Interview with David Ecobar, staffer for Fourth District Supervisor Steve Kinsey, Marin County Board of Supervisors, and leader of Viviendo Verde, Viviendo Verde Ya! and the Latino Living Green Summit -- By Willi Paul.

FYI: Info on that Flag!

Consider these facts:

• 1 in 4 speak English well.
  (75% of Hispanics need your site in Spanish to do business with you)
  
• 56% of Latinos in the US are online.
  (This percentage will only increase in time)
  
• 76% of U.S. born Latinos go online.
  (2nd and 3rd generation US Latinos are very Internet savvy and search for products online)
  
• 43% of Hispanics born outside the U.S. go online.
  (A substantial number of fairly recent immigrants use the Internet as well)
  
• Almost one million Latino households have an annual income of $100,000 or more.
  (Even if you offer higher-end products or services, there is a Latino market for it)
  
• Over half of Latino families possess a credit card.
  (Most of this market will be able to purchase your products and services online)
  Source
  

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How is the Latino Community ahead of others in being green?

Well, the Latino-Indigenous community is ahead of others in being green in that the "green movement's" core value system is based on indigenous values systems. So ancestrally there is a historical memory of sustainability generally speaking among Latino-Indigenous peoples here in the Bay Area. For example the grocery bags that are being sold in stores to be reused again are things that indigenous and Latino grandmothers have been doing for centuries.

In terms of food, when migrants come to California unfortunately, that custom is somehow looked down upon when they get here and forgotten. Now the movement and primarily the food industry then turns around and asks them (Latinos) to buy those same bags from them in order to reduce plastic consumption. In their home countries they make them at home or trade other locals to attain them. The grassroots community also has a common practice of being sustainable mostly because they have to and have not caught onto the "want to" aspects. However this is changing like efforts in some media and this campaign.

Is organic food a large concern to the folks who shop at the vegetable stands along on Mission Street?

In terms of organic foods, the majority of grassroots folks cannot spend their budgets on purchasing organics. They are for the most part more expensive. I have heard many in the community say that they would purchase organics if they were made more affordable. For the most part Latinos and indigenous people are buying at least food at the market place but the reality is that for every year that an immigrant stays in the US their health drops as well primarily due to the processed food intake, which also by the way, is less expensive according to community members.

Tell us about the event coming on Latino Living Green Summit in San Rafael on Sat, Oct 24, 2009 at the Pickleweed Community Center. How is the event designed? Who is coming?

Both the campaign and summit will use a multi pronged proactive approach to demystify the green-movement, sustainability, promote traditional health and wellness and green jobs among the Latino community. This new Latino-Indigenous green movement will reignite community indigenous values systems such as traditional, healing, foods, green jobs, and promoting the concepts of reducing, recycling and reusing.

As part of the Viviendo Verde Ya campaign and summit, the community has also developed the concept of "Promotoras Verdes" or "Green Promoters" whose purpose is to demystify and educate the community regarding the green movement, sustainability, ecological knowledge, health equity, physical health and global warming.

The summit itself consists of Spanish language workshops focusing on physical health, exercise, water conservation, organic food preparation, alternative energy and workshops on current and upcoming eco-legislation.

We expect that our summit efforts will create:

1) an ongoing platform to showcase grass roots community members and highlight their eco-work already taking place in the community.

2) Initiate more climate change consciousness and urgency among the Latinos-Indigenous communities via green outreach or "green promotores"

3) Continue to support educational eco-workshops on such topics as watershed, energy conservation, agriculture, community health-equity and wellness, etc. by the "green promotoras"

4) conduct a membership drive to the participating green organizations or create new Latino-Indigenous base ones

5) practical immediate steps to reduce global warming such as a Bay Area once a month boycott of personal vehicles

6) energy conservation strategies and reduction of carbon footprint within each respective community 7) Educate and create a consciousness between community health-equity and global warming.

This is an historic event it is the first global warming conference all in Spanish geared to community. In terms of who is coming, we expect a good 500 to 800 people all day long. We are working with various organizations and you can check some of them out in the intro above.

Do you have any data on how the Latino Community uses the Internet?

I don't have the numbers of how many Latinos use the internet and in terms of the website not being in English I don't think it will diminish the goals here because the green movement has for the most part not engaged most people of color and more so the immigrant community out of not knowing how to engage or not wanting them to engage.

One question that keeps popping up: Do sites like http://queverde.com/ diminish their chances for success by using only English?

I do expect that for those wanting to engage the community we will make an effort to put more forth in English. It could diminish its success perhaps with some but again, we will make an effort with those willing to work with the community and post things in English and have been reaching out to those that do want to help. This is really an awareness effort to the Latino and Indigenous communities to better understand "green movement" and to really take to heart our natural ancestral heritage that is now being used as a base for this world wide effort to reduce global warming.

How are you building bridges with the green business movement? What are the challenges for getting "traditional" sponsors?

In terms of green business, there are brothers and sisters out there like Mitch Posada with "Que Verde" who is working hard to build Latino green business connections in the Silicon Valley as well others who have not had the exposure this is getting that should. I think it will take time to fully engage and bring about a robust connection between local folks and business. However, this is the time where in my opinion the green jobs will come from the bottom and not from the top via Obama initiatives, although the community is gladly waiting for them to come down. We have had much success in attaining sponsors but this really is a down up and up down effort on the part of community and local government. We hope that the usual sponsors and other institutions realize that there should be a vested interest in assisting the over 44 million Latinos go green in terms of consciousness.

I think I should preface by saying that I'm not an environmentalist nor do I want to be. I am maybe a green advocate only by default, what I am though however, is an indigenous person on a mission that was given to me by my elders. They have sent me to get local communities here in the North to listen to the voiceless stewards of this hemisphere and to listen to what they have warned the West about for centuries. That is, preserving the Earth-our land from the degradation that is going through.

As indigenous peoples we do not to separate the Creator from his/her Creation. I have come to serve communities of color to become and organize for these changing times so that we are better equipped to deal with what is ahead. Therefore I am using my organizing skills to complete this endeavor.

How do you live a green life personally?

In terms of I am green I start at home, I try to do the simple things like using less water, recycle, reuse, reutilize etc. It is hard but I have been able to practice what I preach and have taken these personal steps to make a difference. I have to tell you, I am not perfect, but I am sincere and I do sometimes eat meat and sometimes take go over my 5 minute shower rule. I try to eat healthier and teach my children that being green is really being Indian. We are who we are supposed to be, Indigenous and taking steps to do the right thing.

How do you define localization?

I do understand what "localization" means in terms of the academic version for example, translation of written material, pedagogy; making things local for the folks. But this is also a double edged sword. Many things have been translated and made local, made more traditional looking on the surface and more appropriate for those taking the information to heart. This tool however, or notion, has also been used to introduce things by those in power that may not necessarily have the community's interest at heart. At the core, our initiative is trying to ensure that our ancestral value system and scientific contributions to the world are recognized by society and dissect the repackaging of this "green thing", as mainstream culture now calls it.

What is green in terms of the arts and culture for Latinos?

In terms of art, I think there are artists out there that are probably doing projects that are green, in fact I know they are out there and that is why this conference is so important. It will lend a hand in creating a space for such connections and ideas for those who are Latino/Indigenous. In terms of art itself if you look at the pyramids in the Ohio Valley, Mississippi, Mexico, Central and South America, these are examples of beautiful integration of space, art, culture and native cosmology all in one. Look at the feather fans, head-dress, and the dances themselves, they are moving living art and spiritual practice all in one. Look at the drawings on the Nasca plane or the etching on the walls of the Maya and Azteca buildings; these too are examples of sustainable art with metaphorical messages about our culture, religion, space, time, etc.

Are you seeing a major paradigm shift in values for the USA? If so, please describe this shift. What role do Latinos play?

Well, I do believe there is definitely a role for the Latino-Indigenous people to play in the days to come and have done so already. Just like hip hop has been such an incredible voice for young people in helping shape the consciousness of society for better or for worse, there is also an indigenous influence that once again has not been recognized.

Just take a look at public transportation. It is full of people of color and specifically Latinos who are already doing their part in cutting down the carbon footprint. Day laborers ride their bicycles to and from work if and when they are lucky to get it. Remember, our grandmothers recycled jelly jars for drinking glasses instead of buying new ones. So the so called "Latino" contribution which to a massive extent is Native, has already had a tremendous influence in U.S. culture. I believe the numbers of Southern people in the U.S. cannot be ignored any longer. They will play a pivotal role at both the grassroots level and the international level in what will be done to improve the condition of the Earth.

The "shift" that your asking about is really a shift that the elders throughout "Indian country" as we say, have known for hundreds of years. Look at the Hopi and Maya prophesies. They knew to exactly the time when this so called technological phase of human development was to take place. They have also known that there is a mental shift that is to take place. This shift is a mental attitude towards the condition of the planet and the action that needs to be taken. Now, for me the most difficult item during this mental transition is not necessarily the economy, although this is critical, but the shift from linear thinking over to integral thinking. There will be those in society that will choose resist. Their education perhaps is so linear and closed that they will choose not to recognize of all the contributions our elders have made to humanity as a whole. This in turn sets them up be even more closed and unwilling to work together to help our planet. They will surely suffer in isolation. So to reiterate this is indigenous values system thinking. This is nothing new to us.

What are the major environmental justice issues facing the Latino Community?

There are so many environmental issues facing the Latino-Indigenous community today that I cannot point to just one. I think the one thing that rises to my interest and concern is the lack of awareness and or consciousness toward our own public health and how it is inseparable from global warming/ climate change. Our water, food and health in integral to the condition of the planet.