The Sustainability in Prisons Project
The Sustainability in Prisons Project in Washington State, takes a direct approach to prison reform, bringing environmental education to incarcerated individuals. What began as a Moss experiment, blossomed into a partnership between Evergreen State College and the Washington State Department of Corrections, that is not just participating in the sustainability movement, but in many ways leading it. See how SPP holistically addresses the needs of the incarcerated, the community, and the planet, in terms of sustainability.
The Fight for Justice Sustainability
Institutional Racism is deeply rooted in Mass Incarceration, these pressing issues have implications that can ruin an individuals life. How did we get here, and how do we fight it?
“In September 1986, with the media frenzy at full throttle, the House passed legislation that allocated $2 billion to the antidrug crusade, required the participation of the military in narcotics control efforts, allowed the death penalty for some drug-related crimes, and authorized the admissions of some illegally obtained evidence in drug trials.” – Alexander, Michelle (The New Jim Crow, P.67)
Do Prisons Rehabilitate or Institutionalize?
“Here one has little or no psychological life. Here many escape death’s omnipresent specter only by way of common diversions-television, radio, or sports. TVs are allowed, but not typewriters: one’s energies may be expended freely on entertainment, but a tool essential for one’s liberation through judicial process is deemed a security risk.” Abu-Jamal, Mumia (Live From Death Row, P. 7)
Practicing Sustainability
What is Sustainability and how can we get it inside our prisons?
The term sustainability is often misunderstood limiting its relation to green energy, conservation, or the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). The growing popularity of this word, and environmental consciousness, has not gone unoticed by corporations who would have you believe that there is a way to maintain, or even increase production sustainably.
Often overlooked when the topic of sustainability is explored are social practices. Women’s education and access to birth control, minimum wage, access to food, and prison reform are all issues directly related to sustainability and lowering emmisions.
Numerous topics arise when addressing sustainability in prison reform. Mass incarceration has allowed corporations to purchase prison labor for as low as 14 cents per hour, contributing to increases in production and emmisions, not to mention the contribution made by the construction of prisons themselves.
Visual by Nic Higgins