Fronteras

Courtesy of U.S. Consulate Ciudad Juárez

U.S. Consul General Daria L. Darnell (far left) presents awards to three community organizations in Parque Che Guevara in Ciudad Juárez.

Mónica Ortiz Uribe

Neighbors in the colonia Che Guevara pooled together money and time to reclaim an abandoned lot in their neighborhood and transform it into a park. Soon they'll install a drip irrigation system with grant money from the U.S. Consulate that will water young trees.

Community organizations in the Mexican border city of Juárez are working to improve the environmental health of their city — with a little help from the U.S. Consulate.

Proud neighbors in a working-class colonia in central Juárez clapped their hands on Friday as they accepted a grant from the U.S. Consulate that will fund a drip irrigation system at their local park.

"This used to be an abandoned lot full of weeds and trash," said Graciela Sandoval, one of the lead organizers. In two years, a team of neighbors cleaned up the lot and planted grass and trees. It now has a swing set with monkey bars and multicolored concrete benches.

Another project funded by the consulate focuses on waste reduction. Nestor Acosta, a college professor who's a member of the local environmental group Juárez Limpio, has a plan.

"We want to create an interactive online directory of local businesses that recycle," he said.

The site would map out the businesses and provides details about what type of material they accept. Juárez, a city of more than 1 million people, has no municipal recycling program.

In total, the U.S. Consulate awarded $5,000 to three projects. The third focuses on educating local teachers and students about the impacts of climate change.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has also taken an interest in the border, awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years to Earth-friendly projects in both the U.S. and Mexico.