"Green" Expands Definition of Environmental Justice

A documentary called "Green" (follow link to watch trailer or download film for free) depicts a collision of development and environmental justice that stretches from production in the Third World to consumption in the First World.


The film depicts deforestation in the tropics of Asia and the consequences that result: both for the environment (specifically the life of a misplaced orangutan) and for society. In summary, I believe it lends insight into the chains of production behind consumption in the Western world. A key question that arises for me is examining the true cost behind the systems: what is the price being paid and the social consequences implicated to manufacture products of the capitalist world?

"Green" shows extraction of trees for wood and paper products and for palm oil, and we are able to observe the entire line of production. A destructive pattern arises that exposes the darkness behind innocent purchases made in the First World - ecosystems are exploited, with animals & workers as victims, and 'justice' for everyone involved in the chain becomes non-existent. The real cost behind a magazine or inexpensive chocolate bar includes massive consequences to the environment and for the social structures along the way. But who pays for it? Third world social systems absorb the cost for the convenience of continuing capitalism: combining money and labor to find a commodity that can be widely sold.

Often in Environmental Justice, we have only been focused on negative environmental effects on minority groups in the U.S. - but 'justice' for those within nature surely expands beyond the Western world. Arguably, the consumption habits of even those low-income, underrepresented groups in America are contributing to the deprivation of another group elsewhere. One could argue that a low-income family living in a food desert in the U.S. is contributing to the negative environmental and social consequences halfway across the world.  By only being able to purchase low-quality convenience foods, packaged in paper products and made with palm oil, our hypothetical low-income family is a direct contributor to injustices examined in "Green". Our low-income family draws little connection between injustices in the U.S. (like food deserts in low-income communities) and injustices globally such as deforestation and labor issues surrounding the development of products soon to be sold in the U.S. Maybe solving the injustices on our side this double edged sword will help reduce the problems that derive from consumption patterns in the Western world. 

So the question remains: should we care (as consumers) about the entire chain of production? A true issue of the Tragedy of the Commons arises if the full system is included in our scope. And our consideration of fairness and equality ought to shift as a result.