Zach Hartman

Zach Hartman is an environmental changemaker dedicated to sustainability and youth engagement. His passion began at the age of 7, when he noticed reusable and recyclable items being thrown away while taking out the trash. This sparked his first project, Zach’s Planet, which focused on reducing waste.

At the age of 10, Zach and his older brother co-founded Eco Brothers, a nonprofit organization promoting literacy and environmental awareness. Since then, he has helped distribute over 300,000 books to Title I schools and libraries in all 50 states.

Zach also leads sewing workshops to teach children how to upcycle old stuffed animals into pet toys. His efforts have resulted in over 6,000 toys shipped to animal rescues in 46 states.

He was honored to speak at Dr. Jane Goodall’s Environmental Youth Summit, inspiring over 1,000 students to get involved in community service. That experience led to his submission of the 18 Under 18 Scholarship video.

A Life Scout in Scouts BSA, Zach is working toward his Eagle Scout rank. He is a Silver Medalist in the Congressional Award program and a recipient of the NSHSS Good Earth Sustainability Scholarship.

Zach continues to lead by example, showing how small actions can create big change.