Victoria Park Instagram – ✨ earth day ✨ aint about buying things marketed to be more “sustainable”; it’s about *justice*.
caption by @goodgoodgoodco:
“When you think of environmentalism, do you think of justice work? If you don’t, it’s time to level up your environmentalism.
The environmental justice movement insists that work to protect the planet necessitates work to protect the people who live on it.
Why? Because communities aren’t impacted by climate degradation equally – lower income communities will be (and are being) impacted first, and much more seriously. Minority and low-income communities are more likely to be exposed to toxic waste, landfills, highways, and other environmental hazards, according to a 2011 article in the American Journal of Public Health.
A 2019 study by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and another by Landscape and Urban Planning found that people of color have less access than their white counterparts to clean air and natural spaces.
As @greengirlleah said on an @intersectionalenvironmentalist post, “Social justice cannot wait. It is not an optional ‘add-on’ to environmentalism. It is unfair to opt in and out of caring about racial injustices when many of us cannot.”
-> TAKE ACTION: A great way to become one of millions doing “the best they can” for climate justice is to not only change your personal habits, but to learn about environmental policies and advocate for greater protections in communities that experience the most serious ramifications of the climate crisis, like those impacted by fracking, coal-fired power plants, and water pollution.
#EarthDay #EarthDay2021 #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice | Posted on 22/Apr/2021 23:33:34
