Before you ask that for "To Go" please read!

     I was walking home from the Milwaukee public library today, when I saw heaps and heaps of garbage along the side of the road.  I thought to myself, it was not just one little piece of trash that could be cleaned up rather quickly. No, there were heaps and heaps of cups, plastic soda bottles, wrappers of candy and food items dispersed along the street. 


       Through my study and work at the Urban Ecology Center, I was very impressed at how much emphasis they put on educating our children, our youth  and communities in Milwaukee to start small in saving the Earth. What does that mean, one may ask? Well, if one can take care of the Earth in his or her own nook of the world, then that is a HUGE start.  One beautiful way to help Mother Earth, is by not buying things in plastic containers or by consuming so many packaged items.  As I began to roam back home to my apartment, I thought to myself, how and why did we get this way? Why do so many people treat the Earth, the ground, the air and the water like it is a massive garbage dump that reads: Discard here.  How sad! 


A little mantra I have heard that we can all use: the THREE R's:


-REDUCE
-REUSE
-RECYCLE


The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world’s people generate 40% of the world’s waste.


This fact made me gringe!! America we must change now, not later, but TODAY!

    America this is beyond daunting, this is sick, we must stop being slobs and we must take care of our country, one small step at a time!!!

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, theaverage American produces about 4.4 pounds (2 kg) of garbage a day, or a total of 29 pounds (13 kg) per week and 1,600 pounds (726 kg) a year.


Source retrieved from: <http://blog.ecochange.org/2009/04/17/the-usa-is-the-1-trash-producing-country-in-the-world-2/>


With the craze of holiday shopping coming up for family, friends and loved ones, ask yourself the simple question, Do I really need to buy this for myself or for my family? Do I have anything else I could do or make for them that I already currently own? 


Perhaps, America needs to slow down, and truly ask themselves the simple, old age question: Do I really need this in this moment??


Save a tree.....
for your grandson or grand-daughter...for our future generations.


Posted and Written by: Callie Beth Angsten

What Simple Ways Can One Do to help Mother Earth?

Now that my eleven hours have been completed, one must truly discern/contemplate what one took from being immersed at a Center that is living and breathing the motto: think local, act global.  As an American, we, yes I am stating the whole country of America, consume way too much! Whether it be food, clothing or even water, the statistics I presume are incredibly high.




These are a few tips I have carried with me from the Urban Ecology Center:


1.) After washing hands, don't use a paper towel, allow your hands to be free, by shaking them and trying to get the water off that way. You will be saving a TON of trees! And besides, your hands get a bit of a work out.


2.) COFFEE SHOPS: There is this eco-green feel at every coffee shop, YET, a ton of people get coffee cups to go and still sit there.  Lets buy a nice, to go cup that can be reused 24/7 and thus, we would stop clogging up land fills with our so-called Eco friendly cups.


3.) Receipts after shopping... has it ever occurred to anyone how much paper we waste with receipts after shopping. Even when you say, No i do not want my receipt they still have to print it off... Could Google or some tech savvy person please design a system that can get us out of this paper wasting mess?? It would be greatly appreciated to Mother Earth and to our future men and women that will be walking this Earth in the years to come.


4.) Take some time to get outside and be with nature, to be away from technology and busy-ness of life.


5.) When one gives of themselves that is when they are truly happy :)= volunteering


~Posted and Written by: Callie Beth Angsten~

Moving and Building New Things from Bricks to Nature's Beauty!

Now in 2010 this is what is left.

2013: This will be a beautiful arboretum like this one in Madison!

   

Urban Ecology Center just received the approval of turning a brick yard business, which will soon be turned into a huge natural garden and arboredum. This will be beautiful! This project will take about three years, so please come and volunteer to help see each step of the way! They need volunteers! On my last day at the Urban Ecology Center we were able to go on this vast amount of land and we dug out several plants that we wanted to take and preserve and put into use.  I found this to be rather difficult, because we were on a slight            angle and a huge hill! With the aid of fellow volunteers, I was able to persevere! Always a beautiful thing! I also had the quaint opportunity of picking off several seeds, of which, looked like turkey's feet, sounds odd, but very very true!


There was a tiny mouse that one of the Urban Ecology worker's found! This was cool but scary at the same time.






-Callie Beth Angsten-

Last Day at the Urban Ecology Center :(

This morning was my last couple of hours at the Urban Ecology Center. This morning we pulled out buckthorn trees, which are an invasive plant species to Wisconsin. The reason why we pulled the buckthorn trees out is, because it gives the birds and another animals who eat the little black berries it produces, diarrhea. Also, when buckthorn grows it eliminates the species diversity of the plants and animals, because the buckthorn takes over the land area where other plants are suppose to grow.

The picture above it a picture of what a buckthorn plant looks like. If you see this type of plant growing is massive areas, you should pull it out at the bottom of the stem and pull the roots out of the ground. This is allow other native plants to grow and in the end, it will help make the environment better :)


Volunteering at the Urban Ecology Center has made me realize how important it is to keep the environment clean. Even though I have completed my required hours of service learning, I think I might go back and volunteer, but in the spring. Volunteering makes you feel good about yourself and when your done you realize you made a difference in Wisconsin.


I want to thank Joel and everyone else at the Urban Ecology Center who have opened by eyes to the environment. I have met a lot of people who have made a difference in the way I see the environment. 

Buckthorn Plant

Posted by Cheyanne Clure