Inspiring environmental stewardship is a tricky and nuanced endeavor. It takes all kinds of efforts and is why EPA recently threw open the doors of its first ever National Environmental Museum and Education Center (NEMEC), located in Washington, DC.
Moms’ National Manager for Health Equity, Almeta Cooper, was on hand to celebrate the museum’s grand opening and took a tour. “Judging from the positive reaction of the children on the tour with me, it lives up to EPA’s goal of inspiring and educating the public about the agency’s commitment to protect our air, water, land, and public health,” she says.
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The museum showcases pivotal moments in environmental history and key EPA milestones since the agency’s founding in 1970 through historical and scientific artifacts, interactive exhibits, and video screens playing a wealth of stories. Outside the museum, signs share actions visitors can take to protect the environment in their own communities.
Supermom Elizabeth Brandt and her 11-year-old daughter also attended the museum’s grand opening. Elizabeth found herself connected to personal history—a photo of the copper smelter in Ruston, Washington, where she grew up—as soon she entered the building.
“It was bizarre to see a photo from my own neighborhood in the entryway, but it does make sense. The Asarco copper smelter in Ruston emitted high levels of arsenic pollution, similar to other copper smelters, but was unique in the U.S. by virtue of being set in a densely populated area. When EPA began the Superfund cleanup program the Asarco smelter’s plume was a top priority,” Elizabeth recalls.
Elizabeth appreciated how the museum highlighted her hometown copper smelter cleanup as an important step in the broader movement for stronger environmental protections. She’s eager to go back and spend more time exploring the museum’s interactive exhibits, which illustrate EPA’s founding, other important cleanup projects like Boston Harbor, and the history of the environmental justice movement.
The National Environmental Museum and Education Center is well worth a visit for anyone next living in or passing through DC. It’s free and open to the public Tuesday through Friday, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Learn more on the NEMEC website.
Beyond exhibits, the museum will provide the community with opportunities to hear from past and present EPA leaders. Its Ruckelshaus Talks, named after EPA’s first and fifth administrator, William Ruckelshaus, will feature EPA alumni reflecting on the foundational environmental laws and events that shaped the future of environmental protection in our nation. The museum’s Future Scientist Series is specifically for kids ages 10 and up and will demonstrate how EPA leaders in science, technology, engineering, and math put their skills to use to protect public health and the environment—a direct way to inspire environmental stewardship.
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