Young Latinas/os’ Environmental Commitments: The Case of Waste

Abstract

This participatory research project aimed to identify young people’s perceptions of the natural and built environment in their neighborhoods, including how social inequities shape those environments, and how their community and governments can improve them. The study took place with 25 young Latinas/os, ages 14 to 18, many of whom lived in a formerly unincorporated neighborhood (known as colonia) in Pharr, Texas, located in the state’s Rio Grande Valley region. Through a walkalong, photovoice, and focus groups, participants identified waste management as a resounding priority. Their reflections highlighted their motivations behind and actions toward addressing this problem. This study makes two empirical contributions to scholarly and applied discussions on young people’s outdoor experiences. First, young people’s prioritization of waste highlights the role that trash—often in the form of scattered objects, small and large—has in shaping young people’s outdoor experiences. Second, young people are committed to improving waste conditions through individual and group actions, and they identified needed structural changes. Pharr youths’ environmental commitments call for investment in waste management and set the stage for more generative ways of experiencing the natural environment.

Keywords

• environmental justice
• infrastructure
• latinas/os
• participatory research
• urban planning
• waste
• young people