F  L  A  U  N  T

 _Illustrated by_ [**Paula Castro**](https://breedlondon.com/artists/paula-castro/) In November 2019 Isaias Hernandez planted his roots and started the instagram account @queerbrownvegan. The account aims to educate folks about environmental justice, veganism, and a zero-waste lifestyle. Since then, the twenty-five year old content creator has gained nearly 100,000 followers and continues to grow. You can also find him on TikTok where he answers questions like “What is Climate Doomism?” and shares traditional Mexican recipes with a vegan twist. Isaias educates his followers on the basics and points them to additional sources on a topic, encouraging further critical discourse and collective engagement. His page acts as an online classroom creating a community of like minded people who are able to share experiences while learning new things.  _Flaunt_ sat down with Isaias to talk about all things social media and the environment.  * * * **What role does social media play in social and environmental activism?**  I think with social media, it provides an introductory form for so many people because these topics are still not talked about in the classroom. A lot of us, and a lot of the friends I met, were grassroots activists, meaning they didn’t really go on social media, they learned from their communities, learned from their grassroots organizers. These are the people who held the most wisdom and education, in my view. So I think that social media has presented an alternate view for people to see themselves doing this career and doing these jobs. That instills this hope, and I’m glad people are talking about it.  My work is not for people who have been doing this for years, but for people who don’t know where to start. Unfortunately not all of us grew up with the same privileges. Some of us are just trying to survive and pay rent or other things. Maybe the climate crisis isn’t the first thing that we think about. I think that social media has given that bloom of opportunity for people. And I think two popular ones are infographics and videos. We saw the rise of infographics, and now we are seeing the downside of infographics being censored on instagram. Now we are seeing more video content being pushed about because videos are being popularized. I think having that opportunity to synthesize everything in thirty to sixty seconds is really powerful and dangerous at the same time. Because at the end of the day this is not to make you an expert but rather to empower you to start asking more questions and to interrogate systems that we have often normalized for Black and Indigenous people of color to accept but rather not to accept anymore but to question. This is what really brings resistance in movements, so that is what I hope people understand.  > [@queerbrownvegan](https://www.tiktok.com/@queerbrownvegan "@queerbrownvegan") > > we hate greenwashing [##greenwashing](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/greenwashing "greenwashing") [##ecofriendly](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ecofriendly "ecofriendly") [##sustainability](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/sustainability "sustainability") [##ecotok](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ecotok "ecotok") > > [♬ blurred lines - haley](https://www.tiktok.com/music/blurred-lines-6935656201476754181 "♬ blurred lines - haley") **Can you talk about the intersectionality between environmentalism and POC and the queer community?** I think that when we think about environmentalism we often try to separate nature and people, when in reality people coexist in nature. There's this thing of how environmentalism is presented in the Western world as beauty, preservation of wildlife, but never its indigenous people because of racism. I like to say, and this isn’t me, it's from a book, indigenous communities and Black people of color globally have been tending the Earth for so long. They have been creating regenerative circular practices that have allowed them to coexist together in a sustainable manner. So I would say when looking at the intersection between how BIPOCs, environmentalism, and queerness intersect is understanding that BIPOCs in the United States have faced the highest rates of environmental burdens. Most black, indigenous, and brown individuals and families live near toxic facilities. Meaning that either air is polluted, water is polluted, or soil is polluted. If you can’t breathe right it is going to affect educational development, if you can’t drink water because it is poisoned it is going to cause medical issues, if you can’t grow your own food due to soil contamination there is going to be nutritional injustice. When it comes to queerness, queer and trans individuals face the highest rates of violence, especially trans women of color, femmes, and non binary folks. So when a climate disaster strikes we often think who is it going to be? It is going to affect low income communities. But who composes those low income communities? People who are disabled, people who are immune compromised, people who are undocumented, all of these people have different identities and values and then there are people who are queer and trans who are a part of those communities. What ends up happening is when natural disasters strike and you see these disaster camps, and what ends up happening is queer and trans people enter these camps and already face high rates of violence. This is the endless cycle of where do queer and trans communities, especially queer and trans bipoc, go when these spaces are deemed safe for them? When we think about climate disaster relief zones, who is actually being relieved? Who is actually being served?  **Can you tell me what it means to live a zero waste lifestyle?**  The term zero waste was first coined by the Zero Waste International Alliance in the 2000s. It basically means creating products in a responsible manner that are ecologically sound that do not negatively impact the ecosystems and people. What has happened with zero-waste is that it has shifted into this very individualistic lifestyle of plastic-free living. For me I believe that zero-waste is rooted in the circular waste system where natural resources are never disposed of. They come from the earth, they come back to the earth, that is how I see it. Zero-waste living to me looks into advocating that plastic pollution does not negatively harm Black, brown, and indigenous people of color, more specifically looking at how waste is being treated. Waste being sent to Asian countries, petrochemical companies that produce plastic are killing, Black and Latinx individuals and communities causing them to have high rates of birth defects. So my zero-waste lifestyle is fifty percent, yes reducing my waste wherever I can, and the other half is to advocate the environmental justice component that is often been missed.  > [@queerbrownvegan](https://www.tiktok.com/@queerbrownvegan "@queerbrownvegan") > > Foraging chicken of the woods! [##mycology](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/mycology "mycology") [##mushroomfairy](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/mushroomfairy "mushroomfairy") [##mushroom](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/mushroom "mushroom") [##foraging](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/foraging "foraging") > > [♬ original sound - Caesar Simon](https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6975735766135638790 "♬ original sound - Caesar Simon") **What is one of your favorite vegan recipes?**  I love to make vegan Tinga. I started foraging recently, and there is this mushroom called Chicken of the Woods. It’s this bright orange mushroom and it has a very thick texture. I love to make vegan Tinga, because growing up I used to love going to Mexican parties and hearing Banda music and eating them. And now I have been able to veganize my own recipe using vegetable broth and spices, everything else is vegan. Using the mushroom and the plant base, I think it is really great to find plastic-free options in nature. Obviously it takes some time to find it, but it is really great.  **What is your favorite part of living a vegan lifestyle?**  Finding new flavors and seasonings that exist in different cultures. I would say because I grew up in a very Latinx household, a lot of the food I cook today is inspired by what I ate growing up. But engaging with other individuals who are also vegan and from different cultures and exploring spices has honestly been so mesmerizing; learning how different foods are made from different cultures. I have so many vegan friends who make so many rich and deep vegan dishes. That is what I like about the community. We are able to come together and find different options and meals that have existed in our cultures and share them.  **What is the one thing that you’d want someone who just stumbled upon your work to take away?** I would want them to leave knowing that no one deserves to live in a poisoned world. I think the legacy of harm that has been specifically targeted by history, by colonialism, has really disconnected and altered people’s relationships with the Earth or has attempted to sever those relationships with those people. So always recognize that whoever you are, regardless of what identity you hold, no one should ever live in an environment that does not have healthy air, water, and soil, and this has been happening for decades. So as we continue facing this climate crisis we can never forget to be kind and compassionate to others that are currently facing those injustices and to validate their experiences because I think anger, sadness, grief are all valid in this movement.  > [@queerbrownvegan](https://www.tiktok.com/@queerbrownvegan "@queerbrownvegan") > > Inspired by @veganlita vegan food review I did one on eco products. [##ecofriendly](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ecofriendly "ecofriendly") [##sustainable](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/sustainable "sustainable") [##ecotok](https://www.tiktok.com/tag/ecotok "ecotok") > > [♬ original sound - A taste of Mamacita](https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7007483569316711174 "♬ original sound - A taste of Mamacita") **What is your favorite thing about the work that you do?**  I would say community building and building relationships. I have had the opportunity to meet so many like minded environmentalists. I’ve gotten to learn about their experiences with environmentalism in different regions. I think having offered mentorship to so many college students about what they want to do with their careers and having that space for me to hold for them. For me, it is not about social status, but how we as human beings want to live in this world. I think for me, for so long, I had really not believed in myself, and now that I have been able to come into myself and feel confident, understanding who I am as an individual person, I am able to hold space for others in a more sustainable way and to create work that is everlasting.