When I arrived at Dickinson as a first year student, I had high hopes of learning the secret to solving the environmental crisis. My goals were naïve, optimistic and well intentioned, but as I have learned, were not the solution to saving the world. I needed to go farther than the privileged, un-inclusive ideas that I had been taught, and to understand that there were many other problems in this world.

As I get further into my environmental studies major as a sophomore, the hypocrisy and unchecked privilege that stems from the belief that “environmentalism is the most important cause” amazes and saddens me every day. It’s not that I dislike environmental studies; I care deeply about the environment, and believe that if we intend to have any future on this planet, we need to see a radical change in behavior. I believe that our small actions such as the food we eat, the items we buy, and the way we use things needs to be re-examined, before we can shame others for not buying expensive solar panels and local organic food. Dickinson has done a lot of environmental sustainability projects that are consequently used to “sell” the college, but still lacks the motivation to go beyond looking good to making tough decisions that may be unpleasant.

I also understand that the ability to prioritize environmentalism, and to view it as the most important issue, comes from a place of immense privilege, one that for a majority of my life, I was guilty of playing an unaware part. It is easy to say that the environmental crisis is the most important issue when it is the only one that directly affects your life. Oppression because of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, religion etc. often takes priority over the environmental crisis, which is not daily visible in most people’s lives. Even if people are aware of climate change, steep prices and low availability of environmentally friendly products make participating in the environmental movement an option only to a very privileged group of people.

I was exposed to the reality of my privilege through sociology, English, and history classes, but few of my environmental classes have addressed issues of race or class. Even within lessons about how climate change affects humans, these groups are often left out of the discussion, although people of color, women, and lower-income areas are disproportionately affected by climate change. The “solutions” that are commonly discussed for remedying the environmental crisis are often equally as exclusive to the majority of the world’s population.

Three weeks ago, the Feminist Collective hosted a meeting about eco-feminism. Conversation soon turned to discussing problems within the environmental movement, and how different groups on campus have a lot to learn from each other. Following this discussion, Earth Now invited members of Feminist Collective to come to a meeting and discuss what can be done. These two meetings gave rise to many ideas combining the immense power environmental groups have with the administration, and social justice groups like African American Society, Feminist Collective, Spectrum, Students for Sensible Drug Policy etc.

These meetings furthered discussions about understanding the work that needs to be done in order to “save the world.” Isolating one issue as the most important and invalidating the experiences of others will not solve problems. By listening and learning from others, we can see how our different issues and ideas are interdependent of each other. The environmental crisis cannot be alleviated without including people of all backgrounds and identities. Social movements can work towards preserving the earth we live on for future generations. The hope is that these groups will learn from each other and work together to create true socially and environmentally sustainable change.