Communities worldwide grapple with pollution and toxins in their spaces and their bodies, but minority and lower-income populations bear the heaviest burden of chemical exposure. 

In contrast to this reality, environmental justice happens when everyone, regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, has equal protection against environmental and health risks, including climate change. It happens when everyone has fair access to the decision-making processes that create healthy living, learning, and working environments. It occurs when everyone is treated equitably in enforcing environmental regulations and when people worldwide have rights to their local natural resources (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 

Environmental injustices shed light on harmful chemicals and processes. Chemists must know their work's ethical and social impacts and the unprecedented opportunity this field demands for interdisciplinary collaboration. Green chemistry principles provide a shift in thinking that addresses environmental issues and reduces our need to rely on systems that have historically hindered societal progress. Instead, green chemistry is a tool to work toward a more just and sustainable future.

In this powerful TED Talk, MacArthur Fellow and activist Majora Carter draws on her experience growing up in the South Bronx to expose how decades of discriminatory zoning and disinvestment have concentrated environmental burdens — waste facilities, power plants, and pollution — in low-income communities of color. She makes a compelling call for comprehensive sustainable change everywhere, and provides an example of how such changes have the potential to create positive returns for all concerned.