Environmental Justice Blog

While I was reading the Environmental Justice Principles, I was fascinated by how well-defined, eloquent and descriptive they are. However, one thought I had was disturbing: I wish everyone knew and followed those principles. Interestingly, cultural humility, economic and social levels, and environmental health are all connected. This was new to me since I have never thought of ecological health through social determinants. Of course, I know about worse living conditions in low-income classes, but it seems much more than that. How would you involve individuals of all races and from different socioeconomic levels in the process of improving the environment? The Environmental Justice Strategy article briefly talked about it in the Public Education and Training section. But how would you explain to the poor and low-income individual that he or she needs to care about the environment while what they care about the most is what to eat? I firmly believe that we need to support vulnerable populations so they would have a chance to become a part of environmental movements. The article written by Joan Martinez-Alier, Leah Temper, Daniela Del Bene & Arnim Scheidel (2016) clearly explained how many determinants are present in the environmental justice movement. Hard to imagine the complexity of it. However, a lot has been done to improve the situation. I am quite excited and hopeful because we have all the resources and opportunities to make significant changes!