Tag Archives: environmental justice

Pesticides, Poverty, and Poisoning

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In part two of Viramontes’ Under the Feet of Jesus Alejo gets directly sprayed with pesticides while in the height of a tree, picking it’s ripe fruits. After this contact with the pesticide or insecticide, Alejo explains how he feels as though he cannot breath right after the spray of the poison gets on him. Extreme pain envelops over Alejo’s body as the poison gets onto his pores. For the next few weeks Alejo gets no better, although some days are better than others.

After reading about Alejo’s conditions not getting any better in part three, I wanted to do a little research on pesticides, and what kind of effects they have on the human body, when in contact with one another. I found out that there is three categorizes to pesticide poisoning. Mild, moderate, and severe. Alejo had all the symptoms of the severe pesticide poisoning, with symptoms including any:

  • inability to breathe
  • chemical burns on skin
  • respiratory distress
  • loss of reflexes
  • uncontrollable muscle twitching
  • unconsciousness
  • convulsions

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Environmental Justice

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The novel, Under the Feet of Jesus, by Helena Maria Viramontes deals with the idea of environmental injustice and how people of low-socioeconomic status and/or of color are unfairly forced to deal, first-hand, with environmentally unsound and damaging situations, such as pesticide exposure and toxic water. In response to this phenomenon a movement called environmental justice, supported by writers such as Helena Viramontes and Rachel Carson, has taken root.

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Rethinking the Commons

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The lecture by Joni Adamson on “Rethinking the Commons” was very intriguing. Adamson focused her lecture on what is considered “the commons” and how the word has changed drastically since it was first coined. “The commons” was first described as a type of resource or land used by the community but now in modern day use it is considered an overgrazed pasture. She described how environmental justice focuses not only on the environment but also social justice in literature. She explains how amaranth or pigweed is actually considered a very durable plant and has been quite resourceful for people during depressions. Adamson goes on to describe Monsanto, a corporation known for its agricultural biotechnology and its production of genetically engineered seeds.

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Green Deception

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Hybrid waste article: 

http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/does-hybrid-car-production-waste-offset-hybrid-benefits.htm

Hybrid vehicle implications: 

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es702178s

Toyota Prius Harmony:  

http://vimeo.com/7384947

While car companies may give the impression that they are on the green side, it is visible that they are really just concerned with selling another product. Advertisement agencies have been able to take advantage of the consumer’s care for the environment and manipulate it. Consumers are told that if they buy a hybrid car with great gas mileage then they will be saving the planet and will be protecting the younger generations. Although this point is partially true you have to look at the process of creating one of these hybrid cars. For instance, the production that goes into making a Toyota Prius is one that is quite costly towards the environment. According to writer Dave Roos of HowStuffWorks.com, “in 2007, a report commissioned by an auto industry trade group insisted that when you factor in the waste generated during production, the notoriously gas-guzzling Hummer is actually greener than the Prius” (Roos). This shows that although the car does promote environmentally friendly miles per gallon it is actually damaging towards the environment. Not only is the waste produced by a hybrid car terrible for the surroundings, but the manufacturing factor is terrible as well. The process of building a lithium-ion battery takes incredible amounts of energy to produce, more so than a conventional car. They rely on mining nickel, copper and rare-earth metals like lithium, which are responsible for higher sulfur oxide emissions (Constantine Samaras). Continue reading →