While Earth Day is just one day in the year, Minneapolis’s environmental justice activists say it is still worth celebrating.

The first national Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970 was introduced by Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson and meant to teach Americans about the environment and eventually led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Celebrating the once-groundbreaking national holiday is now a choice for many Americans with privilege from environmental harms, Mike Harley, the executive director of the Twin Cities’ Environmental Initiative, said.

“It’s another opportunity for us to spread the word, to engage people, to help put opportunities for action in front of people and to elevate issues that sometimes slip to second-, third- or fourth-tier concerns for many Americans not living on the front lines of environmental harm,” Harley said.

The Environmental Initiative is running an Earth Day fundraiser for environmental justice organizations. 

Air pollution, poor water quality and food insecurity are among the prominent environmental injustices residents, particularly non-white residents, face in Minnesota and Minneapolis, according to the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. These issues can hurt residents’ short- and long-term health.

In Minneapolis, these areas with the worst environmental injustices are known as the two green zones, where diverse neighborhoods face some of the worst pollution in the city.

Leslee Jackson, a board member for North Minneapolis’ Green Zone, said fighting for environmental justice in her community is a lifelong commitment throughout her education and career.

“The people and their wellbeing and their health, everything is connected and without one, you can’t have the other,” Jackson, who grew up in North and South Minneapolis, said. “So, giving back to the earth as a steward on this land to educate others, I’m happy to do that in this place.”

Green Zones in North and South Minneapolis are typically lower-income, primarily non-white areas that are disproportionately hurt by environmental issues like poor air, water or soil quality.

Natalie Rademacher, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis American Indian Center, said food insecurity and air pollution are two environmental issues that Indigenous residents have historically been harmed by.

“A lot of people in boarding schools were pushed onto reservations and were cut off from a lot of these traditional foods that our ancestors ate, like wild rice and bison, walleye, things like that,” Rademacher, who is Ojibwe, said. “Being cut off from these healthy foods and our ways of life led to a lot more processed foods.”

The Center, located in the South Minneapolis Green Zone, provides opportunities for Indigenous residents to live healthier lives, Rademacher said. It has a cafe that offers healthy, traditional indigenous foods and exercise programs to the local community. 

Jackson said she wants to see more city funding go toward fighting food insecurity for Green Zone residents.

Jayda Pounds, the city’s sustainability program coordinator who works with the Green Zone boards, said the program aims to create and support specific resources and events, like free trees and watering services, to reduce the environmental harm for residents.

Pounds said that continuing education on things like how to grow food in urban areas is crucial for improving the quality of life for Minneapolis residents. 

“We know that we need to continue the education, the push for making sure that our resident voices are heard and that the work doesn’t end just because (Earth Day) is over,” Pounds said.

For University of Minnesota students, simple habits like proper recycling and turning off unused lights can build a commitment to sustainability, according to Tim Ekblad, the director of the sustainability committee for the University’s College of Science and Engineering student board.

Ekblad, a third-year student studying environmental engineering, said the sustainability committee exists to encourage students to practice sustainability year-round.

“It’s important because it shows people a different way of thinking that they most likely would not be thinking about if the committee wasn’t there,” Ekblad said.

Earth Day offers the chance to celebrate environmental justice workers and bring people together for a common cause to spark a stronger commitment to the environment, Jackson said.

“It is an important day,” Jackson said. “But every day is Earth Day when you do this work.”