Another tightly controlled family business, Sweetheart was founded by Joseph Shapiro and his four brothers, who emigrated from Russia, and became the largest food-service disposable packaging company in the world.

FORBES: Party's Over

After reading about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and seeing a photograph of an albatross with its belly full of plastic several years ago, Terry started cataloguing the plastic waste she creates each year, concentrating on disposable plastics (not her laptop or television, but things like food packaging, shipping waste, straws, and so forth).

FORBES: 5 Easy Ways To Kick The Plastic Habit