Exploring sustainability through a different lens

Jessica Chamorro is an incoming senior majoring in Urban Studies and minoring in Global Sustainability at the University of California, Irvine. She is a former foster youth and first generation Mexican American. Her plan is to become an Urban Planner so she can help design cities in a sustainable way.

Over summer of 2015, Jessica traveled to Guatemala as part of a pilot Communiversity program that SERES ran in collaboration with the University of California, Irvine where she had the opportunity to train side-by-side with youth counterparts from at-risk and marginalized communities on the frontlines of climate change. SERES believes that these types of cross-boundary learning experiences, bridging traditional centers of learning with community practitioners and leaders, is fundamental for finding solutions to the sustainability crises that we face. Here, Jessica shares some of her thoughts, experiences and learnings from the Communiversity program.

Exploring Intersectionality

In the United States, I come from a low-income household. I was not aware of this until my senior year of high school. I remember filling out college applications and some questions I answered were about my parent’s income. It said that if my parent’s annual income was below $25K then I was low-income. I did not consider myself “low-income”; I had a home, food, and an education. When I researched the cost of each college I wanted to attend, I realized that my parents could not afford to pay for my education. My academic advisor told me to fill out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) application so I could afford college. Financial aid has helped me pay for college. My trip to Guatemala was amazing - I met wonderful and dedicated young leaders. Late at night, after our training was over, I would converse with my roommates. Two of them were from small towns in Guatemala; the other two were from the UCI, like me. My two roommates from Guatemala asked about my lifestyle and education in the United States. I told them that before attending college, I lived with my parents and younger brother in a two-bedroom and two-restroom apartment. As for paying for my education, I told them that I received financial aid, which pays most of my education, but each year I have to take out a loan to make ends meet. They were surprised about this. In their situation, they have a one bedroom and one bathroom house for a family of seven to eight people. I asked about their accessibility to water. One of them told me that she did not have access to water for the past two weeks. She did not give me a reason as to why this was the case, but she did tell me that she was planning to have her community protest for water- her determination left me in awe. The other student told me she received water once a week so when that day arrived, she would fill her “pila”, pots, and containers with water. They both told me that her entire family was very considerate when it came to using water. My family is considerate with water too. However, we have access to water every single day. As for their education, they were both able to graduate from “la secundaria”, which is equivalent to high school. I believe one of them was in the process of applying to college but did not have financial aid to help her pay for college. While conversing with my roommates, I realized I am privileged. Knowing that they are struggling with water issues and their education, their intention was to change this. Not only for themselves, but for their family members, peers, and community. Both of them had a purpose. I was inspired to do the same with my family members, peers, and community. I have informed my parents about the environmental issues we are facing. I have encouraged my peers to use reusable water bottles rather than plastic bottles. I have yet to take action in my community, however, after training to become a facilitator I feel prepared and confident to facilitate an event.

Interconnectedness

During my stay in Guatemala, I noticed that my ecological footprint was high. If everyone lived my lifestyle, we would need four earths. I, along with many others, depend on electricity and clean water. The process to obtain both things requires a lot of energy. At this very moment, my laptop is connected to an outlet and through a complex process receives energy. I can walk into the restroom and turn on the light. I also have access to clean water. California has two main sources of water supply: surface water and groundwater. I live in Garden Grove, a city in Orange County, so most of our water is recycled. I have a heater so if I would like to shower with warm water I can. My dad was given a washer a few months ago, so we wash our clothes every two weeks. We have a Laundromat across our apartment so we dry our clothes there. If we need to dry our bed sheets, my mom places them in our balcony so they can air dry. However, we do not do this often because it is not “appealing”. Every single day, my family throws away many things; food scraps, newspaper, plastic, etc. My brother is usually in charge of throwing out the trash. I remember he threw it out one day because our trash bin was full. The following day, he looked over at the trash bin and noticed it was once again full. He was disappointed and made this comment, “Wow Jessie, I threw out the trash yesterday and look how it is now”. When he told me this, I knew this was my opportunity to inform him about waste. I then told him to think about each home in our apartment complex, to imagine that each house threw out the same amount of waste as we did. He looked away then looked at me and said, “That’s a lot of trash”. I like to inform my family members of the environmental issues we are surrounded with. I think it is better to make a change in my household and then teach others how I am benefitting from it. The training I received was in Spanish. I think this was very helpful because there were terms I did not know the translation of until I listened carefully. For instance, I did not know how to translate “sustainability” in Spanish. During this training, I learned that it translates to “sostenibilidad”. This made it easier for me because I used these terms when explaining environmental issues to my parents. I hope to one day be able to do this with my community since the city I live in are predominantly Latinos.

Reflections on Sustainability

When I think of sustainability, I automatically think about our natural resources. In order to be sustainable, the depletion of non-renewable resources should not exceed the rate of regeneration. I try to be eco-friendly by taking public transportation. During the summer, I have used the bus to get to work. Although it takes me two hours to arrive at my job, I know that my ecological footprint is less than those who drive their personal car. On a scale of 1-10, I think I am an 8. I consider myself a leader because I have already taken the step to choose my career in Urban Planning specifically by specializing in Environmental Design. My goal is to design cities in a sustainable way. In addition, I have a minor in Global Sustainability so that has helped me understand different methods of being sustainable. My lifestyle is not as sustainable as I would like but I am in the process of improving it. I have made changes like reducing the use of plastic bags, consuming local food products, and minimizing my waste. My ideal home must be constructed with green building material, a solar panel, green roof, and composting toilet. I live in an apartment and it does not include anything from my ideal home. Throughout the days of my training, I learned about environmental issues that young adults from Guatemala and El Salvador are facing. A student told me that rivers in El Salvador are contaminated due to mining. Companies extract minerals using toxic chemicals and dump these chemicals into pools of water without treatment. Everyone who attended this are training were learning how to become leaders and educate their peers about the issues their community is facing. I was impressed with their motivation and courage to take action. Before meeting these students, I had a different mindset about how people in different countries regulate environmental issues. I had the impression that they would wait for experts from the United States to propose solutions. However, these students proved me wrong. In reality, they are the experts and know how to solve problems in their community.