EARTHDAY‍.ORG drives action by spreading awareness through environmental news and research. Check out our articles below and read more on our webpage.

Today, we explore visionary Black environmentalists and designers, unravel the impact of thrifting, learn more about New York's climate education initiatives, revisit East Palestine, OH, and get educated on chemical recycling,

Want to share and save our articles? Visit our page on Flipboard.

Visionary Black Environmentalists Making A Difference

The very first Earth Day back in 1970 was the largest civic demonstration in history, when 20 million people across America demanded action to protect the environment. As influential as that day was, it was not critic-free. Back then, some Black activists felt that it took attention away from the racial injustice movement that was also growing across the nation, and lamented that a new movement was diverting attention away from it. 

Calls for racial justice and equity have not stopped since then, but now Black environmentalists are making their mark in the ‘green’ movement too, and are finding an important way of dovetailing the two causes. Environmental racism acknowledges climate change and pollution can have disproportionately harmful social, economic, and public health impacts on marginalized populations. 

Continue reading

7 Must-See Sustainable Black Designers Redefining Fashion

Amid New York Fashion Week, we are excited to see big designer’s new seasonal looks on the runway. In recent years, Black fashion designers represented in New York Fashion Weeks have numbered less than 10% as was the case this year where only 6 out of the over 70 designers at New York Fashion’s Fall/Winter 2024 appeared on a runway show.  

In 2020, following George Floyd's death, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), responsible for organizing New York’s Fashion Week, recognized the need for increased diversity and inclusion. Historically lacking Black representation, the invitation-only CFDA initiated efforts to enhance inclusivity under the leadership of their former President, Casandra Diggs, and a Black Advisory Board was established to guide the organization’s diversity initiatives. 

Continue reading

Unraveling the Impact of Thrifting

This month, designers and models will gather in New York, London, Milan, and Paris for fashion week and show off intricately crafted clothing. Although these high-fashion garments are beautiful, worsening climate conditions and environmental degradation have made it more crucial than ever for us to cut back on clothing production and consumption. 

But what about the average consumer, or even those who rely mainly on thrifting for their clothes? Many resourceful people have been scouring through used clothing racks and bins for years to find stunning vintage garments and outfit staples, but the process of thrifting has become even more popular in the past five years. We tend to think of thrifting as a promising possibility to give unwanted clothes a second life, but the reality is less rosy.  

Continue reading

Climate Education Takes Root

In the summer of 2023, 39 elementary school teachers gathered for a four-day training session in New York. The goal of the workshop was to expose educators to the topic of climate change so they could integrate it into their lesson plans. This is tangible proof that, fifty years after Earth Day first championed the idea, climate education has become a reality in parts of the United States.

This program is another critically important step towards prioritizing climate education in grade school curriculum. In 2022, New Jersey became a nationwide leader by mandating climate change lessons in public schools. Similar bills have been introduced in the state of New York which promise to introduce interdisciplinary climate education and support teacher training. 

But why is climate education necessary? Building a foundational knowledge of science is the key to understanding the reality of the climate crisis and developing solutions. By integrating climate education into various subjects, students can learn the interconnectedness of processes that impact the environment. These lessons do not have to be complicated either — with the help of training workshops, educators can develop interactive plans for younger learners.

Continue reading

East Palestine, Ohio, One Year Later

Many people have heard of plastic as a contaminant and its detrimental effects on our planet. Whether it be food, the air, or animals — plastic pollution’s effects reach far and wide and increasingly they are causing major public health emergencies. 

Toxic chemicals used in plastic production were certainly a central issue following a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3rd, 2023, when thirty-eight cars derailed and eleven of them were found to be carrying plastic-making materials, according to the EPA.

To safely clear the derailment site, the surrounding community was evacuated as the carriages carrying the most dangerous chemicals were subject to a controlled burn, which created a huge plume of deadly-looking smoke. After the fire burned itself out, many people in the surrounding communities complained about toxic smelling fumes and shortness of breath. It was a story that dominated the news cycles for days as America slowly woke up to the fact that poisonous chemicals are routinely freighted by train through domestic communities and small towns — most of which have no idea how close they are to potential disaster.

Continue reading

Chemical Recycling: Savior or Saboteur?

Plastic is piling up around us. We keep creating more and more single-use plastics each day and sending them directly to landfills. By making this non-biodegradable waste for so many years, we’ve created a global problem that we can’t seem to escape. We try to give plastics a second life with recycling, but so few recyclables are actually sent to the correct facilities and reused. The writing seems to be on the wall: the plastics crisis is too complex for one simple solution.

But where conventional recycling has failed in dealing with excessive plastic waste, a different sort of recycling promises to excel. Proponents of chemical recycling claim that this process is the future of plastic waste, but others are quick to point out its harmful effects. Policymakers, scientists, and environmentalists continue to debate the question: is chemical recycling going to save us, or only plunge us deeper into an environmental crisis?

Continue reading

Support EARTHDAY.ORG