Sunday, September 16, 2018
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Monday, August 20, 2018
EJAG in Action at Michigan Environmental Justice Summit
 |
| Monica Lewis Patrick of We The People spoke at the Summit |
I’m proud of the Sierra Club Michigan
Environmental Justice Action Group’s (EJAG’s) hard work to support the Michigan
Environmental Justice Coalition in organizing the event. We contributed in a
number of ways, including:
●
Developing and being featured in
the opening “Flint in Focus” session where, on stage, we discussed the Flint
water crisis status, myths, environmental justice demands for the next
administration of Michigan government, and what needs to be done for Flint to
heal from the water crisis;
●
Curating the water justice track
by reviewing and selecting proposals
 |
| Flint pediatrician/activist Dr. Lawrence Reynolds appeared on a panel. |
●
Organizing the 2-hour “Water
Warriors Unite!” session, where we educated an audience of about 50
participants on the importance of policy development and how to use power
mapping as a tool for analyzing powerful influencers for/against an issue, and
gathering information to support the EJAG’s power mapping work regarding water
issues; and,
●
Recommending the event location
and local vendors.
The energy at the Summit was buoyant and
hopeful, with people networking and connecting across communities and
organizations to address pressing - and often interconnected - environmental
issues. For example, the dangerous presence of Enbridge pipelines is both an
energy justice issue and a water justice issue. Participants discussed
strategies to make room for new generations of environmental leaders, and the
intentional inclusion of a youth-organized youth justice track was a way for
the Summit itself to grow youth environmental justice leadership. Summit
participants also explored how to broaden environmental movements to be
inclusive of Native, First Nation and People of Color’s environmental matters
of concern like the Rights of Nature movement, and polluting
facilities (e.g. incinerators, petrochemical refineries, plastics
manufacturing), environmental disinvestment, and unaffordable drinking water
rates which tend to be concentrated in Native, First Nation and People of Color
communities.
In addition to our power-mapping session, the
water justice track highlighted an Anishinaabe-led workshop on grassroots
action on threats to Great Lakes water and a panel about forming just and
equitable research partnerships between academic institutions and communities
to address environmental injustices. One of the EJAG’s next steps is to circle
back to the full range of groups and organizations that participated in the
Summit to gather more information on how groups are working on water quality
and water affordability issues so that we can complete our internal power
mapping project and identify additional partners to work with to achieve
relevant Chapter priorities.
I was pleased to see Sierra Club Michigan
staff well-represented at the Summit, both to support the power-mapping session
and bridge tracks by learning from energy justice sessions that related to the
Chapter’s priorities. Great work, everyone!
In solidarity,
Mona Munroe-Younis
EJAG Chairperson
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Thursday, July 19, 2018
2018 Doris Duke Scholars: How We Spent Our Summer Vacation
5 Lessons Learned While Working With the Sierra Club
Gabbie Buendia and Emily Rau are scholars in the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program (DDCSP) at the University of Michigan’s
School for the Environment and Sustainability and are working for the Sierra
Club as Great Lakes Program interns for the Summer 2018. DDCSP is a two-year,
fully-funded research and internship program for undergraduate students
interested in conservation and environmental justice. Gabbie is from Orlando, Fla.,
and will be a senior at Rollins College majoring in Environmental Studies and
minoring in Women and Gender Studies. Emily is from Oak Creek, Wis., and will
be a senior at University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in Environmental
Sciences with a certificate in Sustainability.
Our main focus this summer was working with the Rain Gardens to the Rescue program. This program teaches interested Detroit
residents about the benefits and construction of rain gardens. Once residents
graduate from the program, Friends of the Rouge and Sierra Club assist them in
the creation of their own garden. After three years of training residents
through these workshops, the goal is to create a secondary level program. This
new program will train original program graduates to install rain gardens for other
residents. To support the creation of this new program, we have been compiling
evidence to help validate its need. In order to familiarize ourselves with this
issue, we conducted market research on green stormwater infrastructure (GSI).
The market research evaluated the potential of the GSI workforce in Detroit.
The GSI workforce includes the installment and maintenance of rain gardens that
program graduates would be involved in. We found that the job market can be accessible
and profitable for many Detroit residents.
Overall, this summer was filled with new experiences that
have challenged us to learn new skills and have shown us the true beauty of
Detroit. From the beginning of our research to our last measurement taken in
the field, we have learned a number of lessons about green stormwater
infrastructure, making change in the community, and conducting effective
collaboration. Below are just five of the lessons learned
this summer that will have a lasting impact on us:
1. Rain gardens are most effective within a larger
network of green stormwater infrastructure. Rain gardens may look small, but
their impact can be big when paired with other green infrastructure all
throughout the city. Rain gardens are cost effective and low maintenance,
making them an ideal supplement for stormwater management. Additionally, rain
gardens add beauty to the landscape, bringing native plants back to the area
and removing pollutants from water. All of which leads us to our next lesson learned...
2. Fostering a sense of place and community improves the
health of the environment. The Rain Gardens to the Rescue program gives
Detroiters autonomy in beautifying their yards and pride in the landscapes that
they have created. We met many residents that were proud of their beautiful
rain gardens and excited about seeing more of them around the city. It is with
this kind of enthusiasm that the strong networks of green stormwater
infrastructure discussed above can thrive.
3. Water safety and security presents unique issues to
cities all over the country. Although we have spent this summer learning about
the Great Lakes water system, many of the issues and concerns are familiar. Among
many factors, the future of Detroit’s water is threatened by pollution,
invasive species, algal blooms, and poor infrastructure. These problems echo
all throughout America. We aim to take the information and strategies on water
safety that we learned in Detroit back to our hometowns.
4. Change requires collaboration. We went to many
meetings this summer and witnessed many different working groups in action.
Through it all, we have learned that these meetings and discussions are
necessary for real, inclusive impact. Without collaboration, the distinct needs
of the city, community organizations, and individual residents cannot be fully
incorporated into meaningful plans for change.
5. Non-profit work requires versatility and flexibility.
Our work this summer has taken us to places and introduced us to people that we
would never thought we would be interacting with. This includes a visit to an
engineering lab where we built a water sensor from scratch and a talk with a
librarian about how to conduct market research. Although we did not have
experience with many of the topics we encountered, being enthusiastic about
learning made the process easier and more beneficial to everyone in the long
run.
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