Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
Fall 2020 — Community Partnership #4
EthiCAL Apparel is proud to feature Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice for our fourth fundraiser under this semester’s theme of environmental justice. A portion of our profits from 11/27/20–12/4/20 will be donated to Greenaction to help them amplify their message moving forward. If you would like to donate without making a purchase, you can do so on our website’s homepage during this time frame.
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice is a grassroots organization that works to protect health and environmental justice in the Bay Area, California, and the West Coast at large. Through campaigning, organizing, media, and education strategies, Greenaction has been at the forefront of challenging polluters and government agencies for a more sustainable and healthy future for everyone.
Greenaction was first founded in 1997 after accomplishing its first victory of blocking plans for a nuclear waste dump on sacred lands at Ward Valley in the Mojave Desert. Since then, led by urban, rural, and Indigenous community leaders, Greenaction has expanded its work by fighting polluting facilities, improving industry and government practices, and advocating for the cleanup of toxic sites. Today, Greenaction continues to work towards a world with less waste, clean air and water, climate action, and environmental civil rights.
Some notable victories Greenaction has accomplished in our community include closing down the PG&E power plant in San Francisco Bayview Hunters Point, campaigns to reduce idling of diesel trucks throughout California, and successfully pushing for the federal government to clean up the AMCO Chemical Superfund site.
Greenaction has also created institutional change through government advocacy; they achieved the most precedent-setting environmental justice settlement in the nation, resulting in the California state government being required to develop new civil rights policies regarding pollution. They also successfully pushed the government to consider sea levels when evaluating permits for development along the San Francisco Bay shoreline, and for key government documents to be translated into other languages for accessibility.
Aside from its own advocacy, Greenaction also prioritizes empowering community members, especially youth. In the process, these individuals develop the knowledge and confidence crucial to fighting for environmental justice in their local communities. Greenaction leads Environmental Justice Leadership Academies throughout California and the West Coast for youth to learn more about environmental justice. This year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, these academies continued in a virtual format, with participants immersing themselves in projects such as personal farming and poetry.
Most recently, Greenaction has been pushing for the San Francisco city government to improve testing and toxic contamination cleanup at the Hunters Point Shipyard Superfund Site in Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco. They are also organizing to oppose the construction of upscale housing developments that would continue to increase pollution and displacement of low-income residents and residents of color. In September, Greenaction held a “Bayview Hunters Point Says: We Can’t Breathe!” press conference and protest demanding the city take action, and they continue to organize for environmental justice in the community.
To stay up to date with Greenaction’s latest work, keep up with their platforms here:
Finally, as our fundraisers for the semester conclude, we hope that our work has made clear how important it is to view environmental issues from an intersectional perspective. We must recognize that the unique environmental harms that low-income communities and communities of color face are far from accidental. There are deeply ingrained forces and inequalities at play that make something as simple as living in a healthy environment inaccessible for some. Going forward, prioritizing and uplifting these communities is of the utmost importance in any action for a sustainable future.
We also hope that learning more about environmental justice issues has sparked a desire to take action. Whether it be environmental justice education, personal lifestyle changes, supporting the work of local organizations such as Greenaction, or much more, we can and should all collectively work towards a more just, sustainable future.
Author: Vivian Kuang | Editor: Serena Lowe| Graphics: Natalie Chu | Team: Social Good
