By: The 2026 Flight Crew Interns
Editors: Nadyah Majeed-Ali and Ali Sakar (Flight Crew Team Leads)
Environmental justice is the equitable treatment of people and their communities. This includes neighborhoods, streets, schools, and parks. Some examples of practicing environmental justice within a community include access to neighborhood parks, public trashcans, public transportation, etc. This is all important in maintaining the health of our people and community. However, what happens when this is not true or present in our community?
Environmental injustice is the inequitable treatment of people and their communities. Environmental injustice is present in Saint Louis Metropolitan Area. It comes in many forms, but one form is in the upkeep of neighborhood roads, main streets, and highways. One of the biggest problems in the Saint Louis Metropolitan area is the quality of the roads. These problems include potholes and trash that cover the main highways and streets around the city, creating unsafe conditions for both automobiles and people. The normalization of littering has created a common issue for the Saint Louis Metropolitan area when it comes to trash cleanups. It is hard to get all the trash cleaned up when after a cleanup, more trash is immediately thrown out. This discourages our youth and people of all ages from going outside and enjoying what nature has to offer them due to the low quality of the parks.
If government officials, city leaders, and community members work together, we could create healthier communities. This may look like more accessible parks within neighborhoods, community gardens, and youth education programs educating our youth by helping to create a more equitable and healthier environment for everyone to thrive and learn in.
Note: This summer Flight Crew interns participated in multiple trainings on environmental justice and its impact on the St. Louis area, which prompted the writing of this blog post. Later in the summer, Flight Crew interns had the chance to educate youth as camp counselors at Little Creek Summer Camp, taking what they learned in their trainings and passing it on to the campers.
