Environmental Activist Leah Thomas Shares the Sustainable Pieces She Loves

In recent months, the Black Lives Matter movement has exposed how prevalent racism is across industries and how standing up to injustice is necessary in all fields, from media to law enforcement, from athletics to art, and beyond. The environmentalist movement is no exception. Environmental activist Leah Thomas, known on Instagram as @greengirlleah, is making it known that even in our search for sustainable materials, vegan foods, and renewable energy, anti-racism still matters.

As protests boiled over in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Thomas reminded her followers—many who likely follow her for her sustainable and green lifestyle—that social justice does not exist outside the realm of environmentalism; It’s part of it. “It is unfair to opt in and out of caring about racial injustices when many of us cannot,” she wrote at the time. Not long after, she launched Intersectional Environmentalist, a website led by activists and advocates that provides information, resources, and actionable steps to “dismantle systems of oppression in the environmental movement.”

“As an environmentalist, I always felt like there was one thing missing in the movement: true justice, diversity, and inclusion,” Thomas tells BAZAAR.com. “I created the Intersectional Environmentalist platform to help environmentalists recognize environmental racism and to provide them with resources to better understand how someone’s culture can both positively and negatively impact their relationship to nature. Intersectional environmentalism should be important to all of us, because we need to save our home planet and also empower, uplift, and advocate for voices that are often unheard and left out of the climate conversation.”

There are many ways to participate in the movement, but when it comes to shopping, when consumption is necessary, one can opt for ethical brands either run by or supporting marginalized communities. Here, Thomas shares some of her favorite sustainable pieces from Black-owned businesses or brands benefitting BIPOC.