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Puerto Rico's clean-up woman
Rosa Hilda Ramos is cleaning up Puerto Rico.
more photos“I’m just a housewife. I work to protect my family and my community against pollution,” Rosa Hilda Ramos explains. Of course, the Puerto Rican activist, one of the winners of this year’s prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, is selling herself short.
During the 1990s, Ramos’ hometown of Cataño had the highest rates of respiratory disease and cancer on the island. This densely industrial community of 35,000 borders Las Cucharillas marsh, a tropical estuary home to many species of birds and butterflies that, once choked with warehouses, sent displaced storm water flooding into neighbours’ homes. Thanks to the efforts of Ramos and the group she helped found in 1991—Communities United Against Contamination (CUCCo)—the air is clean and the wetlands protected under federal law. “Now you can walk out of your home knowing you can breathe the air without fear—and that has no price,” says Ramos.
Ramos founded CUCCo after her parents died of cancer and decided to donate their medical equipment to neighbours in need—some of whom had to share respiratory therapy machines and oxygen tanks. That’s when she understood how dire the health situation was in Cataño.
While the Puerto Rican government and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knew the responsibility for most of the air pollution in Cataño came from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), they only filed suit after Ramos swung into action. Ultimately, PREPA paid a $7 million fine to the EPA, which CUCCo convinced the agency to spend on purchasing Las Cucharillas to protect it.
Now that Cataño has been cleaned up, Ramos has grand plans for her city. She wants to help create art installations and construct a wetlands garden. “We want to be the nicest place to live in Puerto Rico,” she says. “We want to be the crib of butterflies and the house of artists.”
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What she's doing for the Puerto Rican environment is very influential. By that, I mean that she's helping others realize they can do something as simple as that, too. It influences even children to at least try.
I realized that many children in my school are not very environmentally aware - when assemblies pressed on this issue show up, they agree that they show "focus more on the environment" but when it actually comes to do this, they just put it in the back of their minds - and not worry.
Although I must agree, that people are worrying TOO much on issues like global warming. Sure, we can do something about it - since after all, we caused it - but we should also look on to other issues that are popping up. When I was reading Popular Science, it showed other issues popping up - like HIV and AIDs.
posted by kkokotier on 6/ 1/2008 4:23 pm