The winners of this magazine’s eighth annual eco-honors don’t just challenge conventional wisdom; they turn it on its head. Meet a star chef who’s creating a new farm economy, a financier who sees Africa as the next clean energy frontier, an atmospheric scientist with a sky-level perspective on global warming, a pair of furniture makers promoting sustainable design, and a biologist who helped save an endangered species. What do these six Chicagoans have in common? They refuse to accept the status quo.
