Our Joy, Our Power, Our Planet: The Story Behind Girl Plus Environment🌎
- Diamond Spratling
- Apr 1
- 4 min read
April 2025
I was in elementary school when I first found joy in the environment. In the summertime, it was the sun and vibrant green grass that made me feel alive. In the winter, it was the snow. In the fall, it was jumping into massive leaf piles my dad had just finished raking. And in the spring, it was the first flowers peeking through after a long, brutal Michigan winter.
Those early moments were my first admiration of the environment. I can still picture myself vividly—running up and down the street, laughing with the other kids on my block, not a care in the world.
The next time I really remember thinking deeply about the environment, I was watching TV when a “Save the Polar Bears” commercial came on. That commercial did something to me. I felt bad—genuinely bad—for the polar bears. I started wondering: How do we help them? Who’s protecting them? They couldn’t speak up for themselves, so I decided I would. Right then and there, I made a commitment to spend my life protecting the parts of our environment that couldn’t speak for themselves.
By high school, I had made up my mind to pursue a degree in environmental policy. But when I got to college, my perspective shifted—fast. I quickly realized I was the only Black woman in my entire department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. I began to see that environmental issues weren’t just about polar bears or pretty forests—they were about people, especially Black and Brown people.
I learned how power plants were disproportionately placed in or near low-income and Black communities. That these plants polluted the air, causing asthma and other chronic illnesses in kids who looked like me. Kids who missed school because of asthma attacks. Parents who missed work to care for them. Paychecks that shrunk. Food that went uneaten.
That learning forced me to look at my own neighborhood on the west side of Detroit—and what I found was devastating. I, too, was a victim of environmental racism. The grass I once rolled in as a child? The air I breathed daily? It was toxic.
The same Motor City that gave hundreds of thousands of Black people jobs through the auto industry was also poisoning us. I come from a long line of men who worked in those auto plants, so this hit especially close to home.
I kept asking myself, If we’re so impacted by these issues, why aren’t we in the rooms where decisions are made? Why am I still the only one in my program?
I was frustrated. Angry. Tired. I started having conversations with family and friends, but many of them didn’t see the full picture. That’s when it clicked: for too long, we’ve been told the climate space isn’t for us. That it’s for tree-huggers. That we don’t care about the environment.
But that’s a lie. We care deeply—about the health and safety of our children. We care about access to clean parks and air. We care about the products we put on our bodies and the food on our tables. We care about our communities.
We’ve always cared—we’ve just been excluded from the conversation. So I decided to change that. I needed to shift the narrative around who gets to lead in this space. I needed to create a space for us.
So, I founded Girl Plus Environment—the national nonprofit dedicated to educating, engaging, and empowering young Black and Brown women+ in the environmental and climate justice movement.
What does GPE do? We create culturally relevant, joyful, and affirming spaces for women+ of color to lead in the fight for climate and environmental justice. Whether it’s training our communities on how to advocate for themselves in energy policy decisions, hosting healing circles after climate disasters, or teaching women+ how to launch sustainability initiatives through their businesses—we are transforming the climate movement from the ground up.
Why is an organization like GPE needed? Because mainstream climate movements have failed us. They’ve talked at us instead of with us. GPE exists to shift that dynamic—by building power, fostering leadership, and reclaiming our voices in a movement that directly impacts our lives.
Our impact so far:
Trained and mobilized over 500 women+ of color across the U.S.
Prevented a 12% utility rate increase in Georgia through grassroots advocacy
Educated 40,000 people on clean beauty justice and toxic products in our communities
Trained more than 50 women+ on energy advocacy and supported 20 of them to launch their own advocacy initiatives
And we’re just getting started.
This Earth Month, we’re inviting you to support the movement we’re building. A movement led by women+ of color. A movement rooted in joy, justice, and collective care.
If you believe in the importance of equity in the fight for climate justice—donate to Girl Plus Environment today. Your gift helps fund our healing programs, youth trainings, clean beauty campaigns, and so much more.
Donate here: https://www.girlplusenvironment.org/donate
Follow us on IG and share our story: @girlplusenvironment
Join our community: https://www.girlplusenvironment.org/become-a-member
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