The first Community Voices event at the Macaulay Honors College featured two speakers, Jamie Stein of Sustainable South Bronx, and Adam Friedman of the Pratt Center for Community Development. Together, these two guests contributed to a night of discussion on “Energy and Clean Living,” which focused on environmental justice and green economic development.

Being an employee of Sustainable South Bronx, Ms. Stein focused her lecture on the foundations and progress of the organization, which was started by Majora Carter after seeing the deplorable state of the Bronx River in that neighborhood. Ms. Carter started the organization with the goal of creating a green recreational space built around the waterfront for residents of the South Bronx. The surrounding neighborhood of Hunt’s Point, had been a victim of environmental injustice, which is the unfair burdening of environmental problems concentrated in one particular area. These environmental issues eventually led to health problems for the residents of this area, including some of the highest asthma and obesity rates in the city. The goal of SSB was to counterbalance the air problems of this neighborhood, so as to alleviate its harmful effects and beautify the region. After much time and energy, Ms. Carter eventually achieved her goal, and established Riverside Park in the South Bronx.

Ms. Stein also discussed environmental justice in terms of solid waste and energy. That is, when looking at a map of New York City’s garbage disposal, it becomes apparent that a few neighborhoods unfairly receive much more trash and devote more space to landfill than other areas. For example, Bronx Community 1 and 2 take in 40% of the city’s trash, and 100% of all trash from the Bronx. This has led to environmental hazards in these areas, and contributes to residents’ declining health, not unlike that of people living in Hunt’s Point. Ms. Stein explained one solution to this problem, which was to more evenly distribute trash-collecting sites around the city, even possibly adding locations in Chelsea and the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She also explained the possibility of switching to barges instead of trucks to collect trash, which would reduce not only land pollution, but also traffic due to sanitation trucks. Concerning energy and environmental justice, Ms. Stein discussed the problems with dirty power plants that are used in specific parts of the city. She did not, however, offer a clear solution to this problem. Overall, her discussion was focused on distributing the burdens of environmental problems all around the city, and cleaning up those areas that have been unjustly affected.

The second speaker, Mr. Friedman, focused more on job opportunities and environmental economic development in the city. He explained that New York has a very wide gap in income, with many people having high-paying jobs and many having low-paying jobs, with a shrinking middle class. As the Director of the Pratt Center, Mr. Friedman’s job is to locate environmentally-friendly economic opportunities for residents of the city. A large portion of this consists of green manufacturing; that is, there is much potential to create jobs that not only enhance the city’s environment, but also its economy. Mr. Friedman elucidated this with examples of using recycled glass to make “granite” tops and recycled cork that can be used for flooring, both of which have been used in many buildings in Brooklyn already. The main message he was trying to get across was that jobs can be formed by creating a market for recycled products, especially in construction. He explained that a lot of money can be saved by making such adjustments, as predicted by an “Energy Audit.” Although this process is slow and gradual, vast improvements can be made to the city over time, with the additional benefits of job creation for city residents.

These speakers, although in different fields and performing different tasks, both have in common the need to improve our city’s environment. Though they take different routes to get to the same place, they both excellently demonstrated the processes by which change can be made. They also both illustrated their ideas with real-life examples of their progress in the city. Overall, their positive messages and steadfast attitudes left their audience feeling inspired and hopeful for New York City’s future.