Omar Freilla wants to build a new economy—one that places its greatest value on green jobs and practices.

“We’ve been taught [the economy] is something that can’t be changed and is something that is beyond human intervention,” he says. “But it’s a completely human creation and it can definitely be recreated into something else.”

In pursuit of that goal, Freilla created the Green Worker Cooperatives, which he describes as an “incubator” for this alternative type of economy.

The South Bronx-based organization promotes local businesses that support green jobs and sustainable practices; it facilitates the reuse of building materials; and it empowers residents to speak out about unfair environmental practices.

This month, it launches ReBuilders Source, a retail store that promotes the reuse of the more than 10,000 tons of reusable building materials available in New York City. It is the first such store operated by a workers’ cooperative in the United States.

As Freilla says, the emphasis on reuse is more than just a cost-effective measure—it’s a way to bring Environmental Justice to poor and minority communities. As reuse increases, he tells us, the likelihood decreases that those places will be targeted for environmental hazards, such as industrial waste sites, and landfills and transfer stations.

In this interview with Simran Sethi, Freilla discusses his vision for a new economy, the need for poor and minority communities to speak out against environmental injustices, and his hope to one day abolish the waste industry altogether, among other topics.

And, like others in the Environmental Justice movement, Freilla reminds us that environmental, economic, and equity issues always are interconnected.

“We’re looking to create jobs and industries here in the South Bronx to empower people to clean the air, get drugs off the streets—anything to make life better here.”

By Ranjit Arab