Lois Gibbs was born on June 25, 1951. Her concern and love for the environment made her always wants to defend the environment. Her career as an activist began in 1978 where she discovered that elementary school where her son studied at Niagara Falls, New York was built on the disposal of toxic waste.
Investigations that have been carried out reveal that the entire neighborhood, named Love Canal, has been built on this poisonous place. Lois did not remain silent then went down to the surrounding environment and arranged the grassroots movement. She keeps fighting for years to the state and federal governments for the clean, non-toxic for the love canals.
Although with only secondary school education and no formal training, Gibbs managed to establish the Love Canal Home Owners Association (LCHA) in August 1978 and began organizing public meetings, raising funds, conducting research, protesting on stage, using the media, making public speeches, and fight the government.
Lois Gibbs and Her Love to the Environment
After years of fighting, nearly 1,000 families were evacuated and the cleansing of the love canal began on a large scale. Gibbs’s efforts did not just stop there, but she led to the creation of a Comprehensive Comprehensive, Compensation and Accountability Act in the environment.
She wishes to form a superfund within the United States Environmental Protection Agency which is engaged in cleaning up toxic waste sites throughout the United States.
Gibbs also went on to form a grassroots environmental crisis center, Center for Health, Environment and Justice, where he currently serves as Executive Director at the venue.
Love Canal is considered one of the worst environmental disasters in the country, and Gibbs’s fearless heart and feminine leadership have changed the way the United States handles toxic waste sites, and for that, the community is now healthier and safer.
In 1981, she founded the non-profit Waste Cleaning Institute which aims to help train and support local activists with their environmental work. She continues to work within the organization. The organization then changed its name to the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice or abbreviated as CHEJ.
The Childhood of Lois Gibbs
Lois Marie Conn is her maiden name and she grew up with her five siblings in the working community on Grand Island, New York. Her father was a blue collar worker and works in a steel factory. Her mother works as a full-time housewife.
As a child, Gibbs is a very shy child, therefore, she did not participate in school activities or play sports but spent more of her free time enjoying her favorite hobby, sewing.
Shortly after she graduated from high school in 1969, she married her first husband, Harry Gibbs. Her husband is a chemical worker. The couple then had two children, Michael and Melissa. In 1972 they moved to a three-bedroom house on Love Canal to pursue their American dreams.
To date, she has continued to help organize campaigns to the grassroots, many of which focus on protecting the health and safety of children and high-risk communities. In addition, Lois Gibbs also empowers citizens throughout America to advocate for a clean and healthy environment to live in so that children can stay safe.
