Marianna Makowska

Marianna is currently a junior at Lake Washington High School, where she is an active member of Green Team, and Future Farmers of America. Marianna moved to Kirkland, WA in summer of 2023 from Poland, where she lived for 16 years of her life. Her love for nature emerged while working in her grandparents' cherry orchard and camping with her scout unit. For the past 7 years, Marianna was her scout unit's adjutant and co-founded her own girls' team in 2020. As an obsessed gardener, she is establishing a Pollinator Garden at her school in support of local pollinators- bees, moths, butterflies, beetles, flies, bats, and hummingbirds! She is also pursuing her Pollinator Steward Certification.   She wants to make the best out of her time being in America through volunteering, travelling and working with SA by bringing an unique perspective on climate action as an international student. She works actively in advocating for a safe, sustainable future for her generation because she believes that it is the highest priority to sustain the planet, on which our lives rely on! Outside of SA, Marianna loves plying piano, travelling, and listening to old Polish music. She competes in FFA competitions regarding food waste at schools. Overall, she is excited to be surrounded by young, ambitious people like her, who give her the motivation to act.

Marianna's time in Sustainability Ambassadors so far has consisted of working with the Kirkland Team on increasing youth ridership on public transit, and urging her city board to fund the Sustainable Neighborhood Program and the Sustainability Policy. Marianna has just started her internship with Cascade Water Alliance on water conservation.   Her personal water footprint is 1,567 Gallons per day, which she hopes to lower by urging her renter to install a water barrel, and replace the lawn with native vegetation. Marianna is a vegetarian and she lowered her family's meat consumption to 3 meals per week! She successfully urged her renter to stop using pesticides around her house.