This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at CU Boulder chapter.
When I think of environmentalism, something that comes to mind is a commercial asking for donations to help starving polar bears. I hardly ever considered how environmentalism would help the communities around me. In my mind, I felt like helping wildlife should be enough of an incentive to care about the environment, but I’ve come to realize that removing humanity from environmental justice is problematic.
If you’re anything like me, the term “environmental justice” brings two images to mind: (1) a tie-dye clad hippie with a clipboard and (2) a $50 water bottle with a set of bamboo utensils and metal straws. However, what should be brought to mind when we hear “environmental justice” is: a fight for equality. It goes far beyond petitions for recycling bins and overpriced, easily-dented water bottles.
Environmental disasters and pollution are more likely to harm marginalized people so the fight for environmental protections (a.k.a environmental justice) is, as defined by the EPA, “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”
What are its origins?
Let’s be real with one another, shall we? Raise your hand if you were ever given a white-washed history of the environmental justice movement. Raise your hand if it wasn’t even something you knew much about at all before you started reading this.
If you put your hand up, guess what? That’s alright. That’s why we’re all here – to learn (and also thanks so much for choosing me to be your teacher).
The environmental justice movement originated in the civil rights movement. Civil rights activists took an interest in environmentalism when they realized that the people most likely to be affected by pollution are people of color and the poor. And one of the biggest reasons pollution disproportionately affects those groups was because industries that produce hazardous waste are more likely to build their facilities wherever they can buy land for cheap, which tends to be where poor people and people of color live.
I’m sure some of you reading this are wondering, “Why is anything important?” Well, while I can’t answer that (although maybe a licensed therapist can), I can tell you why environmental justice is important. There is one big reason why environmental justice is important: social justice is not justice if it doesn’t involve environmentalism.
