Triveni Institute is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. We mobilize and support activists, artists, thinkers, creators, organizers, disrupters and change-makers who will lead us into a future where the planet’s habitability for all creatures is not threatened.

Triveni  Institute’s primary mission is to address the wastefulness of our culture and reduce the amount of trash and pollution in our world. Human beings are the only species on Earth that create TRASH, not just waste. And Americans, apex consumers, create the most trash and pollution per capita of any culture on Earth. We often hear that China is creating more pollution than the United States, but the fact that it’s nearly impossible to find anything in your home that was not manufactured in China quickly leads to the realization that we are just outsourcing our pollution to the other side of the globe.

Americans throw away not only single-use plastic, food, furniture, clothing, electronics and everything else you can imagine – we throw away animals and other living things like plants (look behind the scenes at most garden centers and you will be shocked by the wastefulness). For example, 390,000 dogs are euthanized every year because they are surrendered by people who no longer want them or they were never wanted to begin with. When that air mattress gets a leak in it, the living room rug becomes boring, our tenth iPhone doesn’t create the social media images we want or the cat is too much of a hassle, just get rid of it. We throw all sorts of things into dumpsters and drop pets off at shelters, and never think about it again. We’re on Amazon later that day ordering new stuff.

And it’s even worse than that. Not only do we throw away animals and living things, we throw away people. Systemic racism, gender and age discrimination, ableism and myriad other forms of marginalization are still deeply embedded in this culture: mindsets that value an elite group of privileged people over others – “others” who are deemed discardable or “trash” – rule this society. Despite the massive positive impact of the ACA (the Affordable Care Act), there are still about 30 million people in America who don’t have any healthcare coverage, and of the people who do, many of those people do not have adequate coverage. From redlining to housing insecurity to the unprecedented amount of anti-trans legislation being passed all over the country that intentionally blocks gender-affirming care and general healthcare for people in the LGBTQ community, we are entrenched in a “disposable” culture.

Cancer rates – particularly those related to endocrine disruption such as breast cancer – are on the rise. Is it a coincidence that our gratuitous use of plastics is also on the rise, and that microplastics can be found in human lung tissue, placentas and breast milk? For the average American who gets a cancer diagnosis, how many have any type of social or financial safety net? Millions of Americans slip through the cracks every year because they do not have the support they need to stay well, and end up as a casualty of the richest country on Earth. The American system effectively treats these people as “trash.” 

The wealth gap is getting worse, and for the people left at the bottom while the people at the top fly around in private jets to multiple homes and have access to elite executive healthcare, the message is clear: you’re disposable. And you didn’t work hard enough. 

Triveni Institute wants to address the pollution in our world and the habitability of our planet, and we cannot do that unless we also discuss this pervasive “Waste Mentality”: trash, animals, plants, ecosystems and even people are “thrown away.” Aside from the egregious violations against animal and human rights, the devastation of a linear economy is taking its toll: our lakes and oceans are becoming landfills, and our actual landfills are reaching capacity. The state of Illinois will run out of landfill space within the next decade, and will then be faced with shipping trash to Wisconsin, Indiana or beyond. Does this many any sense, when we have solutions that create circular systems?

Mental health, physical health, environmental justice and social justice must be part of these discussions, as well as all of the intersectional elements in our society that reinforce unfettered late-stage capitalism (and vice versa). 

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The origin of our name comes from the Triveni Sangam in India: the confluence of three rivers. 

At Triveni Institute, this confluence is a symbol of the interconnectedness of mental health, physical health and environmental health.