At the time of the Chernobyl disaster, she was a homemaker and mother to five school-age children in Schönau.

Following the disaster, she began studying the energy industry in Germany to search for ways to decrease dependence on nuclear power.

Together with her husband, Michael Sladek, she formed a group called "Parents for a Nuclear Free Future" to promote energy efficiency in the Black Forest region of Germany and return control of energy production and distribution to the community.

The group raised DM6 million (about €3 million) and by 1997 had established the Schönau Power Supply, EWS Elektrizitätswerke Schönau eG, a Eingetragene Genossenschaft (registered cooperative society), as a community-operated energy provider committed to a sustainable energy future.

These include the German Federal Cross of Merit, the Henry Ford European Conservation Award, the German Founder of the Year Award, the International Nuclear-Free Future Award, the German Energy Prize, the European Solar Prize, and in 2011 she won the Goldman Environmental Prize.