The Environmental Justice Lab

We are talking about infrastructure apartheid. Infrastructure can play an important role in social inclusion and economic growth. However, when infrastructure is inadequate, it can lead to social exclusion, poverty, and poor health. The fact that some people in some places have more better, more resilient, more effective infrastructure than others is not an accident. Decisions are being made that keep people from enjoying the quality of infrastructure that would allow them to live healthy, whole lives, while others have an overabundance of high-quality systems and infrastructure. It’s not right.

So let’s talk about it on this episode of the Environmental Justice Lab. 

Resources:
How infrastructure has historically promoted inequality - PBS News

‘Infrastructure apartheid’: Africatown’s fight against toxins, new toll bridge

Green Apartheid: Urban green infrastructure remains unequally distributed across income and race geographies in South Africa - Journal of Landscape and Urban Planning

Israel's Apartheid against Palestinians - Amnesty International   
 
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We are (still) talking about food apartheid. While the United Nations has the goal of a world free from hunger by 2030, the reality is that because of these inequitable food systems, we are far from that goal. From conflict to climate change, there is a lot that is keeping us from living in a hunger-free world. 

So let’s get into it on this episode of the Environmental Justice Lab. 

Resources:
Food Apartheid - ReGeneration.
Food Apartheid | Why we should change the way we talk about food deserts
Global Food Crisis - World Food Programme
Violence and the Right to Food - The Situation in Palestine
The Question of Palestine: The Right to Food - United Nations (2003)  


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We are still talking about food apartheid. The fact that some people in some places have more food choices that they need, while others have no good food choices at all. And on this episode, we are focusing on how food apartheid shows itself in the United States. Trust me, it’s not an accident. People are making decisions that keep healthy foods in some neighborhoods and keeps them out of other neighborhoods. It’s not right.

So let’s talk about it on this episode of the Environmental Justice Lab. 

Resources:
USDA's Legacy of Discrimination - Environmental Working Group
How corporations buy - and sell - food made with prison labor - The Counter
Supermarket Redlining
 
Connect with our Environmental Justice Lab community:
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Don’t forget to subscribe and rate the podcast wherever you listen! Support our work by joining the Supporters Club: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-environmental-justice-lab--5583745/support

We are talking about food apartheid. The fact that some people in some places have more food choices that they need, while others have no good food choices at all. And it’s not an accident. Decisions are being made that keep healthy foods in some neighborhoods and keeps them out of other neighborhoods. It’s not right.

So let’s get into it on this episode of the Environmental Justice Lab. 

Resources:
Food Apartheid: Racialized Access to Healthy Affordable Food
Food Swamps Predict Obesity Rates Better Than Food Deserts in the United States  


Connect with our Environmental Justice Lab community: 
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Don’t forget to subscribe and rate the podcast wherever you listen!

Since the early 20th century, plastic has been around and has dominated US consumerism. Unfortunately, it hurts the planet in all phases of its life cycle– from when it’s produced (emitting greenhouse gases), to when it’s used (releasing microplastics), to when it’s discarded (rotting in landfills). That being said, everyone knows its negative impact on the environment, but nothing major has been done to reduce this planet-destroying product. So today, we are talking about plastic pollution, but specifically zeroing in the last phase of its life and where it is discarded: developing nations.

Let’s explore the research behind it. Join us!

Resources:
US generates more plastic trash than any other nation - National Geographic

How the fossil fuel industry is pushing plastics on the world - CNBC
 
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Climate Apartheid. This phrase, coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, describes the ways in which the wealthy and well-connected insulate themselves from the impacts of climate change, while the rest of are left to suffer from them. This two-tiered way of dealing with climate change leaves the vulnerable behind and creates a world where there are two different climate realities. We have to work to identify and dismantle climate apartheid wherever we see it. So let’s get into it on this episode of the Environmental Justice Lab.

Resources:
'I dare not be quiet': What climate activist Ndelika Mandela learned from her granddad - National Public Radio

UN expert condemns failure to address impact of climate change on poverty – United Nations Commission on Human Rights

Climate Apartheid: The Forgetting of Race in the Antropocene
 
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Apartheid. It’s not a word that you can just throw around. When it’s used, it suggests a systematic, deliberate, intentional effort to subjugate and oppress another group with full governmental support. It started in South Africa. It was present in the United States of America. It’s happening now to Palestinians. And now it’s happening to our environment.

It’s called “Environmental Apartheid”. And we need to call it out. Name it. Dismantle it. But first, we need to educate ourselves and be aware of how it functions around us.

So let’s get into it on this episode of the Environmental Justice Lab.

Resources:
A History of Apartheid in South Africa
Environmental Apartheid: Eco-health and Rural Marginalization in South Africa - Journal of Rural Studies
American Apartheid
The Legacy of American Apartheid and Environmental Racism
Infrastructure Apartheid with Dr. Maya Carrasquillo - Cities @ Tufts Podcast
 
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The time is now. It’s time to get off of the sideline. It’s time to educate and advocate. Educate yourself on the issues that plague the Occupied Palestinian Territories, otherwise known as Palestine. Then, after you have educated yourself, it’s time to advocate. Advocate for the Palestinian people. Advocate for freedom and justice to reign in the region.

The time is now. #freepalestine #ceasefirenow

(A few) Advocacy Groups: 
Churches for Middle East Peace
Jewish Voices For Peace
If Not Now Movement

Resources:
Six ways to support Palestinians in Gaza - American Friends Service Committee
How to help Palestine - Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Trusted Organizations to Donate to in Palestine - Build Palestine


Connect with our Environmental Justice Lab community: 
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Email: [email protected]

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War is raging in Gaza. People are being killed. Homes and schools and hospitals are being destroyed. Famine has ravaged the land. But there is also something else going on. Ecocide. The complete and utter destruction of the environment in Gaza. Water infrastructure has been destroyed. Wastewater infrastructure has been decimated. Soil is contaminated. The air is unbreathable. We do not talk enough about how war destroys the environment and exacerbates climate change. Well, we’re talking about it today. Starting with Gaza…  

Resources:
The UN is investigating the environmental impact of the war in Gaza - EuroNews
Emissions from Israel's war in Gaza have "immense" effect on climate catastrophe - The Guardian
Legal Definition of "Ecocide" - Stop Ecocide Foundation
 
Connect with our Environmental Justice Lab community:
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You need water to live. I need water to live. Everyone needs water to live. However, in Palestine, the necessary amount of water is not flowing to the Palestinians. 

It's not just a matter of water insecurity. It's water injustice. It's water apartheid. And it needs to stop. 

So let's talk about it.... #ceasefirenow #releasethehostagesnow #freepalestine

Resources:

The Occupation of Water - Amnesty International (11/2017)
Palestinians struggle to get water - Al Jazeera (08/2023)
Gaza children face acute water and sanitation crisis - UNICEF (09/2017)

Connect with our Environmental Justice Lab community:
Instagram: @envjusticelab
YouTube: @envjusticelab
Email: [email protected]

Don’t forget to subscribe and rate the podcast wherever you listen!

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