Don't Commodify Us. Humanize Us. When You Commodify Environmentalists For Your Earth Month Strategy,

Don't commodify us. Humanize us. When you commodify environmentalists for your Earth Month strategy, you are dehumanizing our culture, values, and work. While we may have heard greenwashing used, Earth Washing focuses on the mass production based on raising awareness for the protection of the planet. Unfortunately, the extraction rate to create products such as Earth Day T-Shirts, posters, or Earth Day collections is not as ethical as we think they are. To me, environmentalism is more like dismantling white supremacy, than it is a tee or a slogan. Many large-scale corporations that sell ideas of planting trees for every purchase you make are still linked to funding private prisons, slave labor, and the further depletion of natural resources in their supply chain. For many BIPOC communities, Earth Month is every day and justice is still not served. Indigenous People's world views, beliefs, and cultural traditions are essential when fighting for environmental justice. Community-based frameworks are crucial. We must elevate the ideas from Indigenous communities and communities of color that have faced high rates of injustice head on. They know firsthand what it's like to live in a world that inflicts violence, pain, and trauma on those who actively protect Earth, and to still protect it anyways. Yes, Earth Month is an opportunity for many environmentalists to get paid and recognized for our work (we're typically not the guest speaker of choice in a market based on overconsumption). While we are NOT going to shame those trying their best to earn funds for their work, we can critically extend ourselves to redistribute the funds to BIPOC activists and organizations that are often left out from media conversations. While we all contribute to forms of Earth Washing, we can always directly help those who continue to fight against environmental injustices.

-queer brown vegan