.
Governor's School students at a Making Trash Bloom site
Get Paid to Go Green (Conservation Funding for Farmers)
Mushroom Foraging Walk
Hydroseeding Phase 2 of Making Trash Bloom
Herbalism with Native Plants
Earth Day Shenandoah (the "Dancing Witches")
How we work
We build community: we’re about people as much as about the planet.
We empower people to help the environment while helping themselves, saving money, and having fun.
We bring conservation to unexpected places, reaching people who might never make it to traditional environmental education sites.
We create spaces where everyone can learn as well as teach. Peer-to-peer information exchange is vital to our model, and our communication is never one-way.
We partner for impact, leveraging expertise, resources, and connections into a collaborative greater than its parts.
5
Years
250
Programs
25,000
Participants
150
Volunteers*
* and one duck
Current Program Partners
Blandy Experimental Farm (State Arboretum of Virginia)
Blue Ridge Wildlife Center
Carrier Arboretum at James Madison University
City of Winchester
Fairfax County
Farm Service Agency
Friendly City Food Co-op
Lord Fairfax Soil & Water Conservation District
Mountain Vista Governor’s School
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Rappahannock County
Shenandoah County
Shenandoah County Chamber of Commerce
Shenandoah University School of Business
United States Department of Agriculture
Virginia Cooperative Extension
Virginia Department of Forestry
How we got here
a short history of Sustainability Matters
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![Two cupped hands holding seven acorns]()
January 2018
Founded by a former business school professor, a retired chemist and university president, and a musician (Sari Carp, Paula Brownlee, & Amanda Scheetz)
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![Paula leading workshop in library]()
February 2018
Held our first educational workshops, an edible landscaping series at libraries in Shenandoah & Clarke Counties
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![Two cupped hands holding small sapling]()
June 2018
Became fiscally sponsored by the Community Foundation of the Northern Shenandoah Valley
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![People at Grower to Grower event]()
February 2019
Hosted our first agricultural program, “Grower to Grower” networking
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![Tabling at Earth Day festival]()
April 2019
Hosted the Shenandoah Valley’s largest ever Earth Day festival
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![Barns of Rose Hill art gallery with flower sculpture in background]()
May 2019
Held our first art show, at the Barns of Rose Hill
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![Small oak tree in grassy field]()
October 2019
Became an independent 501(c)(3)
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![People at Go Green, Get Green event]()
November 2019
Hosted our first sustainable business program, “Go Green, Get Green”
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![Volunteers sowing seeds at Shenandoah County pilot plot]()
November 2019
Sowed the seeds for the Making Trash Bloom pilot plot in Shenandoah County
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![Ali and Jeff Carithers]()
April 2020
Began filming our first video series, “Native Virginia Now”
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![Squirrel holding acorn against green background]()
August 2020
Earned our first nationally competitive grants (from Unilever and Mountain Rose Herbs), chosen from thousands of applicants
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![Native wildflowers, including coreopsis and monarda]()
September 2020
Held our first large-scale webinar drawing a worldwide audience, “Greener than Grass”
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![Piggy bank with glasses in front of globe graphic and event title]()
April 2021
Hosted virtual Earth Day Sustainable Business Summit
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![Danna Sharp leading Herbal Medicine workshop at Shenandoah MTB]()
June 2021
Began hosting in-person Making Trash Bloom workshops at the Shenandoah County landfill
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![MVGS students at Shenandoah County MTB pilot plot]()
August 2021
Partnered with the State Arboretum of Virginia (Blandy) and Mountain Vista Governor’s School to accelerate the research angle of Making Trash Bloom
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![Hannah Bement and Jack Monsted at Rappahannock County Landfill]()
October 2021
Engaged Rappahannock County as our second landfill partner for Making Trash Bloom
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![Two people in yellow safety vests at Fairfax County Landfill]()
January 2022
Engaged Fairfax County as our third landfill partner for Making Trash Bloom
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![MVGS student tabling at event]()
February 2022
Launched joint creative and outreach projects with Mountain Vista Governor’s School students, including blogs, videos, & children’s education
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![Hydroseeding Shenandoah County MTB Phase 2]()
April 2022
Hydroseeded Phase 2 of Making Trash Bloom at the Shenandoah County Landfill
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![Ecologigals standing in front of a Making Trash Bloom sign]()
June 2023
Launched EcologiGALs, a summer program to bring environmental science education and mentoring to teen girls
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![Bright yellow native flowers with bugs on them]()
October 2023
Began site preparation for the Sustainability Matters Native Meadow in Winchester’s Jim Barnett Park
