Christopher believed that one person’s enthusiasm could move the world, and he lived it.

He drew his vast circle of friends, family, and fellow artists into a genuine relationship with the environment, and did so with joy. Before his death, Chris ran a birthday fundraiser on Facebook for ZeroWaste.Org, gathering his community around the cause as he always did. This endowment continues that impulse.

The fund is a permanent, mission-aligned asset. It is invested in ESG-screened index funds that exclude the industries most at odds with our values: fossil fuels, private prisons, weapons manufacturers, and tobacco. It is structured to support ZeroWaste.Org in perpetuity — not to be drawn down and replenished, but to grow, year after year.

A birthday tradition

Each year on September 30 — Chris’s birthday — the endowment makes an annual contribution to ZeroWaste.Org’s operations, drawn from investment returns. As the endowment grows, so does the annual gift. When you give here, you’re not funding next quarter’s work. You’re building a gift that will still be arriving on his birthday decades from now.

The Christopher Quentin McMullen-Laird Endowment is held by Live Zero Waste Inc. (ZeroWaste.Org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, EIN 82-3030599. Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. The fund is governed by an Investment Policy Statement adopted by the board on March 3, 2026.