Equity: Cascadia’s sustainable connection to support diversity and our community

While we are still in an ongoing pandemic and not returning in person to campus, our efforts to provide students excellent education continues, and that certainly includes finding ways to integrate their education with current events, meaningful dialog, and important issues. 

There have been many larger issues lately, globally with COVID19 ongoing, nationally with the protests, and locally to the PNW with the return of summer smoke and fires.   

Our focus on sustainability and environmental work must include justice and equity for people, and finding ways to support our community. For reference, our program teaches the triple bottom line about balancing Equity, Environment, Economics. The first E, equity, includes the rights of humans to safety, security, education, health, wellness, quality of life, and community capital. As we protect the environment we protect vulnerable communities and as we lift up our vulnerable communities we move toward a more sustainable future for all. 

As we assess ourselves and our communities for sustainability, we should remember to consider who is the first and most intensely impacted by environmental and social degradation. Communities of color are statistically more likely to be impacted by food deserts, industrial waste and pollution, lack of green spaces, inadequate housing and infrastructure susceptible to increasingly destructive climate and weather events; and more and more evidence is highlighting these issues even now, and this is true for low income families and areas as well. 

–Cascadia Sustainability Office

Here are some of the ways the Cascadia sustainability office is taking action, and ideas for you as well:

• Sign petitions and be willing to invest energy into difficult conversations.  We’re working with our campus Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee, and integrating environmental justice to our goals and education plans where we can! 
• Donate or support our campus foundation – to help student opportunities.
• Contact representatives
• Educate ourselves
• Register to vote – and make sure to vote in elections!!
• Cascadia’s actions currently and resources for further reading. 
• Please don’t forget to explore our Sustainability and Campus Grounds blogs for resources and considerations.

COVID-19 response:

• Return to campus guidelines, and reentry plan
• Current updates and Campus’ documents
• Wear a mask if visiting campus!
• Remember to stay healthy, social distance, and wash your hands. 

Resources on Equity and BLM:

• Black mental health
• People of Color Therapy Resources
• Captioning for deaf and hard-of-hearing 
• 75 things white people can do for racial justice
• Supporting black-owned restaurants in Seattle
  Local black-owned businesses near campus!
  • Métier Brewing Company – Woodinville
  • Pinckney Cookie Cafe – Kirkland
  • Carolina Smoke BBQ – Bothell
  • Yungfreckle Skin Care – Bothell
  • Heaven Sent Fried Chicken – Lake City
  • Ezell’s Famous Chicken – Mill Creek/Woodinville
• Cascadia’s counseling services
• Cascadia’s Center for Culture, Inclusion, and Community
• Cascadia’s library guide: Social Justice
• Cascadia’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Wildfires:
While the smoke is past us (for now), remember that many on our coast have lost their homes, and much support is still needed to support people in need. Some are saying these are the first climate refugees in America.

Wildfire smoke can irritate your lungs, cause inflammation, affect your immune system, and make you more prone to lung infections, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that cause COVID-19. 
Cloth masks will not protect you from wildfire smoke.
Cloth masks that are used to slow the spread of COVID-19 by blocking respiratory droplets offer little protection against wildfire smoke. They do not catch small, harmful particles in smoke that can harm your health.

• WA state wildfires resources
• Dept. of Heath (DOH) wildfire smoke resources (considering COVID19)
• Washington Wildfire Combined Relief Fund
• Article considering health choices on smoke inhalation.
• Seattle Times article on how to support wildfire relief efforts
• Dept. of Ecology State of Washington air quality resources

Coast Salish People:
We should not forget our responsibility to acknowledge our presence on the land of the Coast Salish people. Here are some support ideas for indigenous people of our area.

• Real Rent – to the Duwamish People
• Duwamish Tribe
• Coast Salish Arts and Cultural Center
• Tulalip Tribe
• Hibulb Cultural Center

I’m sure there are other resources that we may have forgotten or not included! Please add them to the comments, and we can update this list!