In an August blog post, the Student Sustainability Center introduced the trending term “Intersectional Environmentalism” and identified our efforts to frame our programming from an intersectional perspective. The Cultural Sustainability task force brings a more in-depth perspective to explaining examples of intersectional environmentalism below:
Intersectional Environmentalism is an inclusive version of environmentalism that advocates for both the protection of people and the planet. It identifies the ways in which injustices happening to marginalized communities and the earth are interconnected. It brings injustices done to the most vulnerable communities, and the earth, to the forefront and does not minimize or silence social inequality. Intersectional environmentalism advocates for justice for people + the planet. It is our responsibility to our communities to listen to their voices, educate ourselves, and disrupt patterns of systemic injustice and racism. It is also our responsibility to highlight the joy in communities, innovation, and unique ways of life different to each community. Sourcing from a website dedicated to Intersectional Environmentalism, facilitated by diverse bodies and experiences around the world, the Student Sustainability Center’s Cultural Sustainability Task Force (a group of student volunteers) is sharing what they learned from the perspective of various task force members.
Black Communities
Written By: Cambria Ort
Air quality hazards, food apartides , criminalization of the outdoors disproportionately affect black folx. Non-white communities have a 1.2-1.5 higher burden of exposure to particulate matter. Particulate matter is amix of solid and liquid particles suspended in the air, many of which are hazardous from processing plants or refineries that are disproportionately put in low-income/BIPOC communities rural or urban. Food Apartheids, questions what social inequalities exist that make fresh foods inaccessible. Especially in the pandemic, large grocery stores and small businesses are more likely to close down in BIPOC communities than White communities. If there is no space to farm, and fleeting access to fresh foods, lifestyles that lead to diabetes, obesity, and hypertension continue to disproportionately affect abandoned communities. Further, Black people have been disproportionately criminalized outdoors, some stories, but not limited to, that of Ahmaud Arbery and Christian Cooper both had the cops called on them while outside enjoying nature. It is physically less safe for Black people to be outside and that is a huge bias that the environmentalism community must continue to address. Disrupting this pattern of inequality, as well as continuing to allow Black communities to take back space for farming and their right to enjoy nature equitably.
South Asian Community
Written By: Cambria Ort
South Asia is home to many garment factories and other factories. The intersectional environmentalism community is highlighting the unique challenges faced in the south. Not only are there large quantities of dumping from the garment factories but, the actual environment and restrictions which they work under add to the exploitive lifestyle these garment workers are already exposed to. The Global South is also at the forefront of climate change due to its large population, scarcity of water, and other social disparities making life with just the basics harder to achieve. Many of the clothes that we wear that are available in our malls in the “Western World '' have been made in the “Global South”. Many of these popularshops fail to acknowledge the story of the garment worker who made it, when selling consumers their cheap goods. “Fast Fashion” is a term coined to identify clothes sold for cheap prices made by workers in vulnerable positions with no social protections and poor environmental qualities. When buying these cheap clothes, it is important to acknowledge and be aware of how those clothes were made, much as we must think about how our food is produced. We acknowledge that cheap clothes options are sometimes the only accessible option, and we do not mean to alienate others for their choices, but rather bring to light thoughts on how we can reduce consumption or possibly rebuy used clothes to limit the demand on these garment workers, and to disrupt the corporations that continue to create these conditions.
In Southeast Asia, many similar working conditions exist, and this is an ongoing problem in this region as well. Connected to the water shortages in this region, many Southeast Asian communities are noticing the drying up of peatlands that provided nutrients to forests. People and the planet alike are lacking water. inferences can only be made on how these lands are being destroyed/exploited to explain such disastrous effects.
Queer Ecology
Written By: Michelle Harris
The term queer ecology refers to a series of practices that reimagine nature, biology, and sexuality in the light of queer theory. Queer ecology disrupts heterosexist notions of nature, drawing from a diverse array of disciplines, including science studies, ecofeminism, environmental justice, and queer geography.
The adaptation of nature and the acceptance of differences in nature is common and often needed for survival. If those differences or adaptations are destroyed, the consequences can be devastating to ecosystems. Learning to embrace and welcome queerness in all spaces, as in nature, will support our evolution as humans; while not doing so would have the opposite effect.
Queer ecology is a reminder that what we don’t know about the living world will always be far greater than what we do know and it is an entreaty to act according to that most basic of truths. - Alex Johnson
To learn more about the queering of ecology be sure to check out:
https://grist.org/article/2011-03-28-sex-geese-and-the-queering-of-ecology/
https://www.ted.com/talks/brigitte_baptiste_nada_mas_queer_que_la_naturaleza?language=en
East Asia
Written By: Bailey Yoo Rim Steinbach
Home to an estimated 1.7 billion people, East Asia consists of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. Buddhism, Daoism, and Shintoism are three of East Asia’s most prominent religions and enunciate values such as patience, respect, and equality when discussing the relationship between human beings and nature.
Today, activists and leaders of East Asian descent actively work to create positive change and community by combating food insecurity, reducing waste, proposing sustainable solutions and outcomes, and working with the natural world and each other to envision and establish a cleaner, more productive, and more inclusive future.
Be sure to check out these resources to learn more about direct action going on: https://www.rethinkfood.org/ Promoting equitable access to distinguished meals for all.
http://www.ecodrivehk.com/ Promoting the reduction of single use plastics in Hong Kong.
https://davidsuzuki.org/ working on advocacy for the environment.
US Indigenous Communities
Written By: Rylie Thayer
“While Indigenous peoples make up only 4% of the world population, they are responsible for protecting 80% of Earth’s biodiversity.” - Intersectional Environmentalist. The indigenous people of North America have protected and kept the land since time immemorial. IE offers resources showcasing the work of Indigenous communities, activists and artists. Traditional ecological knowledge, land stewardship, decolonization, food systems and environmental racism are just some of the topics explored.
Some resources we found are:
https://www.whose.land/en/ to find out what nations land you live on.
https://www.kcet.org/shows/tending-the-wild to learn more about indigenous land practices.
https://soundcloud.com/therednationpod for a podcast run by indigenous folx.
Latinx Communities
Written By: Sophia Reyes
“Environmentalism is deeply rooted in LatinX heritage! We have a long history of conservation practices going back to the Aztecs who actually had a waste free society. The Aztecs lived and farmed on chinampas, which were artificial islands, and they disposed of all kinds of organic wastes in the chinampas, such as food leftovers and agricultural residues, which fertilized the crops. The most valuable fertilizer used was human excrement. If released into the environment, organic waste, excrement and urine can cause air, water, and land pollution, and pose risks to human health. By recovering and recycling this waste, the Aztecs prevented pollution in the lakes that surrounded Mexico-Tenochtitlán. With other uses, such as for tanning leather, the excrement was so valued that the city had a network of public latrines from which it was collected and eventually sold at the city’s main market. Human urine was used as a mordant (fixative) in the dyeing of fabrics, and, thus also considered a resource.They also raised a breed of dog they called itzcuintli for human consumption, feeding them food leftovers.
2. Any burnable materials, such as textiles, were recovered and burned at night in order to illuminate public spaces. Besides being a waste free society, the Aztecs also put a high priority on education. All children had to attend school: boys and girls, commoners and nobles. Education prepared children to become productive members of society. They also developed a resource-efficient culture that made the best use of any available resources in order to survive.
We have also seen a lot of LatinX global environmental advocacy throughout history, including the work of Dolores Huerta, the Mothers of East LA, Mujeres de la Tierra, who all happen to be women! Despite our history, a lot of Latinx communities in the U.S. today don’t typically identify as ‘environmentalists’. I did, but it always had the appearance of being a whitewashed culture, separate and more expensive than ChicanX culture. Even so there are things that my family does that just make ecological sense like being resourceful and reusing containers and plastic bags from food containers you get at the store and line-drying clothes. I have friends from more southern Mexico like Oaxaca where the norm is really to fill your house with plants. Folks to the South really teach their kids to have reciprocal, loving relationships with the natural world, especially the more indigenous ideology they retain as a family. Often, environmentalism is not seen as a distinct identity within the LatinX community, but in reality it is one of the many layers symbolic of the mestizaje that is characteristic of many Latino communities. Mestizaje is a state of being a mix of Indigenous and Spanish, or African, Indigenous and Spanish, descent. It’s a continuously evolving state of being, because each individual mestizaje person has to decide where on the spectrum from indigenous to colonial Spanish that they want to exist, so often with this identity comes a journey of self discovery and decolonization. The process of unveiling these layers is important in seeing how conservation is a layer in the mestizaje identity so that moving forward we can acknowledge how LatinX communities are integral to the environmental movement.
Thanks for reading, we hope you learned something and we can share again soon!
Meet The Cultural Sustainability Task Force!
Bailey Yoo Rim Steinbach
Howdy! My name is Bailey Yoo Rim Steinbach (she/her/hers) and I’m a Junior studying Applied Linguistics and Korean. I grew up in Lincoln, NE, and Cebu, Philippines, and I am especially passionate about discussing and examining the implications and applications of sustainable food accessibility and its connection to one’s own culture, history, and heritage.
Rylie Thayer
I'm a Junior in the School of Public Health. I'm interested in the connections between social justice, human health and nature. My passions are gardening and therapeutic horticulture, coffee, and snuggling my dog Terry.
Michelle Harris
I am a grad student in the Conflict Resolution Masters program and a Leadership Fellow in the SSC. In my spare time I love hiking, home gardening and spending time with friends and family.
Sophia Reyes
HELLO I’m Sophia! I’m studying anthropology and sustainability and I’m rlly happy to be on the cultural sustainability task force in the SSC! For fun I really like cloud watching, sunbathing, reading and dancing.
Cambria (Cami) Ort
Aloha everyone, I am Cami. I am the current Cultural Sustainability Coordinator. I am also a Psychology major, I am interested in learning and teaching more about eco-psychology and how our behaviors of sustainability are learned/can be adapted with mindfulness. I dream of working with children and families. I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue learning and such amazing volunteers.