Yes, America. Even Low-Income Latinos Can Live Green.

There’s a good argument to be made for the green movement ignoring the circumstances of those in low-income communities, or of undocumented immigrants who do not want to put themselves in jeopardy when reporting environmental health issues in their communities. 

However, pockets of Latino communities around New York City are doing what they can to get the message out that everyone, regardless of income or legal status, should be able to enjoy clean air and healthy living - and that anyone can do something to ensure that happens.

Explains Alexis Torres-Fleming, of the South Bronx’s Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice:

There is this eco-chic world, but we can’t afford to go to Whole Foods or buy organic cotton clothing,

There has been this understanding that environmentalism is a luxury, but when you break it down, our community sees how it affects their day-to-day life.

That’s true. The people who can afford to jump onto the trendier aspects of the green movement - organic, whole foods, more expensive cleaning products, etc. - don’t often find themselves living in neighborhoods most directly affected by environmental issues like refinery runoffs, impotable water, factory smoke, etc. 

Activists in the Bronx have organized “Nos Quedamos,” an organization originally created in an attempt to quell the displacement of long-time, often Latino residents due to construction and gentrification, has expanded its focus to include quality, environmentally friendly housing for the Bronx’s residents. 

Other efforts in places like Sunset Park (a totally odd neighborhood in Brooklyn where Latino and Asian communities are literally divided along the middle of the town by one street - with a light smattering of young white couples along the divide) and Bushwick (our first home out of college - it’s full of Puerto Rican families and frightened white artists) have focused on creating bike-friendly green spaces and demanding the passage of the Healthy Homes Act - legislation that would place the burden of cleaning up hazardous waste (think fungus and rat droppings) on landlords. 

New Yorkers already have a leg up on much of the country by relying heavily on mass transit, but we like that communities often ignored by the green movement are working hard and making themselves heard to ensure a clean neighborhood and good quality of life.

In other parts of the country, families have been doing small things that add up to a big difference - like reusing bags and reducing their reliance on electricity:

Despite notions that Latinos are not broadly engaged in saving polar bears or the rain forest, they may very well embody the term “sustainability.”

We think a lot of that doesn’t have to do with a lack of interest so much as lack of income and time, as well as having other daily priorities with which to contend.

Apart from these grassroots movements sprouting within small communities, what steps do you think the green movement could take to stop alienating lower income families?

How green is my barrio [NY Daily News]