Franziska Trautman & Max Steitz

Glass Half Full

Franziska Trautman

Over 12 million more pounds of glass would be in landfills if not for Franziska and her team at Glass Half Full. Started in the backyard of a college fraternity house in New Orleans, Glass Half Full recycles glass into sand for coastal restoration and cullet for the manufacturing of new bottles. Franziska, a Carencro, Louisiana native, graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from Tulane University. This gave her the skills necessary to help lead a research team backed by the National Science Foundation, conducting novel research on the use of recycled glass sand for coastal restoration. They have completed six coastal restoration projects, restoring thousands of meters of coastline and counting. In her spare time, Franziska makes educational TikToks ranging from recycling to climate change to recycling and how individuals can take action. Her page has garnered over 300,000 followers and millions of views.

Max Steitz

Max Steitz is the Co-Founder, COO, and CFO of Glass Half Full. Max was born and raised in New York City before he moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane University. Before starting Glass Half Full, Max Co-Founded Serengetee, a global fabric company that supports artisans and ancient fabric-making traditions as a freshman in high school. While at Tulane, Max Co-Founded Give Back 2020, a student-led movement to drive giving in the New Orleans community -- raising more than $65,000 for New Orleans small businesses, musicians, and the Second Harvest Food Bank. As a Sophomore at Tulane, Max Co-Founded Plant the Peace, an environmental nonprofit that has planted more than 100,000 trees around the world, sequestering millions of pounds of carbon from the atmosphere annually.