Laney Crowell, the CEO and founder of the fast-growing beauty brand Saie, received TIME’s 2026 Earth Award on Thursday night in New York. Recognized as a 2025 TIME100 Next Honoree, Crowell was honored for building a business that combines high-performance makeup with non-toxic ingredients and sustainable practices.
Honored for Environmental Leadership
Fashion designer and 2024 TIME Earth Award Honoree Gabriela Hearst presented the award to Crowell. Past recipients of the honor include actor and activist Jane Fonda, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, former U.S. Secretary State John Kerry, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.
Under Crowell’s leadership, Saie has surpassed $100 million in product sales while adopting significant climate commitments, such as plastic reduction and responsibly sourced packaging.
Building a Movement From Small Actions
During her acceptance speech, TIME reported that Crowell emphasized the unique capability of entrepreneurs to transform small ideas into major realities. She shared that her drive for environmental action originated in childhood during hikes with her family, where she learned the importance of leaving places better than she found them. She applied this philosophy to the beauty industry, noting that the sector generates an estimated 120 billion units of plastic packaging waste annually.
Since its launch in 2019, Saie has dedicated one percent of its sales to environmental causes and collaborated with rePurpose Global to collect twice the amount of plastic the company produces. According to Crowell, Saie has recovered 200,000 pounds of waste over five years.
To scale this impact, Saie partnered with Sephora and rePurpose Global in 2025 to launch Planet Beautiful, which funded the recovery of over 1 million pounds of plastic waste from nature in its first year, with participation from a growing number of brands.
“In climate, we talk a lot about the enormity of the problem—and we should. But we also need to talk about the power of beginning. That is how individual action becomes a collective movement,” Crowell said. “My goal is for Saie to help recover 100 million pounds of plastic waste from nature. And I hope that one day soon, even that number feels small.”
The TIME100 Next Gala was presented by Rolex, Toyota, American Airlines, Danantara, Project Management Institute, and Target.
