Shannon Binns didn’t make a plan to come to Charlotte, NC and stay; yet here he is more than 15 years after starting his not-for-profit organization “Sustain Charlotte.”

Shannon started out in engineering, did some overseas volunteering, and finally decided that environmental science and public policy were where his interests really lay, leading him to a master’s degree around the age of 30.

Landing in Charlotte, which was growing at breakneck speed – but without a lot of planning – he discovered he absolutely had to buy a car to get anywhere when he moved into a suburban neighborhood without a bus route, sidewalks, or heaven forbid, a bike lane.

Shannon also realized that unlike almost all other major cities in the U.S., and what made Charlotte so unique, was that it has no lakes, rivers, or an ocean front

What it does have is trees – and lots of them.  Charlotte is situated in the middle of a forest.

Then he saw the 25-year study that showed a full 50% of the tree canopy had been lost to development, and that, coupled with the lack of infrastructure for anything besides automobiles made him realize that he wanted – needed – to help.

And so, Sustain Charlotte was born.