What is Eco-Ableism and How we Can Stop it in its Tracks
Oh, yeah, the eco movement is quite ableist! Now, I have seen positive strides here in recent years, but it’s still not enough. From blanket straw bans to not centering disabled voices when they are among the most affected by climate change, this is a problem that we need to talk about more. So, let’s talk about it!
And, hey, I’m disabled! Why do I bring this up? Well, my disabilities are invisible. I say this because ableism doesn’t just affect people with disabilities that you can see with the naked eye, it affects so many people. In fact, ableism affects able-bodied people, too! And, anyone can become disabled at any time. This is why we should all care about ableism.
What is eco-ableism?
According to ScienceDirect.com, eco-ableism is:
“Discrimination against disabled people arising in environmental activism, policy, and planning.”
This may be intentional or unintentional. Perhaps you’ve picked up a pre-cut watermelon at the grocery store to make a video about to shame people who would use this instead of buying a whole watermelon to cut themselves. But, some disabilities prevent people from being able to pick up heavy things, wield a knife, and stand long enough to cut the fruit. So, this is unintentionally ableist from an eco standpoint.
It may also be holding a meeting in a building with no ramp/elevator, blanket straw bans without thinking through that some people NEED straws to survive, shaming someone for using medication in plastic, and more.
Intentional eco ableism may look like purposefully ignoring disabled voices when they speak about these things, and correcting you. It may look like not inviting disabled voices to climate panels and other decision-making events. You get the idea.
Why is this a problem?
As I mentioned, disabled people are already marginalized, and they become more marginalized in times of climate crisis. According to Curious Earth, it is also “a failure by non-disabled environmental activists to recognize that many of the climate actions they're promoting make life difficult for disabled people.”
This compounds the marginalization. It’s already hard enough to go through society as a disabled person before we add the climate crisis, and also climate solutions that make it harder to live as a disabled person.
Here’s an example. We all know that we’re a bit too car-reliant in the US. If we were to suddenly ban all cars and make it mandatory for people to take public transit, walk, or bike, this means that many disabled people can no longer get around. Some people rely on cars for transport!
Other examples include straw bans, other plastic bans,
Now, I’m not advocating for plastic here. I’m just saying that issues of emissions and plastic are more nuanced than banning them 100%. I think a solution to plastic straws, for example, would be asking customers if they NEED a straw. That way it gives everyone the chance to deny or accept the straw without any awkwardness and allows everyone the resources they need if they need them.
What can we do?
Make our activism inclusive
It’s so easy to make our activism inclusive, whether that’s online or in-person activism. Here are a few tips:
Make flyers, posters, and signs accessible by using easy-to-read fonts, making them not too busy, and posting them in areas that people frequent
Center disabled voices! In fact, include all groups of marginalized people in your meetings, protests, teach-ins, etc. This is easier said than done. You can’t just invite marginalized people, you have to make your environment inclusive and welcoming for all people.
Think through eco decisions before implementing them by asking things such as: how will this affect disabled people (or, insert other group of marginalized people)
Make your activism accessible
Once again, this goes for both in-person and online activism. So, let’s break it down into those two categories:
Online:
Content creators! Make your content accessible with captions, image descriptions, easy-to-read fonts, speaking clearly, and so forth. And, it doesn’t hurt to keep your content as free as you can, so it’s also accessible to all budgets
Be mindful of the words you use when creating content (or even creating posters, presentations, talks, etc). It’s easy to ignore or forget nuance in these conversations, so I’m asking you to use nuance as much as possible. Don’t just say a blanket statement like, “You should walk instead of driving so much to reduce emissions.” This ignores a lot of people, and it’s easy to change your language to something more inclusive, like “if you’re able to, try walking or biking instead of using a car when possible.” It’s softer and isn’t quite so pointed at folks who cannot give up their car.
In Person:
Hold meetings in accessible locations. Places with ramps, elevators, disabled parking spaces, and places within a close distance. Inclusive goes beyond disability. It also means inclusive for different budgets, gender-inclusive, etc.
Make sure the meetings can be accessed by all with resources such as ASL interpreters, offering the meeting on Zoom for those who cannot get transportation, speaking clearly, having clear visual aids, and things of that nature
Fight for social/disability justice
It’s great that you are now mindful about ableism in our eco community. But, I hope you take it a step further and regularly advocate for disability justice and other social justice issues from race to gender to sexuality and more! Why, though? Well, it all comes back to intersectionality. Every issue is connected. As I’ve just shown in this post, disability rights are connected to eco justice. So, this is why I think environmentalists should care about it all.
No, I’m not asking everyone to become an expert on every single topic. But, I am asking you to speak up where you can. Share petitions about other issues besides climate change. Boost content about social issues that may be outside your norm. It’s all connected. We cannot have a clean planet without tackling other social issues, too.
Be mindful of ableist rhetoric and shut it down
See someone being ableist online or in person? Stop it in its tracks! This may also look like correcting yourself, too. Be mindful of slurs used against disabled people and sayings that bring harm to the disabled community.
Now, let’s bring it back to intentional vs unintentional ableism. If someone is using slurs, being hateful, or being harmful, they need to be reported, blocked, and removed from the situation, no questions asked. But, if someone is unintentionally ableist, there can be room for them to learn, so do so kindly.
For example, I see a lot of able-bodied eco creators online talking about things like pre-cut fruit and plastic straws. I assume that they had good intentions with their post without understanding or considering the nuance of disabled folks. So, I call them in, and I do so in private. I will DM them and explain that, hey, some disabled folks need pre-cut watermelon. I find it the most effective to correct people in private and do so kindly. It is not effective for 100s of people to bombard them rudely in the comments.
Another example is when I talk about using libraries to read audiobooks, and people correcting me that audiobooks are not reading. That’s ableist! There are many reasons people need and want to listen to audiobooks. And, this is a form of accessibility that also benefits able-bodied people. We all benefit from accessibility!
A last note on this topic, “disability” is not a bad word. In fact, it’s often considered offensive to use terms like “differently-abled” and “it’s not a disability, it’s their superpower” type of language. It’s okay to be disabled, and it’s okay to use the word “disabled” even if you are able-bodied.
Get educated!
And, never stop learning! Even as a disabled person, I am only aware of how MY disabilities affect MY life. People with the same disabilities as I will have different lived experiences, and I cannot put myself into the shoes of someone with different disabilities. So, I keep learning!
This looks like following disabled content creators and listening to their stories. This looks like reading books about disability, and especially by disabled authors. And, it looks like sharing what you learn with others! Here are some of my favorite books on different topics of disability:
True Biz by Sara Novic, Fiction
Demystifying Disability by Emily Ladau, Non-Fiction
Unmasking Autism by Devon Price, Non-Fiction
Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale, Fiction
Disability Visibility by Alice Wong, Non-Fiction
Sipping Dom Perignon Through a Straw by Eddie Ndopu, Non-Fiction
The Invisible Kingdom by Meghan O'Rourke, Non-Fiction
Thank you for reading this and working on becoming more inclusive. Just like unpacking anything, it takes time. You may slip up. Acknowledge your fault and move on. Keep learning, keep unpacking, and listen to disabled people.
And, be an advocate! You don’t have to be disabled to stand up for disabled people. As I said in the beginning, this is a group of marginalized people that any of us can join at any time. Accessibility does nothing but benefit everyone.
Let’s keep working to be inclusive, accessible, and accepting. Thank you for reading along. As always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)
Emma
