Environmental justice entailsequal distribution of environmental harm and benefits to all beneficiaries (Pavlich, 2010). It revolves around environmental health by trying to ensure that there is access to a good environment for habitable living. Impacts on health will look at how environmental justice affect health of individuals (Freudenberg, Freudenberg, Klitzman & Saege, 2009).The access to healthcare facilities and information is also enhanced by environmental justice by removal of racism and tribalism (Sandler & Pezzullo, 2007). This allows everyone to access the facility despite the race or tribe of such individuals. Environmental justice balances tribes and races in the fact that all of them are equal and have equal rights to access healthcare services irrespective of their tribe or race (Arnold, 2007). Environmental justice concerns itself with raising the barriers put by ascribed statuses of individuals such as race to provide an equal platform for all people where rights to access several basic needs are based on the fact that people are equal as opposed to racial stereotypes and prejudices.
Environment justice allows for access to better housing conditions for all people (Eyles & Williams, 2008). People from various tribes, race, and class among others should be allowed to have equal rights to housing either provided by government, NGOs or self-construction (Harding, 2007). This provides access to better health and hygienic conditions to all as well as access to quality food tailored to meet the desired dietary needs. When people feed on the right quantities of food and balanced diets, they reduce their risk of attack by diseases.Therefore, everyone should be allowed to eat what they want and in balanced form which will reduce impact of diseases on them thereby they continue to be healthy. On the other hand, environmental justice concerns itself with ensuring that people’s access to required commodities is based on the fact that they are human as opposed to their ascribed statuses such as race.
Access to clean water and air is another important point of environmental justice. When justice prevails in an environment, all humans living in that environment should equally access clean water and air (Frumkin, 2010). Dirty water and air are areas cause microorganisms thrive. Everyone should be allowed to access clean water safe for drinking and clean air in the areas they live, work or pass by in their daily activities. Environmental justice also advocates for ethics and mental needs to all people (Gerrard, 2008). Any person is expected to live in a beautiful environment that pleases him/her and which also brings about mental satisfaction. A good environment makes one happy and feel comfortable reducing stress which is a result of many diseases affecting human beings (Elliott & Thomas, 2009).This reduces prevalence of diseases to people because they appreciate and feel comfortable in the environment they live in.
According to Freudenberg et al, (2009), poor communities are considered to be unimportant and are unable to access health facilities due to lack of environmental justice in many countries. Most of them live in marginalized areas away from information and health facilities such as in rural areas or slums in town. Their access to healthcare is mostly limited by either lack of information about importance of healthcare or means of transport to the facility to access health solutions. When environment justice prevails and corrects this problem, even poor people living in these marginalized areas will access healthcare facilities. They will be able to get treatment, drugs and advice on disease prevention from health facilities.
References
Arnold, C., A. (2007). Fair and healthy land use: environmental justice and planning. New York: American Planning Association.
Elliott,M. & Thomas, I. (2009).Environmental Impact Assessment in Australia: Theory and Practice.Sydney: Federation Press.
Eyles, J. & Williams, A. (2008).Sense of Place, Health and Quality of Life.London: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
Freudenberg, G., Freudenberg, N., Klitzman, S. &Saegert S. (2009). Urban Health and Society: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Research and Practice.
Frumkin, H. (2010). Environmental Health: From Global to Local.New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Gerrard, M. (2008).The Law of Environmental Justice: Theories and Procedures to Address Disproportionate Risks.Chicago: American Bar Association.
Harding, A. (2007). Access to Environmental Justice: A Comparative Study. Martuni: MartinusNijhoffPublishers,.
Pavlich, D., J. (2010). Managing Environmental Justice.Upper Saddle River, Cengage.
Sandler, R., D. &Pezzullo, P., C. (2007).Environmental Justice and Environmentalism: The Social Justice Challenge to the Environmental Movement.Cambridge: MIT Press.