Environmental justice work generally focuses on how public policies and practices allow low income communities to be disproportionately targeted for the dumping of toxic waste, the location of landfills and nuclear testing. However, the principles of Environmental Justice call attention to the need to address these and other external factors that sustain and build community.

Conceptions of environmental justice must actively expand our understanding of the physical environment such as the availability of green space (parks, trails, etc.); investment in community centers that provide space for people to nurture relationships; and external emotional, psychological and intellectual supports necessary for supporting communities.

SCSJ proposes broadening our understanding of environmental justice to take a holistic approach to building and supporting environments that sustain communities. In this sense, an interdisciplinary way of thinking about environmental justice will take into account all the external factors that impact the emotional, intellectual and physical aspects of nurturing communities.