A Conversation with Environmental Activist Kori Majeed
By Ammarah Ahmed
When Muslims gather to break their fast at sunset during Ramadan, the moment carries a sense of reflection and gratitude shaped by hours of discipline and remembrance. For Kori Majeed, a faith-based environmental activist and mother of five in Maryland, it was during these blessed moments that she realized that something didn’t feel quite right. Watching how quickly single-use plastic cups were being discarded at mosque iftars revealed something she could no longer ignore.
“They had used them for less than a minute,” Majeed recalled. “I thought about how those same cups can take more than 500 years to decompose.”
The thought lingered. Each evening in Ramadan, she saw how quickly waste accumulated at the mosque, standing in stark contrast to the mindfulness fasting is meant to cultivate. What began as a moment of discomfort soon became a question of responsibility, one that would shape her work for years to come.
That moment led Majeed to found Green Ramadan, a grassroots, faith-based initiative designed to help fellow Muslims live mindfully and sustainably. Based in Maryland, Green Ramadan operates at the intersection of Prophetic ethics, sustainable living, and community education helping transform mindfulness from an abstract idea into a lived practice.
What is Green Ramadan?
Green Ramadan was founded in 2013 as a mission-driven environmental justice initiative that encourages Muslims to approach the holy month with greater awareness of consumption, waste, and stewardship of the Earth.
“Since 2013, I’ve used the Green Ramadan platform to encourage Muslims to eat mindfully and tread lightly by cultivating sustainable habits during the holy month,” Majeed said. “I consider it a personal sadaqah [charity] to my local community and to the Ummah.” Its mission is rooted in the belief that sustainability is not an external value imposed on Muslims, but one already embedded within Islamic teachings.
Rather than operating as a traditional nonprofit or commercial enterprise, Green Ramadan functions as a community-centered initiative that blends environmental activism with spiritual reflection and responsibility. Majeed’s starting goal was to help 1,000 Muslims “green” their Ramadan. She hopes not only to reduce waste at community iftars, but also to spark ongoing conversations about how faith can guide more intentional and just relationships with the natural world.
Through educational outreach, Green Ramadan offers practical tools that make sustainable choices accessible during one of the most spiritually significant months of the year.
From a Family Challenge to a Community Initiative
While Green Ramadan’s mission is rooted in faith, its impact has always been shaped by everyday practice. For Majeed, meaningful change did not automatically begin with a large-scale campaign, but with small, intentional choices made at home, choices that would ripple outward into the wider community.
“When I initially started the idea of Green Ramadan, my goal was to change my family’s Ramadan habits so that we would waste as little as possible,” she said.
That led to the creation of Zero-Trash Iftar Kits, which include stainless steel food trays, bamboo cutlery, and napkins designed for multiple uses at communal iftars. Majeed and her family began bringing the kits to iftars and gatherings, using them quietly and consistently as an alternative to disposable utensils.
“At first, we got curious looks,” she recalled with a laugh. Those moments proved to be an opportunity to begin a dialogue with the community centered on environmentalism. That dialogue had a ripple effect. “Over time, people started bringing their own reusable utensils too.”
What began as a simple act of modeling sustainable behavior soon became a catalyst for broader change. She began assembling Zero-Trash Iftar Kits for others as part of the Green Ramadan initiative, selling them on her website, and giving them away during Ramadan.
Opening Eyes to Sustainability
Majeed’s daughter, Rahmah Majeed, is a third-year university student. She reflected upon childhood Ramadans fondly. Being involved in her mother’s work from a young age, she grew to value her role as a steward of the planet. As an adult, she could no longer ignore the environmental cost of community iftars. “At the end of every iftar, I would see several piles of trash bags filled to the brim with plastic plates,” she said. “When you multiply that by 29 or 30 days of Ramadan at countless masajid [mosques], the amount of trash becomes impossible to ignore.”
Rahmah praised reusable iftar kits as a practical first step. “Zero-Trash Iftar Kits are a great way to make a powerful impact.” She recalled how other environmental activists in the area quickly caught on. They described Zero-Trash iftar kits as a catalyst for positive change. Kesha Abdul Mateen, a mother like Majeed, described it as a “life saver for the soul.”
“It was different, but it started something new in our community,” she said.
Majeed recalled the kits gaining momentum. “I started giving presentations at mosques about Zero-Waste Iftar Kits. After a certain point, I lost track of how many we distributed,” she said. Majeed encourages people to get creative in crafting their own reusable kits, emphasizing convenience and resourcefulness suited to individual needs.
Since its founding, Green Ramadan has grown from a personal family commitment into a resource used by individuals, families, and Muslim communities across the Washington, D.C. area. And as interest grew in the community, so did the scope of Green Ramadan. Today, the initiative extends beyond the kits to encompass an educational platform with a growing following.
Green Ramadan’s Educational Foundation
As Green Ramadan grew, Majeed recognized that education would be just as essential as physical tools to combat excessive waste. While reusable kits offered a tangible entry point, sustained change requires ongoing conversation that can reach people beyond local mosques and community gatherings.
Through Instagram, Majeed uses digital space as an extension of her environmental justice activism, sharing reflections on Islamic teachings, practical sustainability guidance, and reminders that mindful living is already woven into the faith. Her posts often connect everyday behaviors to Qur’anic principles and Prophetic practice. She also hosts frequent seminars focused on Green Ramadan alongside other faith-based environmental activists.
Majeed said an online presence allows Green Ramadan to meet people where they already are. By pairing digital education with in-person organizing, Green Ramadan expands its reach while maintaining its grassroots ethos. The platform ensures that the teachings of environmental stewardship remain visible, accessible, and relevant throughout the year.
Growing Community Impact of Green Ramadan
As these efforts saw Green Ramadan expand beyond Majeed’s own household, its influence became most visible in the ways people began to rethink their daily habits. For many participants, the platform offered more than reusable tools; it provided a language and framework for aligning faith with action.
For Sameera Tahir, a 24-year-old graduate student in Texas, incorporating Green Ramadan practices led to meaningful shifts in both routine and mindset. She came across Green Ramadan online after exploring sustainable teachings in Islam. “The Green Ramadan platform reminded me that it’s actually my responsibility as a Muslim to live mindfully,” she said.
Sameera was initially reluctant to confront how much her daily actions might be contributing to wastefulness during Ramadan. But Green Ramadan reminders online sparked a change in her. “I made a conscious decision to approach my daily routine differently,” she said. “The biggest change for me was making sure I didn’t use excessive water when I made wudhu [ablution].”
She also drew inspiration from the Zero-Waste Iftar Kits, resolving to make her own during Ramadan. After making these small changes, she persuaded the rest of her family to start using reusable kits too. “It’s become a habit we now maintain at gatherings as much as possible,” she said.
Eventually, her awareness extended beyond her immediate circle. Through Green Ramadan, she discovered a broader network of Muslim-led environmental initiatives, opening the door to learning about communal sustainability efforts taking place at mosques and faith-based organizations. “Green Ramadan was the foundation for my lasting commitment to be more in tune with my faith and the natural world,” she said.
Starting Your Own Green Ramadan
For many who want to engage with Green Ramadan, the question that follows is: “What can I actually do?” Majeed emphasized that meaningful change does not require perfection, but intention.
For Majeed, sustainability is a direct expression of God-consciousness. “I like to think of Ramadan as boot camp for the soul,” she said. The structure and spiritual focus of the month, she explained, create an opportunity to build habits that extend into the rest of the year. Green Ramadan’s approach reflects that philosophy. Rather than framing sustainability as an added burden, the initiative emphasizes small, intentional changes rooted in Prophetic practice. Majeed recommended three easy core habits that anyone can implement in their daily routine:
- Use reusable materials
- Eat less meat
- Make wudhu like Prophet Muhammad (salla-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam)
Majeed believes sustainable living is about consistency. She often returns to her one of favorite Hadith, “Take on only as much as you can do of good deeds, for the best of deeds is that which is done consistently, even if it is little” (Sunan Ibn Majah, 4240). Taken together, these practices reinforce values already central to Ramadan: intention, moderation, and discipline. They also highlight sustainability as a natural extension of faith.
Today, Majeed continues to grow her Green Ramadan platform. She also chairs the Green Team at Masjid Muhammad – the Nation’s Mosque – in Washington, D.C., where she leads community-based efforts rooted in the Prophetic model of environmental justice. She hosts workshops aimed at helping people connect with the signs of Allah in the natural world, including monthly moon sightings, community planting, and educational excursions into local wildlife.
Kori Majeed is also the co-author of Forty Green-Hadith: Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad on Environmental Justice & Sustainability, an e-Book highlighting sustainability within the Islamic tradition. You can learn more about Green Ramadan and environmental justice by following Kori on Instagram at @greenramadan.
Ammarah Ahmed is a Muslim-American journalist covering a wide range of topics spanning from Islamic identity to business, law, and politics. Passionate about fostering ummatic agency, she has written articles that highlight the impactful work of Muslims across the globe. She also holds an LL.M. from SOAS, University of London, where she studied International Law, Human Rights Law and Islamic Law.
Want more like this? Subscribe to the Islamic Horizons magazine and support authentic journalism by Muslims for Muslims.