On April 9, the Environmental Justice team of the Black Women for Wellness (BWW) organization launched a new report known as Lifecycle of Plastic in South LA: Community Insights. The event consisted of about 50 people and created a space where reproductive justice organizers and supporters could come together and explore multiple aspects of the report on how plastic, fossil fuels, and other pollutants affect the Black community. The team interviewed 35 Black workers and residents throughout South LA and BWW’s history of advocacy against the lifecycle of plastic and other pollutants.
An event full of passionate conversation, it took place at the Museum of African American Art at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall. Founded in 1997, BWW is a reproductive rights and human justice organization that addresses the disparities in Black maternal and infant health. They also advocate for water equity in Black and Brown neighborhoods, oil drilling, and green social housing.
Attendees of the Lifecycle of Plastic: Community Insights event launch. Photo courtesy of Black Women for Wellness.
Tiana Shaw-Wakeman, the Environmental Justice Program Director at BWW, said, “There’s harm at every single stage of the entire life cycle of plastic. [Stages] include plastic producers, oil and gas companies… retailers that want us to think that the only problem with plastic is how it gets disposed of.” She continued, “When one looks at the lifecycle of plastic, you’d see that we need to cut production of plastic in general.”
While the lifetime of plastic is long, the report brings awareness to probable solutions, with an urgent call to action to reduce plastic and alleviate its devastating effects. Their goal is to emphasize that toxic chemicals cause harm to—specifically Black women — in the use of hair care products, personal care products, product packaging, and even food packaging.
BWW’s informational flyer. Photo courtesy of Black Women for Wellness.
BWW has been working relentlessly on an Inglewood Oil Field campaign for the past few years, in collaboration with organizations such as Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling (STAND LA) and LA County. Organizers also encouraged guests to see pollution in not just a global way—not just plastic or diapers being in the ocean—but in a person’s neighborhood and in their day-to-day products.
Some may not know, but Inglewood is home to the largest urban oil field in the country, spanning over 1000 acres. It affects Black and Brown people directly through chemical exposure from oil drilling and fossil fuels. BWW spreads awareness about illnesses that can develop when one is exposed to the harsh chemicals produced by the oil field, such as infertility, cancer, asthma, preterm birth, and low birth weight.
Zoe Cunliffe, Environmental Justice Team Program Manager, was pleased with the event launch.
“I am really pleased with how the event launch went. It’s a relief to finally have the report out, as it is a culmination of 3 years of hard work.”
Cunliffe also expressed that while organizers inform Angelenos of various solutions to local pollution and how they reduce various forms of waste, ultimately, major corporations should be held accountable.
“Also, as we discuss solutions, it is important to emphasize that no individual person has to do anything… or should do anything because the problem of plastic pollution and the harms that it causes are created by large corporations.” She continued, “They make a lot of profit from churning plastic into our communities. While folks should be informed and know the truth, folks should never feel like they have to do anything because this problem wasn’t created by us.
Key Findings from the Report
Community Insights on the Lifecycle of Plastic:
- Finding 1: The Inescapability of Plastic. Black residents and workers feel that plastic is unavoidable in South Los Angeles, affecting their daily lives.
- Finding 2: Plastic in Everyday Life. Plastic is especially pervasive in grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and schools.
- Finding 3: Structural Barriers to Change. Residents worry that systemic inequities and environmental racism will prevent South LA from accessing sustainable solutions.
- Finding 4: A Call for Truth and Accountability. Many believe that critical information about plastic’s health effects has been withheld and that corporations and policymakers must be held accountable.
Community-Based Solutions Proposed by Black Angelenos:
- Increased public education about the lifecycle of plastic and its health impacts.
- Stronger regulations and accountability from corporations and oil companies.
- Reparations for health harms, including affordable or free healthcare.
- Local community-led projects solving problems linked to plastic.
- Greater access to and affordability of reusable and sustainable items.
Regina Martin, a volunteer at BWW, was also a panelist at the event and shared her life story and how she has witnessed the lifecycle of plastic from the 1970s to the present day. Born in 1963 in Los Angeles, 61-year-old Martin grew up near the Inglewood oil field. She reflected about horrible smells in the air as waste was common in her neighborhood.
“When I was a child, there was a certain part where my mom would drive on La Cienega or Fairfax, and it would smell like rotten eggs. It had a horrible smell. Morning, noon and night… the smell was so bad.” She continued, “I went to Windsor Elementary School—which overlooks those oil pumps — and she would say, ‘OK! Count the oil pumps!’ I would count them for her. I remember getting sick to my stomach back then.”
Martin emphasized that members of the Inglewood oil field area are still concerned about the exposure to chemicals. She also spoke about the life cycle of plastic and fossil fuels being so embedded in today’s products, while a little over 60 years ago, plastic wasn’t so common.
The full report, “Lifecycle of Plastic in South LA: Community, can be found at www.bwwla.org/programs/environmental-justice/.
