earth day was cold and rainy this year. but that did not stop the northwestern university student organizers of generations of environmental justice from hosting an all-night teach-out on april 22 and 23.  

generations of environmental justice featured workshops, lectures and discussions about environmental justice issues, including pollution’s health impacts in communities of color and trespassing on indigenous lands and treaty rights. the student-led event began at 5 p.m. on earth day and continued until 7 a.m. the next morning in alice millar chapel and parkes hall.

“the goals of the event are to provide people with a general education about environmental justice and the history of the environmental justice movement and how that is distinct from the white environmentalism narrative that is very pervasive,” said nu junior lucy london. 

london is one of the organizers of the event. she is studying performance studies with a minor in environmental policy and culture.

this event was inspired by project survival, a student-led environmental event held at northwestern on january 23, 1970, before the first ever earth day. project survival was an all-night event that brought together 10,000 people and featured speakers and discussions of crisis level air and water pollution that kicked off the environmental movement.

“i was feeling really inspired by that energy and despaired at how it feels like there’s not really that type of directed energy happening right now towards the climate crisis,” said london.

london added, though, that she hopes the 2022 iteration will be more inclusive than project survival, where she said all the speakers were white men.

the opening statements began around 5:30 p.m. with a land acknowledgement from kadin mills, a northwestern sophomore and member of the ojibwe tribe. the northwestern campus occupies ojibwe (chippewa), potawatomi and odawa (ottawa) lands.  

a main focus of this event was to highlight indigenous voices, which london said have been central to the environmental justice movement long before the mainstream white environmentalist movement began in the mid-20th century.

one breakout session held in the first block of events was called “how indigenous philosophy can save the world.” doug kiel, a northwestern professor of native american history and member of the oneida nation of wisconsin led this session.

kiel opened this session with a traditional oneida opening for meetings and gatherings. the greeting gave thanks for over a dozen aspects of the natural world –– from the sun, to the fish, to the trees. 

“european philosophy has ruined the world,” kiel said simply in his lecture. 

he cited the “doctrine of discovery” as the root of european philosophies of ownership and extraction in the americas that had damaged the environment and native communities for centuries. he added, though, that indigenous philosophy may be the antidote.

one example he pointed to was the seven generations philosophy, which asks communities to consider how the decisions they make will affect their descendents seven generations into the future.

at the end of the session kiel asked the audience to form groups and discuss how they felt kinship with the land. when the whole group reconvened, people shared about their favorite places to go to feel connected to nature and how they connected to new places.

this sharing seemed to be at the heart of the event’s original intent: people coming together to share and learn about how they can connect with and contribute to the environmental justice movement.

“this is a very broad and very large movement,” said london. “we need everyone in it in whatever capacity and whatever role they have to fill.”

the western world in this context refers to the portion of the world usurped by colonizers, like much of europe and north america, which has generally placed economic vitality above all. it’s astounding that it took until 1970, only 50 years ago, for many people in the americas to start acknowledging the importance of the environment. what was happening before then? those not in the western world, and those whose cultures persisted prior to the time when colonization and globalization usurped their lands (often people of color), generally acted as though every day was “earth day.”

these cultures understand the concept of only taking what is needed from the earth and playing an active role in contributing to their ecosystem’s health. these cultures see the world as common personhood inseparable from the individual, rather than a distinct entity from which resources are to be extracted.

for example, in their daily routine the kashia band of pomo indians, a native american group of california, have traditionally used native species for foods, sustainably use their local natural resources to create tools like baskets, manage the land through controlled fires, and “only take what is needed.”

another ancient culture that still exists today, which also emphasizes living in-sync with the environment, is that of many hindu people. hinduism has at least 90 holidays each year celebrating various aspects of life and nature including changing seasons, certain animal deities, and harvest times demonstrating that some cultures have literally performed a celebration of the earth at least two days a week on average. many hindus today have very modern lifestyles, heavily influenced by the western world, yet still maintain environmentally friendly aspects of their culture like practicing vegetarianism, using herbal remedies, and using zero-waste clay and leaf containers.

in the amazon, studies have shown that 11.8% of amazonian terra firme forests are sustainably-managed anthropogenic forests resulting from the in-tune management practices of indigenous people over more than five millennia. these people gained vast knowledge over time on how to cultivate and sustainably manage forests to suit their needs while maintaining essential biodiversity. within the first century of european colonization, the amerindian population was slashed by 90% and over time the forests and wilderness felt the effects of their new “caretakers” who promoted unsustainable economic development. as such, between 1970 and 2014, we saw a 60% decline in the size of vertebrate populations worldwide, despite the establishment of earth day.

while earth day was certainly not intended to be a green-washing campaign, it has unsurprisingly turned into one. one day a year, the western world gives tribute to the earth but people fail to take enduring action for the earth’s benefit. the result: false hope that sufficient change is occurring, which leads to continued environmental degradation and catastrophes that affects all of us as people.

we now see the detrimental effects of colonization as the starting point for its even more problematic grandchild: unsustainable economic development. one may argue, “the western world isn’t the one cutting down trees in the amazon and mining in africa,” or “look at how polluted india is.” however, in return we must ask, “what caused this destruction or pollution?” the actual root cause of the destruction and pollution is unsustainable economic development caused by consumer demand in the western world, and with our exponentially increasing appetite for disposable goods that are produced in or use raw materials from those countries.

while the effects of unsustainable economic growth are environmentally detrimental, can we learn lessons through our globalized world from native cultures who are more knowledgeable given their millennia of experience in thriving in-sync with the environment? wouldn’t it make most sense to follow their way of life and their relationships with the earth? while the outlook for environmentalism seems dreary, following the teachings of these other cultures is the solution. these are the people who should be consulted in the conservation movement given their millennia of environmental leadership.

take a moment to think about the top three environmentalists in the media. perhaps people like jane goodall, al gore, rachel carson, david attenborough, or greta thunberg come to mind.

notice, likely none of the people you thought of are non-western or even people of color. upon pondering the idea further, it may even be difficult to come up with the name of a single famous environmental activist who is not from the western world, despite the amount of land historically conserved by non-western people internationally. while these individuals may not be as well-known as jane goodall, they should be.

the western world must put an enduring spotlight on the people of cultures who have had resounding success in environmental conservation since the birth of humanity, often people of color, and learn from them. otherwise, we risk earth day and environmentalism fizzling out as a green-washing fad, without any concrete action taken and — even worse — the destruction of our home planet.

only months after that first teach-in the united states environmental protection agency was created and the clean air, clean water, and endangered species acts had been passed. 

now 50 years later, we cannot take to the streets on earth day due to the coronavirus pandemic. many environmental organizations had been planning huge events for the 50th anniversary of earth day, so in light of these trying times, they got creative.

these three organizations have made it easy for us to take action from the comforts of our home.

1. earth day network

earth day network is the organization that grew from the first earth day. they had been planning events for the 50th anniversary for over two years, but came up with creative solutions to adapt to our new reality. for the month of april leading up to the 22nd, the organization has created a series of daily challenges that people can participate in from their own homes. tracey ann ritchie, director of education at earth day network, explains this is the time to be reflective and think about our individual actions and what we can do to minimize our carbon footprint. ritchie says, “we want to get people informed, aware, and activated… we need to be taking action on climate change, and there’s things we can do about that individually, organizationally, communitywide, nationwide, and beyond.”

in addition to the daily challenges and to honor the 50th anniversary, on april 22 the earth day network will be hosting an event in partnership with the u.s. climate strike coalition, which will include several calls to action including information about how to advance climate action — the earth day network’s 2020 theme. this non-profit has also created environmental education curricula to provide students, teachers, and parents with tools they can use from home which can be found on their website. 

(editor’s note: planet forward has worked with earth day network and will be participating in their virtual celebration. details to come.)

2. roots & shoots usa

roots & shoots is the youth program of the jane goodall institute, created by jane goodall. based on goodall’s philosophy that every individual makes a difference, the program’s goal is to empower young people to create positive change in their communities. roots & shoots not only provides young people with resources, support, networking and training, but also gives educators the tools they need to empower the next generation of change-makers. roots & shoots members are in all 50 u.s. states and over 60 countries worldwide.

this year, roots & shoots is doing a virtual earth day challenge running from april 16-22, including daily actions from a carbon emissions quiz to learning about food waste to sharing tasty plant-based recipes. the challenge items are designed to be inclusive and available to all. ashley sullivan, communications and policy officer at the jane goodall institute, says about the challenges, “a lot of them are just focused on how you can be sustainable in your everyday actions even from home.” 

the grand finale of the challenge is the premiere of “jane goodall: the hope,” a documentary about goodall’s journey to activism, the positive influence she’s had on people around the world, and the creation of her non-profit organization the jane goodall institute. gather your family or host a virtual watch party for an earth day movie night! it will be shown at 9/8c on nat geo and nat geo wild channels, and available on disney+ beginning earth day. you can sign up for the challenge here!

3. u.s. climate strike coalition

the u.s. climate strike coalition, coordinated by the future coalition, is made up of both youth and adult environmental organizations across the country, which all work together to organize climate strikes from coast to coast. to celebrate the 50th anniversary of earth day, they are organizing an event called “earth day live.” beginning on april 22, the coalition will be hosting a three-consecutive-day livestream, which will include educational webinars, musical guests, celebrities such as joaquin phoenix, and more. 

katie eder, executive director of the future coalition, explains that it’s important to acknowledge how challenging this time is for everyone. the goal of earth day live, she says, is to “provide some hope and inspiration for how we’re able to change moving forward.”

each day of the livestream has its own theme, the first focusing on the youth led climate strike movement, the second on divestment and climate financing, and the third is about empowering voters and encouraging political engagement. eder explains the youth climate movement can bring “a vision for what the future can be if we can come together and use this time as the wake up call we need to take action on climate and to protect our future.” you can rsvp to the livestream here.

tune in 

there is no lack of fun activities leading up to the 50th earth day, so consider tuning in to one or more of these organizations events. in 2020, we face uncertainty as important environmental legislation passed shortly after the first earth day is being weakened. let us be inspired by the success of the first earth day, and continue the momentum of the environmental movement to protect and strengthen environmental regulations moving forward.

gateway technical college’s mission is to educate and lead students, faculty, staff and the communities it serves. today, that includes leadership in sustainability – creating a culture toward building a greener, cleaner world. gateway prepares students to be leaders in the new green economy through learning opportunities and hands-on training, has initiated programs and projects which provide education to the public, and has invested time and effort to conserve and reduce waste.