Today's Blog Action Day and the theme this year is poverty - so I thought I'd take the opportunity to bring up the concept of environmental justice. First a definition of environmental justice:
Environmental justice (EJ) is the confluence of social and environmental movements, which deals with the inequitable environmental burden born by groups such as racial minorities, women, or residents of developing nations...the movement seeks to redress inequitable distributions of environmental burdens (pollution, industrial facilities, crime, etc.) and access to environmental goods (nutritious food, clean air & water, parks, recreation, health care, education, transportation, safe jobs, etc.) in a variety of situations.
What's that mean in practice? Here are some examples:
It means polluting factories are often forced on people in poor areas.
It means toxic garbage (like e-waste) still gets shipped to developing countries under the guise of recycling.
It means poor countries being robbed of their fish and their forests, while locals get a pittance at best.
What can you do about it? Encourage good environmental and labor practices - in your government and the companies you buy from. I mean, you are registered to vote right? Right? Take a look at which candidate is better on environmental issues. Which is better on human rights? Which is better on labor laws? Buy organic. Buy fair trade. Ask questions about where products come from, and if the company has a take back scheme.