36 AMERICANWAY
OCTOBER 1 2007
A sINglEMoM
who takes her child to an expensive emergency
room to treat a severe asthma attack late at night is probably go-
ing tobe lessproductiveatwork thenextday.And if that scenario
happens too often, shemay even get fired. She andher child are
more likely to suffer from obesity and diabetes because of hav-
ing to live inaneighborhoodwhere there is truck traffic, poor air
quality, and a dearth of parkland, which all discourage healthy
physical activity. If she owns her home in an area like this, she is
less likely to see its valueappreciateat a rate comparable towhat
most Americans can expect to see their real estate appreciate.
And if a sewage-treatment plantwere tobe constructednear this
area, herhome couldbecome impossible to sell and theairwould
be further degraded. Building a stinky sewage-treatment plant or
a sour gas mine in her community may seem like the expedient
thing for regulators todoat the time, but themotherandher child
will pay for that expediency inways that the folkswhomake those
decisionswill neverhave to.
Asthma, obesity, diabetes, poor real estate values, unemploy-
ment, inequality, prison— thesearenot thewords youmight expect
tohear froman environmentalist, but all these things are connected
through our environment. Tobe clear, I am an
environmental-justice activist. For those unfa-
miliar with the term
environmental justice
, it
means that no community shouldhave to deal
with more environmental burdens or receive
fewer environmental benefits than any other.
Today, race and class are odiously accurate in-
dicatorsofwhereyouwill findnice things likeparks, trees, andclean-
er air, aswell aswhere youwill findpeople livingwithinwalkingdis-
tance of power plants, sewage-treatment plants, diesel-truck routes,
highways, coalmines, andchemical facilities.The latterare thepoint
sources of greenhousegases,whichhave everyoneworried.
IfYouWERE
to growup in a community inwhich environmental
justice was in short supply, you would later leave if you had the
smarts, the support, and some luck todo so.That’swhat Idid.But
years later, in 1997, I returned tomy parents’ home in the South
Bronx tohelpmake endsmeetwhile attendinggraduate school,
and then I saw things differently.My time away had givenme
a new perspective on the problems we faced and a realiza-
tionof theneed for solutions. Iworkedwith aneighborhood
cultural organization that engaged local kids. When there
was an attempt tomove all of NewYork City’smunicipal
waste-handling facilities into theSouthBronx, I realized
that all the art in the worldwas not going to save us.
(Wealready livedwithmore thana thirdof theentire
city’s commercial waste, a sewage-treatment plant,
a sewage-sludge-pelletizing plant, and the traffic of more than
50,000diesel trucksperweek.)
I teamed upwith several organizations, and through a combina-
tion of old-fashioned door-to-door outreach, street theater, and a
grassroots media campaign, we worked to help people understand
theconnectionbetweenall thesegarbage trucksand theirhealth.The
responsewas tremendous, andwewere able to beat back this short-
sightedplan formunicipalwaste, thus laying thegroundwork for the
city’shistoric solid-waste-management plan thatwas signed into law
just last year.
Fending off that offensive proposal was a victory, but I knew that
wewerenot going to see real improvement in local qualityof lifeun-
lesswecameupwithaplan tomake ithappen.Weconductedaseries
of communitymeetings and found, not surprisingly, that people in
our community valued prettymuch the same things people every-
wheredo: safety, cleanair, parks, and jobs.With that information, I
foundedSustainableSouthBronx, anorganizationdedicated toen-
vironmental justice through innovative, economically sustainable
projects informed by community needs. I wrote a $1.25 million
federal transportationgrant todesign theSouthBronxGreenway.
This network of bike and pedestrian paths will connect neigh-
borhoods to each other and to the rivers all around us. To date,
nearly$30millionof funding is inplace tobuild it, andconstruc-
tion is scheduled to begin next year. We started Project BEST
(Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training) to create a skilled
local green-collarworkforce of peoplewithboth a personal and a
fi
nancial stake in themanagement of our environment.With each
successive graduating class, we are takingmorepeople offwelfare,
andwe’recleaning theenvironmentat thesame time.Most recently,
we completed an extensive feasibility study for a clean-tech-based
eco-industrial complex that would take advantage of barge and rail
access, reduce truck traf
fi
c,mitigateourgrowingsolid-waste load, and
feature incorporatedgreenwayplans in itsdesign.
There are communities like the South Bronx everywhere. Let’s use
this timeof transition thatwe findourselves in to solveourpovertyemis-
sions problem as well as our carbon emissions problem. Let’s do this to-
gether, do itwell, and then enjoy the socioeconomicbenefits thatwill ripple
throughall aspects of our lives as a result.
SavingtheWorld,
StartıngintheSouthBronx
MAjoRACARtER
is the founder and executive director of SustainableSouthBronx (
).
Asthma,obesity,diabetes,poorreal estatevalues,un-
employment, inequality,prison
— thesearenot thewords
youmightexpect tohear fromanenvironmentalist,butall
these thingsareconnected throughour
environment.
AW
ByMajoraCarter. IllustrationbyL-Dopa.
