Why Environmental Justice is Important
The Ecology Action Center originated as a community recycling effort, but has since expanded its services to provide education and technical services in solid waste/waste reduction, clean water, clean air, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. Environmental work is important to protect our ecosystems, and also to ensure people, communities, and organisms all have access to clean water, clean air, and resources. Historically resources are not equitably distributed, and the effects of environmental degradation are not either. The EAC is dedicated to educating and helping residents impacted by these environmental injustices.
Environmental injustices are all around us. Specifically, in the state of Illinois, there have been instances of environmental racism. Environmental racism refers to the unequal access to a clean environment based on race[1] leading to disproportionate impacts of environmental hazards on communities of color.[2] It is well known that communities of color are more greatly impacted by air pollution[3], have unequal access to safe drinking water[4], and are generally more likely to live in areas with heavy pollution1. In fact, more than half of the people who live close to hazardous waste sites are people of color1. For example, of Chicago’s 162 toxic “hot spots”, 99 of them are found in zip codes that are at least 65% people of color2. In the south side of Chicago, an area home to majority people of color, there are multiple toxic dump sites; the southeast side of Chicago also has double the cancer rate compared to the rest of the city. Hazel Johnson, known as the mother of the environmental justice movement, called this “another form of genocide”2.
Johnson, once of Chicago’s environmental justice warriors in the 1970s, founded the organization People for Community Recovery (PCR). The organization fought for improved living conditions in the Altgeld Gardens, a public housing project in the south side of Chicago. Johnson noticed that their area had extremely high cancer rates, foul odors, and a large number of children suffering from various respiratory illness[5]. This was due to multi-media exposure of air, water, and land pollution due to close proximity to hazardous waste dumping sites, landfills, and facilities with high pollutant levels[6]. Johnson and PCR, through grassroots efforts, were able to prevent more hazardous waste and landfills from being placed in Chicago[7]. PCR has done, and continues to do, great work to improve the local environment for residents. This includes pressuring Chicago Housing Authority to remove PCBs, a highly carcinogenic chemical compound, that had been stored in Altgeld Gardens[8] and aiding in the issuing of Executive Order 12898, “Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations”7.
Prior to Johnson, the environmental movement in the 1960s and 1970s were largely a white, middle-class movement focused on preserving wildlife, recycling, and storing toxic waste far from their backyards. Often Johnson was the only person of color present at environmental movement conferences8. Today the environmental movement is increasingly a diverse group of people spanning multiple races, ethnicities, income levels, gender identities, ages, and sexual orientations with focuses on protecting and preserving our natural resources and ecosystems.
In an attempt to better address environmental inequities in our own community, the EAC is being more deliberate about our projects. We are working on several income-eligible energy efficiency and solar outreach programs, are partnering with other community organizations that work closely with underserved members of our community, ensuring trees are planted in Environmental Justice areas through our Tree Corps program, and we have submitted several new program ideas to the Environmental Protection Agency in the hopes we can secure funding for more environmental justice work around air quality and recycling awareness.
[1] Patnaik, A., Son, J., Feng, A., & Ade, C. Racial Disparities and Climate Change. 2020. Princeton Student Climate Initiative. https://psci.princeton.edu/tips/2020/8/15/racial-disparities-and-climate-change
[2] Fuist, T. Environmental Inequality/Environmental Justice. 2021. Illinois Wesleyan University
[3] Rura, N. Racial, Ethnic Minorities and Low-income Groups in U.S. Exposed to Higher Levels of Air Pollution. 2022. Harvard School of Public Health. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/racial-ethnic-minorities-low-income-groups-u-s-air-pollution/
[4] New Drinking Water Repot: Communities of Color More Likely to Suffer Drinking Water Violations for Years. 2019. Natural Resources Defense Council. https://www.nrdc.org/media/2019/190924
[5] Beth. Hazel M. Johnson, ‘Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement’. 2018. Chicago Public Library. https://www.chipublib.org/blogs/post/hazel-m-johnson-mother-of-the-environmental-justice-movement/
[6] Finding Solutions to Environmental Inequity in Altgeld Gardens. 2013. Collaborative for Health Equity Cook County. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNXJcQFovbE
[7] Mission and People: Our Milestones. 2023. People for Community Recovery. https://www.peopleforcommunityrecovery.org/our-story/mission-and-people
[8] People for Community Recovery Archives: Biographical Note. Chicago Public Library. https://www.chipublib.org/fa-people-for-community-recovery-archives/ |
