Hello Everyone,
My name is Elizabethe and I am a transfer student in my second semester at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. The blog that I decided to look at was The F Word, a feminist UK based media blog that covers everything from politics to arts and literature. This blog is designed to give a feminist perspective and commentary on our culture as well as uplift the voices of minorities and other underrepresented groups. This platform is a collective of writers presenting a diverse view of the feminist perspective. I hope that in my blog I can also give a voice to the underrepresented groups and focus on the intersectionality and complexity of the issues we will talk about. The F-Word Blog is a great platform where they expand past just the needs and views of women to include the LGBTQIA+ community and others. This is something I wish to emulate, we all have a complex identity that is made up of different identities and I hope to represent a well rounded view of feminism and women in general.
One thing I wanted to take a moment to speak about is the issue of toxic materials and the disposal of said materials in the state of California. I live in San Diego and my entire life I have been bombarded with the mentality that California is super green and environmentally friendly but not only is our environment and ecosystem degrading due to the overpopulation and over industrialization of the state but there are also issues when it comes to the disposal of toxic materials. Just a few days ago Robert Lewis published an article to the CalMatters organization page detailing how “In the past five years, California has disposed of more than 660,000 tons of contaminated soil in Arizona landfills and nearly a million tons at a Utah landfill, according to data in a state tracking system. That includes hazardous waste from the Mission Bay redevelopment in San Francisco, military base cleanups in San Diego and transportation authority projects in San Bernardino County.” Although California has some of the most stringent laws when it comes to the disposal of contaminated materials it does not seem to have an impact on the toxic materials that are disposed of. Instead of legally and safely disposing of the toxic materials, it is taken to states with more relaxed laws and regulations.
This is a real issue, California presents itself as a green and innovative state, while the reality is that they have just found ways to bypass the laws that are put in place to protect the residents of California. It is important that we call out this injustice and hold the State and Corporations responsible for the damage that they have caused.