Polluted by Design | Episode 0: Introduction

Polluted by Design is a four-part documentary series that examines how waste infrastructure, industrial zoning, and public policy have shaped—and in some cases erased—communities across South Baltimore. Rather than treating environmental injustice as inevitable, the series traces the governing decisions that concentrated toxic industry in Black neighborhoods and sanctioned their decline. Centering the voices of residents, organizers, and youth, these films reveal how places labeled as “industrial” are in fact vibrant communities fighting to define their own futures. --- This series was created by students in the Environmental Justice Workshop at Johns Hopkins University and Cornell University, in partnership with the South Baltimore Community Land Trust (SBCLT). The project was developed with the guidance of instructors Chloe Ahmann and Anand Pandian and filmmaker Andrea Conte. --- The South Baltimore Community Land Trust is a community-led organization working to build permanently affordable housing, development without displacement, and zero waste in Baltimore. Learn more at sbclt.org.