It’s been a little over six months since two hurricanes devastated Puerto Rico. In that time Sierra Club de Puerto Rico has been dealing with our own recovery, but we’ve also accomplished more than I would have ever thought possible the day after the hurricanes. With barely any support from Congress or FEMA, and active hostility from a president who should be an advocate for us, we are working toward a just and sustainable recovery for Puerto Rico. Here’s what we’ve been up to.
On day one after the hurricanes, we knew our first priority had to be survival. Sierra Club de Puerto Rico already had in place a robust community network of organizers and activists, and that network activated to make sure basic human needs were met. We immediately began to distribute warm meals in communities we could reach. In the Rio Grande area we distributed warm meals to 20 families for two weeks, and bought groceries for 25 families in the San Anton area of Trujillo Alto in partnership with Haser Cambio. Thanks to our existing partnership with Tierra Valiente farms, we were able to distribute meals to over 40 people in the Utuado area.
Meal distributions in Utuado
Another immediate survival need on the island has been power, with many areas of the island still lacking access to the damaged grid. Over the past six months we have distributed over 7,000 solar lanterns and lights across the island. We did door to door distribution in the Luquillo, Rio Grande, Ponce, Arecibo and San Juan areas. This effort is unfortunately ongoing - to this day we continue to distribute solar lanterns to ensure everyone in the island has access to a light source. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens still lack access to power in Puerto Rico today.
Partners from Puerto Rico al Sur distributing lanterns in Salinas
Access to clean water is another huge challenge. We procured and donated over 200 water filtration systems to ensure access to clean, drinkable water and to minimize waste from the water bottles that are overwhelming our waste management systems.
Distributing solar lamps in Luquillo
The hurricanes served to highlight existing waste management issues on the island. We set an intention early on that we wouldn’t contribute to the massive waste management problems facing Puerto Rico by distributing items that would end up in the landfill. To meet that goal, we distributed all of our warm meals in compostable containers and donated three thousand compostable containers to the Baptist Church in Rio Piedras, which was distributing warm meals to hundreds of people every day.
Meal distribution in compostable containers in Rio Piedras San Juan
Another big priority for Sierra Club de Puerto Rico was ensuring that our conservation work didn’t get left behind in the hurricane response. We are not willing to sacrifice the incredible natural beauty of our home just because we are facing huge challenges right now. Natural areas on the island took a big hit with the hurricane; many popular local hiking trails disappeared overnight. We are working to clear and open hiking trails, and have collaborated with fishing communities in Luquillo to clear debris from the Northeast Ecological Corridor trails. We’ve even begun to host outings again, in order to re-engage with our outings leaders and provide opportunities for recreation to folks struggling to find joy in the aftermath of so much loss.
Outing in San Juan
None of this would have been possible without the generosity of Sierra Club members and supporters. As of this writing we have distributed over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars in community grants and emergency relief. With these emergency grants we were able to support distribution of warm meals, solar lamps and water filters, debris removal in natural areas, rebuilding of local farms, creation of community kitchens, and the purchase of equipment and outreach to refuge centers.
Community kitchen in Salinas
Through these grants, we are building community partnerships to foster environmental and economic justice, create long term impact in affected communities and build grassroots networks. We are working to create sustainable leadership structures at the community level to build resiliency on our island. Future grant projects include a solar hydroponic installation, resilient community centers, a communal tree nursery, redevelopment of local farms, climate change education initiatives, community entrepreneurship and ecotourism projects, development of recycling infrastructure at the community level and installation of roofs in a hurricane-impacted community.
In the midst of all of this, we have continued to develop our existing local campaigns. The Zero Waste campaign continues to hold back the construction of a waste burning facility in Arecibo. We recently worked with over 20 volunteers to recycle over 100,000 pounds of materials from Puerto Rico’s biggest annual festival, the “Fiestas de la calle San Sebastián.” And perhaps most importantly, we have continued to grow our chapter, the youngest chapter in the Sierra Club. Our chapter volunteers were critical to implementation of relief efforts, and our community is growing stronger every day. We held our annual Chapter Assembly in January, inaugurating our new office space after our previous space was lost to hurricane damage.
Chapter leaders at the annual Assembly
The last six months have been tough. More often than not, it feels like the rest of the U.S. has forgotten us here in Puerto Rico, with press coverage of our struggles diminishing every day, and our elected leaders struggling to do their duty to millions of U.S. citizens in Puerto RIco. But thanks to support from Sierra Club members all over the country - and to our own community’s strengthen and resiliency - we are recovering, one step at a time.
Image credit: Jose Menendez