Hi. My name is the ‘Clean Environment Initiative’ and I am here to share my Greenpeace story.
Not so long ago, I was formed by a couple of young environment enthusiasts who lovingly called me an environmental NGO and since then, many more people joined hands together to become my strength. Over this long stretch of months of working together, if there is one thing I learnt, it is the power of sharing stories, which inspire, invoke and interest people to bring about a change.
‘Racism’ is a word that has been around for quite a while now and most people are not aware that it is also linked to the environment. If not ‘racism’ per se, in my experience, I have encountered situations of variants of racism. Each time I tried to address the issue to the best of my capabilities and increase awareness.
The day a part of me realized that humans are in no way superior to the animals and that animals have long been subjected to ‘speciesism’, I turned vegan. I learnt that no one species is better or more important than the other, just like no one race is above the other.
When I conducted and took part in clean up drives in various locations in my city, I saw the ignorance of the so-called ‘educated’ high-class people towards the environment and people of lower socioeconomic status. This was when I also learnt about ‘environmental racism’. It ‘refers to any policy, practice or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intended/unintended) individuals, groups or communities based on race or colour’. Garbage is thrown around carelessly in residential areas of lower socioeconomic strata. There is no consideration of people’s health or the pollution of the environment. I joined hands with the municipality workers in cleaning dumping grounds around the city to raise awareness about safe waste disposal and waste segregation. I spoke to the residents of such areas to educate them about the importance of having clean surroundings and possible health risks posed by strewn over garbage.
Another part of me has always wanted to address the issue of the lack of dignity of labour. No job is too small and no class is too low. Just because I am a working professional, I was asked why I took to the streets to clean and pick up other people’s waste. I saw people being kept at a distance because they were sanitation workers. My abilities and capacities were compartmentalized based on my profession and gender. I decided to lead by example and did not back out from cleaning the environment, physically the garbage and mentally the primitive thoughts such as above.
On another occasion, I have seen people pray in the temple for their and their family’s well-being and then come outside and litter. I have seen people clean their houses fervently only to throw their waste onto the streets or into the neighbouring compound. I tried to combat these issues by extending my efforts and acknowledgement through working outside my house and taking responsibility for the environment.
There are countless cases where citizens are not experiencing the equity of the environment. Marginalized communities that do not have the socioeconomic and political means to oppose large corporations are at risk of environmentally racist (casteist/speciesist/classist/sexist) practices that are detrimental to humans. With this knowledge, it becomes imperative that each one of us takes ownership of this planet and lives in the most sustainable way possible. When each one takes responsibility for their actions, it becomes a collective effort to make this world a better place to live in.
I hope this account of my experiences gives you some food for thought and willingness to take action. Let us recognize and preserve the beauty of our home together.
Written by Meghana Reddy Tandra
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