Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Yeah its the Riverside RANGERS!!

There’s this awesome MCLC crew called the Riverside Rangers. They work at Riverside Park, with the Urban Ecology Center, right by Riverside High School. The Riverside Rangers have been doing a lot of work through the mosquitoes and the heat and rain this summer. They’ve created hill side trails for the public to enjoy which also help disperse the water to prevent erosion when it rains! It’s good for everyone!!!! The Rangers have also removed a TON of Chicory and Queen Ann’s lace, which are invasive species. After the storms, a lot of the trails already put in place got ruined, there for the Riverside Rangers stepped in and re-mulched all of it, and the mulch pile wasn’t really close at all! Along with all of this the Rangers go to Menomonee Valley’s Hank Aaron Trail, near Miller Park Stadium, to help with their invasive problems and of course the problems they had due to the storms, seeing how the the trail runs along the river. So the Riverside Rangers are having a pretty busy summer but still having as much fun doing it as possible!:)

Team hi five @ Wehr Nature Center

My name is Fred and I am a employee of MCLC (milwuakee conservation

leadership corp). I work in a crew of twelve with nine other teens from
the greater milwukee area and two adult crew leaders. The crew name is team high five.
My crew is a mixture of different personalities and races. I enjoy every minute I get
to spend with them. This summer my crew is working at Wehr Nature
Center. We help the center get important tasks done that they wouldn't
have had the time or the man power to do. My crew and myself have removed
invasive plants and evergreen bushes, so that native plants can be
planted there . We also participated in prairie days at the nature center.
This is a week long event of teaching young kids how people lived in the past. The
best thing about working for MCLC is that you can see the change
you've made to the earth and you make great friends in the process.

JAM SLAMMERS at Bender Park!

  Milwaukee Conservation Leadership Corps is that serves the Milwaukee County Parks and other environmental organizations in the county. My crew and I are working at Bender Park located in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

  Bender Park is arguably the most beautiful park to work at while working for MCLC. Bender is right on Michigan Lake and has a popular marina where boats come in and out of the lake all day. Although Bender is well-maintained, there were still a few things MCLC had to take to take care of.


While stationed at Bender we had the following tasks:
• Removal invasive species
• Clear a brush line to restore a prairie
• Making new trails
• Closing off social trails (Trails that were visitors made themselves)
• Clearing invasive cattails
• Assist park staff in maintaining beach area
• Re-cement campground grills

& of course have a great time!



SQUARE


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

BEHOLD! THE ALMIGHTY BURGER!!!!

The American government has sprouted a new branch. Formerly the branches of government were merely the executive, judicial and legislative, but now behold the unveiling of the 4th branch of government: THE FOOD BRANCH!!! This branch has actually existed for about a quarter century and has only grown since then. It kept growing and growing and growing and now it seems to have become stronger than all the other branches. The food branch is composed of just about all food producing factories, that’s right factories. We live in a world where food controls our government and there are clear examples of this is the existence of a law that states that no one can “bash” meat producing companies via media. A law like this can be passed but laws such as Kevin’s law has been pitched for years and still has not been passed. Kevin’s law states that if a company that produces tainted meat, E. coli infected, multiple times the factory will be shut down. That is a SIMPLE and LOGICAL law, factories with sanitation problems get shut down. So why hasn’t a simple and logical law like this been passed? It cant be because of many chair members of food producing companies transferring to head positions at the FDA. You read correctly, food companies are pretty much planting their own employees into positions that monitor the factories. The surveyed have become the surveyors. Corruption to the highest extent!!!

Local Store Sells Handmade and Organic Products!!!!

When I got out from gym class at MATC, there vendors were selling gifts and clothing on the second floor at the Main Building. So I took a quick peek and there are gifts that were handmade products made by people from different countries that are doing it for a living. A man named Swee was one of the vendors that was selling clothing and gifts from a store called Future Green. He explained to me the handmade products and what country was made by and why people prefer making handmade products that buying it from a store that will affect the earth. I thought it was really interesting, plus I bought brown earrings that were made from coconut shells with lots of natural nutrients on it. It was kind of expensive compare the earrings I buy it from but it was worth it. Yesterday, I decided to visit the Future Green store. Swee was giving me a small tour from the store, I wasn’t expecting it would also include a Coffee place in the store selling organic foods and drinks just like the Outpost Store. What really caught my eye was when he told me that he uses those organic foods that he sells came from a roof garden they have. They sell fresh fruits and lots of vegetation.

What is Future Green? Future Green store came to birth with the idea to bring all socially responsible shopping into one special place. Future Green provides shoppers with the ability to connect with some of the most exclusive in Organic, Fair trade, Re-created, and safe interior decorating tools. Future Green was designed with sustainability.

They use three ceiling fans enhance this greatly by pulling up cooler air in summer and returning warmer air in winter, they added solar tubes to the ceiling to bring in even more natural lighting, their heating system is a radiant heated floor with a high efficiency furnace. Recently, they had installed Solar PV panels on top to help offshoot their lighting cost and they never light up outside at night times so they save energy. Oh yes I almost forgot about those recycled bricks! They use them along with the old glass block windows on their entranceway and to build a countertop.

It’s really important to shop at Future Green or other organic stores such as Outpost because they sell products at a low cost compared with any clothing store or grocery store that will sell them with a high price for the environment. And I think it’s a really good idea for people to browse stores like Future Green and learn more about it, by changing their shopping habits and stepping out of their comfort zone.

Green.... Simplified.

 Green is the new Black. A new phrase that is getting increasingly popular. Obviously I’m not talking about the little party dress we try to squeeze in every now and then, but a whole new way of thinking and even a way of living.

 
 Being “Green” is changing some old habits in to new ones that help our planet. Some people may say, “Well I don’t have a few hundred bucks to put a solar panel on my house.” Like in our previous post, being green doesn't have to be super expensive.  Sometimes changing the old habits could  save you money. The Milwaukee Conservation Leadership Corps does a great job of helping city-dwellers become aware of some of the environmental issues we have on Earth. Being apart of MCLC we learn simple ways we can save the planets by doing small things at home.:

• Unplug any electronics that aren’t being used.

• Use less water. (Turn off the water when brushing your teeth!0

• Switch to Fluorescent light bulbs (They last longer, so it will save you money in the future!

• Choose products with less packaging

• By organic and locally grown food

• Drive less

• Plant a tree!

• Reduce water heater usage by turning it down when it is not being used

• Plant a Garden

• Use reusable bags at the grocery store

• Fix leaky faucets

• Collect rainwater to water your garden

• Shorter Showers!

• Use towels instead of paper towels

• Turn off lights when they’re not being used

• Use the three R’s. Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle.

• & of course spread all that you know about being green to others.

  You don’t need to make changes that will dramatically alter your life. But sometimes doing less or more of something could help stop our planet from deteriorating in the future.

To learn more tips about to be green go to:

http://simplemom.net/tips-to-go-green-at-home

http://www.thedailygreen.com/going-green

GREENER CASH WITH GREEN JOBS

  Most people hear of green job jobs and automatically think of working out side. Green jobs are every where in every work filed. These are the job where you can actually see what you did at the end of the day. You do work that helps benefit the Earth. There are jobs of the future and they want you!
 Most green jobs don’t require more than a associate degree to apply. Most green jobs pay a great salary. Here are some examples of green jobs.


Journeyman- Johnson Control inc.
--They are skilled crafts men their trade and have five years experience in HVAC plumbing, pipe fitting, refinement/boiler/heating
--First year apprentice start off at $17.50 an hour
--To year associate degree an license


Green Home Contractors
--Build, weatherize, and insolate homes. Gardening and landscaping
--degree in business
--can read blueprints and have proper building license
--$60-$85k a year


Natural Resources Manager- Department of Natural Resources
--This position supervises and administers the regional Air, Waste, Remediation and Redevelopment, and Cooperative Environmental Assistance programs.
--Four year college diploma needed
--$62-$98k a year


If you are interested in a green job visit johnsoncontrols.com / dnr.com/ milwukeejobs.com