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MILWAUKEE

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Letter From the Editor,Growth can’t always happen on our own, sometimes we just need a little help. Community, learning, and service all go hand in hand and are a great circle of power and advancement. That is why we want to exhibit the effects of personal experience and feature different parts of the community; to show that everyone can help out no matter how busy you are. We also want to show the small things you, as a socially conscious individual can do, like in this weeks “For The World” seg-ment. Don’t be afraid to put your green foot forward and help your community grow and learn. Get inspired to be the best you can be and build yourself, the community, and the environment.

SAMI MAINIEROEDITOR

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MIAD BRIDGE

BUILDING

UPFALL2012

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FINDING MEANING IN SERVICE

FINDING YOURSELF IN SERVICE TO OTHERS

HELPING HANDS

ECO URBANITE

LIVING OFF THE GRID

FEATURES FEATURES FEATURES

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ECO URBANITE

LIVING OFF THE GRID

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

8COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

FOR THE WORLD: MAKE A DIFFERENCE

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

HOW TO COMPOST

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COMMUNITYspotlight

friday, October 21st5-9pm

This is WPCA’s 19th year celebrating the rich mexican tradition of dia De Los Muertos! This year the celebration will include alters and offerings created by local artists that have different back-grounds such as sculture and 2-D work

Join them for music, Performance by Aztec Dancers, poetry, food and much much more!

all relating back to the holiday. The day Of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos cele-brates the life of those that we have lost. It reminds people of their loved ones and what they value.

Celebrating Culture: Walker’s Point Center for the Arts Celebrates Dia De Los Muertosby Sami Mainiero

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FOR THEworld

Just because you live a busy life doesn’t mean that you can’t do your part. We did some research and found 10 things you can do to help out your one and only planet. By no means are we telling you to live in a tree. Just take a walk and refill that water bottle.

Make a Differenceby Sami MainieroRECYCLE EVERYTHING,

ESPECIALLY PAPER! WALK AND BIKE!

USE YOUR PRINTER WISELY.

LIMIT THE USE OF DISPOSABLE

CUPS AND PLATES.

LIMIT THE USE OF PAPER NAPKINS.

USE COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS.

BUY GREEN.

CARRY A WATER BOTTLE.

USE REFILLABLE BINDERS INSTEAD OF NOTEBOOKS.

BUY USED CLOTHING.

Buy recycled products whenever you can, especially paper.

Think about how many pieces of paper you go through. ... It all adds up so look for a paper recycle bin

Many towns offer freat public transportation, try and use it when you can or car pool

You can save paper by printing on both sides of the page. Better yet think twice about if you really need to print it out.

Buy yourself some inexpen-sive plates and wash them. Not only will you help the enviornment but you will also end up saving money.

One napkin will probably do the job you need to keep clean!

These bulbs cost more, but they last longer and ultimately save you money also much more environmentally efficient.

Think of how many bottles of water get consumed every day. Save waste and money and carry a refillable bottle.

This is a simple way to save waste.

Reusing clothes decreases the use of resources to make clothing and puts a dent in the problem of worldwide sweatshops.

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FINDING YOURSELF IN SERVICE TO OTHERS

meaning inservice

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BY SHANNON WUNDERLICHEDITED BY SAMI MAINIERO

In a general sense, service has always been apart of my life. However, with the passing of time, it’s meaning has shifted for me. When I was younger I might have defined service as a chore, tasks that were decreed, usually by my parents, for my brothers and I to either keep us out of their hair or “build character.” It was never a voluntary thing on my part, absolutely always riddled with negativity, always some kind of a burden. Wash the car. Clear the table. Take out the trash. Pull the weeds. Clean the pool. Bring in the groceries. With every request there were groans, grips, and grumbles. Service was suffering in my melodramatic mind. Then, service was punishment.

A lot has changed since then. Through being coerced on to countless church mission trips, required community service hours for one school or another, unavoidable hurricane disaster relief and the basic morals and ethics of a solid Christian home, I’ve been jostled and nudged into a perspective that

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allows me an appreciation of the value of service in the world. In hindsight, I can now recognize how hugely I’ve benefited from the generosity of others in my own life as well.

When I was a little five-year-old girl, I had a softball coach named Bill Broome. Bill and my dad co-coached my softball teams for three or four years together until I ditched the diamond for the basketball courts. Years later, my parents relocated our family to a new church in search of a more active youth program and Bill Broome re-entered my life as my Sunday school teacher. One of his favorite subjects was that of unconditional love, which he would often put us on the spot to define. “Doing something for the good of someone else without expectations of anything in return.” Word for word, that was the response that would get you the candy bar or bag of M&M’s that would more often than not be hiding in his shirt pocket. Sometimes, if you were lucky, that piece of candy was actually a five-dollar bill.

I guess that’s where my current idea of service

is rooted, in the unconditional and in love. I think

it’s highly important that human beings be able

to demonstrate goodness toward each other,

especially in a world and in a culture that often

promotes competition, pitting us against one

another, driving us apart. We need each other,

to trust each other. Service is a way to maintain

human connection.

In comparison with other definitions or sentiments

about service that I’ve heard, I think there’s always

that common thread of authenticity. Regardless

of age or societal status, it seems as though the

matured outlook on service work is that it’s all about

attitude. You must give of yourself willingly and

compassionately in order to truly be performing a

service. With a negative, begrudging attitude, your act

of kindness becomes resentful, labored, weighed down

and drowned in selfishness.

As people get older and grow past this selfishness so characteristic

of childhood, I think that the sentiment of compassion becomes

standard for matters of service. The differences in perception

seem to lie in the actual tasks or duties that are carried out and

whether or not they qualify as service. Some people seem to think that, no matter how small, any act of kindness can qualify as a service to your fellow man. While I guess I can agree with giving credit to little things, I think that I personally appreciate the more grand gestures, maybe just because I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff. Sure, buying someone a cup of coffee is nice, but you can’t tell me you wouldn’t melt at the thought of being able to provide a family with a safer house for their children to be raised in. I don’t know, maybe I’m just a go big or go home kind of girl.

To list and describe all of the service experiences I’ve had would take forever. Though I don’t ascribe to any particular religious denomination at this point in my life, I do have to credit my Christian upbringing with instilling a love for service in me, or at least a sense of civic duty.

“BUT YOU CAN’T TELL ME YOU WOULDN’T MELT AT THE

THOUGHT OF BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE A FAMILY WITH A SAFER HOUSE FOR THEIR

CHILDREN TO BE RAISED IN. I DON’T KNOW, MAYBE I’M

JUST A GO BIG OR GO HOME KIND OF GIRL.”

I GUESS I THINK OF SERVICE AS A SORT OF UNIVERSAL BRIDGE FOR WHATEVER GAP

MIGHT DIVIDE PEOPLE. THE GIVING OF ONESELF, “DOING SOMETHING FOR THE GOOD OF

SOMEONE ELSE WITHOUT EXPECTATION OF ANYTHING IN RETURN,” IMMEDIATELY LEVELS

THE PLAYING FIELD

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Throughout my middle and high school years, I was an active member of the United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches Youth Group We did everything. There was a particular soup kitchen downtown that we were notorious for flooding with able bodies on a regular basis. We were also the driving force behind much of the church’s fund-raising and community activities, including cooking and serving at dinner theaters, hosting and performing in talent shows, working booths at holiday block parties, and even auctioning off our time in the Rent-A-Youth program founded for older or less fortunate members of the community who might just need some help around the house. Summers saw us off on mission trips to other states and sometimes countries where we would often work as volunteer camp counselors for underprivileged children, as relief for communities stricken by poverty or natural disaster, or any other bandwagon we could jump on.

Living in South Florida, there were often plenty of opportunities to aid in natural disaster relief without having to go out looking for it. Hurricane season, especially in my freshman year of high school, was always knocking at, and sometimes knocking down, our door. We manned shelters, distributed food, cleared debris, rebuilt damaged property and homes and even siphoned gasoline out of people’s cars to power their generators during times without electricity. With school suspended for weeks at a time, we became a 24-hour task force at the disposal of our community.

Though they offered a wealth of opportunities and connections, church wasn’t my only avenue for service while growing up. Both of my parents were raised in crowded households of multiple siblings and various rearrangements of parental figures via divorce and remarriage. They seem to have always known the value of teamwork and self-sacrifice and were adamant about instilling the same values in my brothers and I. We were placed in the hands of neighbors, teachers, family and friends, offering up our young and able bodies for whatever tasks might be at hand. The Wunderlich children were enlisted in plenty of pro-bono car washing, babysitting, gardening, household cleaning, file cabinet organizations and the like. With my artistic talents, I was often drafted into the home decorating or school project embellishment task force. If I had a dollar for every school science project board I decorated that wasn’t my own then I might actually be able to afford this private education of mine.

I am a privileged child. All of the goodness I was raised to churn out has come back to me tenfold. I’m sure I will never know the extent to which I have benefited from the kindness, generosity and compassion of others. Neighbors baby-sat me as a child, family friends drove me to sporting events my parents were unable to break their schedules for, teachers

“DOING SOMETHING FOR THE GOOD OF SOMEONE ELSE WITHOUT EXPECTATIONS OF ANYTHING IN RETURN.

“

I GUESS I THINK OF SERVICE AS A SORT OF UNIVERSAL BRIDGE FOR WHATEVER GAP

MIGHT DIVIDE PEOPLE. THE GIVING OF ONESELF, “DOING SOMETHING FOR THE GOOD OF

SOMEONE ELSE WITHOUT EXPECTATION OF ANYTHING IN RETURN,” IMMEDIATELY LEVELS

THE PLAYING FIELD

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have gone out of their way to help me realize my intelligence and skill, offered me jobs and opportunities that I may never have found without the aid of a community that cared.

And my parents, good god, my parents. I don’t know that I will ever meet more loving, selfless individuals. Not only do they sacrifice everything for the sake of their children, but they do it with kindness, patience, and grace. Their twenty-one years of service to me has been awe-inspiring and I know I am so lucky to have been raised by them. Without them, I wouldn’t be the grounded, well-rounded person I consider myself to be today. They sat down and tutored me during the times I needed extra help in school, drove me across town to Girl Scout lock-ins, taught me to ride a two-wheel bike, indulged every creative endeavor I even hinted at having an interest in, always made sure I was well-fed, clothed, and had plenty of things to entertain myself with. I’ve never wanted for anything.

It’s funny to think about parents, how we just assume that everyone who gives birth to a child will love and protect it the way that we see in movies or all-American television shows, the way that mine have. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. In fact, as I come to know more of the world, my childhood seems increasingly minority.

I’ll never forget the time my mom and step-father took my two brothers, two step-sisters and I on a little vacation to the Bahamas. We’d sailed over there on a cruise ship, luxurious and beautiful, like the kind you see in vacation advertisements for those picturesque islands of paradise. It was a weekend filled with tropical frosty drinks and succulent seafood, crystal clear water and beaches

with white sand. I remember noticing that while hotels and tourist activities were cheaper in the Bahamas than in the States, food seemed to be almost double the price. I wondered for a minute at how expensive our lavish island cuisine might be, but didn’t dwell on it, assuming my parents had planned out a budget and saved up enough money to indulge our every whim. It was vacation, you know?

A little after we returned to South Florida, I found out that that wasn’t the case. It turns out my mother had underestimated the difference in food expenses and had realized that their budget wasn’t going to be able to cover all of the services and amenities that they and their five children were expecting. So, instead of scaling us back and risking shattering our illusion of luxury, the two of them went without. I was shocked to hear that they hadn’t actually eaten the way that we did, that they’d even forgone some meals in order to maintain smooth sailing.

That has always stuck with me. It wasn’t the most necessary or life changing sacrifice, but it was loving, sincere, and not at all boastful. That my mother would go without eating just to keep her children in the spirit of a holiday was something I couldn’t quite understand. I think

I don’t know that I will ever meet

more loving, selfless individuals.

church wasn’t my only avenue for service while growing up

“ “THEY SEEM TO HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN THE VALUE OF TEAMWORK AND SELF-SACRIFICE...

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it was because she didn’t have to do it, because there wasn’t a legitimate need, because she got literally nothing out of it. The idea of such a selfless act was and is so beautiful, rare.

I am lucky in that my family seems to be full of people who hold this type of self-sacrifice in esteem. My Uncle Bill and Aunt France, for example, are caravan volunteers for Habitat for Humanity International. I chose to interview the two of them for this project.

I was never really close with my Uncle Bill or Aunt France until this past summer. On Thanksgiving of 2009, my Uncle Bill asked me what I would like to do if money weren’t a concern. I talked about the idea of working construction, how I might like to work with my hands and see immediate results, results that could benefit people directly. Sometimes art making seems selfish, you know? After that conversation, they invited me to come work with them for a month this summer in Cedar Rapids, IA. I was able to witness the power of their lifestyle and the great impact just two people could have on an entire community.

It was hard work. I woke up every morning of the week at 6:00, laced up my boots, caked on the sunscreen, made sure my water bottle was full, and headed out to the work site where I’d be doing any job from designing signs for work regulations to sawing and assembling wooden studs into

wall framework. With the help of volunteer groups and local contractors, we spent ten hour days climbing in and out of freshly poured concrete basements, hauling lumber up and down amorphous dirt piles that were often sticky or slippery with mud after a night’s rain, we worked tirelessly to meet our deadline of erecting thirteen houses in eight weeks. Sometimes we worked weekends without volunteers just to make sure we were on schedule. I slept soundly every night,

exhausted in every sense. But it ruled.

This interview with them only reinforced my ideas of service forging connections between people and the importance of facilitating these relationships. They spoke a lot about the people they’ve met along the way and some of the lifelong friends that they’ve made because of their shared experiences. I thought of the people I met while working with them this summer in Iowa, some of

whom I still talk to on a regular basis, some of whom I am planning to see again soon.

Sometimes it seems like compensation for service, whether it be salaries or public recognition of whatever nature, is what drives us to compete with one another, what drives us apart. I know I sound like a really free-lovin’ girl in this essay, but at this point in my life I think I’m failing to see the need for things that isolate us from one another. I guess I think of service as a sort of universal bridge for whatever gap might divide people. The giving of oneself, “doing something for the good of someone else without expectation of anything in return,” immediately levels the playing field. All of a sudden status goes out the window and we’re free to see each other as people, which is all we really are anyway.

I don’t know that I will ever meet

more loving, selfless individuals.

“I WAS ABLE TO WITNESS THE

POWER OF THEIR LIFESTYLE

AND THE GREAT IMPACT JUST

TWO PEOPLE COULD HAVE ON

AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY. IT

WAS HARD WORK.”

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WRITTEN BY NATE PYPER

ILLUSTRATED BY JUSTIN SCHROEDER

EDITED BY SAMI MAINIERO

Nate Pyper spent a semester

serving the community at

Milwaukee’s Hope House, he sits

down to share his experience and

tell how the Hope House is helping

build the community up.

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Q: Where did you volunteer, te l l us a l i t t le about i t .A: I served at Hope House Milwaukee on the corner of Orchard and 2nd on the southside. Although Hope House is known primarily for its transitional living facilities, it also provides tutoring services for the children who live in the provided housing, as well as those living in the neighboring area. I served in the tutoring center (under the Shining Stars Youth Program) where I provided academic aid for students ranging between elementary and middle school. Work covered included reading assignments assigned by the tutoring center, homework covering basic subjects like math, science, and spelling, and the occasional art project (in the last few weeks, we worked

on a mural for the upcoming art show at the Borg Ward on May 6). Once their homework was finished, they were allowed to make a “free time choice,” which usually included playing with the provided games/toys or playing games on the computers.

Q: What i t the overview of the agencies programs/service to the community, do they have a miss ion s tatement? A: Hope House Milwaukee, as an organization, is a “transitional living facility” and “community center.” Their primary service is to provide temporary housing for struggling families who need a place to stay while they get back on their feet (named the “Chrysalis Project”). Those who occupy the provided housing maintain a weekly chore and rotate cooking duty between each other, as well as attend weekly “life skills classes which cover topics such as parenting, basic budget management, and stress management.” Additional classes are also available to adults through their Pathway to Progress Program and children have access to the Shining Stars Youth Program. Any one family can stay with Hope House for up to 2 years if necessary. In addition, Hope House also offers what is called the “Thresholds Program” which provides emergency shelter for local homeless men. They are allowed to live at Hope House for up to 60 days and work with a case manager to find permanent employment and housing. Hope House also works with The Housing Authority of Milwaukee, the Department of Veteran Affairs, and Friends of Housing to provide long-term housing for adults (veterans preferred) in what is called the Surgeon’s Quarters Single Room Occupancy Program. The Angle of Hope Clinic is Hope House’s health care service offering medical treatment for adults and children who qualify as having low or no income. A sliding scale fee exists to provide affordable care for those who need it. Hope House also recognizes the importance of giving back to the community it resides in, so it also works to host and facilitate neighborhood events, forums, clean-ups, and seminars. Hope House’s Mission Statement is simple, basic, and succinct: “To end hopelessness and create healthy communities.”

“I REMEMBER ABOUT 5-10 KIDS WHO EVENTUALLY

STOPPED SHOWING UP TO THE TUTORING SERVICES DURING

THE SEMESTER BECAUSE THEY HAD MOVED OUT OF THE

PROVIDED TRANSITIONAL HOUSING (A GOOD THING!)”

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IT’S HARD TO FIND WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE TO A COMMUNITY AS A STUDENT AND DEPENDENT

to the acknowledgement of their unfortunate circumstances. One moment I can remember specifically was when we were painting the mural (split up into two parts). The children were tasked with painting things that indicated “here” (reality) on one and “there” (hopes/fantasy) on the other. Some children painted a dog on the “here” while drawing a dragon on the “there” or a road on the “here” and a red carpet on the “there.” I remember one child in particular who knew he wanted to paint a limo on the “there” panel but was unsure of what to draw on the “here” panel as a companion. After some discussion with the other students, they decided that a city bus was the best decision. They indicated that the city bus was for “poor people” and those who couldn’t afford a car. This struck me as shocking and sort of served as a wake-up call, because I’ve always blissfully and intentionally taken the bus as an alternative to driving, a decision born out of my own environmental responsibility rather than necessity. However, it didn’t really occur to me until that day the bus was also a symbol of poverty for those who had no choice but to use the bus as transit. This forced me to be more aware of my surroundings and consider the way in which others interact within a given space.

“ONE THING THAT’S BEEN CHALLENGING

TO HEAR IS THE CHILDREN SPEAK

ABOUT THEIR DISTRESSED

CONDITIONS.”

positive effect on our Milwaukee community and is succeeding as an organization. Personally, I remember about 5-10 kids who eventually stopped showing up to the tutoring services during the semester because they had moved out of the provided transitional housing (a good thing!). If there are any barriers that stand in Hope House’s way, I think the primary one would be finances. There were a couple times while serving in the tutoring center when I noticed that supplies were low (or low-quality) and we had to make due with what we had.

Q: Was there a powerful moment in your exper ience that was inspir ing or chal lenging?

A: One powerful thing (more of a progression than a moment) I’ve enjoyed observing is being able to watch and hear the students gradually get better at reading. Serving for an entire semester has allowed me to experience the children’s gradual acquiring of knowledge, which has been rewarding to know that my support really is helping the children work towards a better and brighter future. One thing that’s been challenging to hear is the children speak about their distressed conditions. They don’t speak about it openly often (some of them are too young to fully understand what kind of conditions they’re living in), but every once in awhile, something will slip out that points

Q: How does the agency fill its mission? Did you view any problems

they faced or have solved in this line of service, are there any

barriers they are trying to overcome?

A: According to its 2009 annual report, Hope House

provided support for 180 single people and 65 families

(which includes 130

children). Increased

financial security was

provided for over 40

individuals and families

and 15 adults graduated

from their GED program.

Approximately $483,000

were saved through their

health care services and

food was provided to

over 12,100 individuals.

These numbers clearly

state that Hope House

is having an amazingly

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Q: Anything else?A: Hope House is doing an incredible thing and it’s doing it well. Small things like newer computers or tutor comprehension tests could help improve the quality of the tutoring services, but for a volunteer-based program, I think that it is a pretty well-rounded resource. As far as how serving at Hope House has affected my outlook on community, it’s definitely reinforced my belief in the importance of voluntary service in the vitality and health of a community. There are people in need all over our city, and organizations like Hope House are working to provide for those needs; by providing volunteer opportunities, they are allowing for others to have a hand in the improvement of their own neighborhood, city, country, and world. Support is the essence of a strong community. It’s hard to find ways to contribute to a community as a student and dependent. I’m not in a place where I’m really fully governing my life yet. However, as my awareness and knowledge of the disparities I observe in our community grow, I do take action to inform others of said disparities

and what we can do to change them. Even though it’s small, one little way I’ve done this is by attaching environmentally and socially responsible intentions to the projects I create in class, with the hopes of spreading awareness so that my peers might start considering their place in their community too and begin to make more socially responsible choices and decisions. I’m willing to be misunderstood, misrepresented, and mistreated if it means that others are empowered and healthy communities are nurtured (I’m serious – I mean this). I consider the well-being of the community as a whole more important than my own comfort. I realize that this all might seem vague or silly or naive, but I truly believe these things and am actively dictating the small choices I make everyday to follow in accordance with my beliefs.

“ONE THING THAT’S

BEEN CHALLENGING TO HEAR IS THE

CHILDREN SPEAK ABOUT THEIR DISTRESSED

CONDITIONS.

“IT’S HARD TO FIND WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE TO A COMMUNITY AS A STUDENT AND DEPENDENT

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BY RYAN STRZOKPHOTOS AND EDITS BY SAMI MAINIERO

ECOURBAN

-ITE

ECOURBAN

-ITEliving off the grid

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“It is the workers at the organizations I volunteer for who confirm for me that environmentalism is not about trying to use less but about trying to be more”

(Beavan 203). This quote by Colin Beavan, the author of No Impact Man, touches close to home with me because taking the service learning class forced me

to get out of my shell and volunteer. It’s allowing for me to volunteer for a cause that I see to be important, which is an environmental cause. With

one of the most influential environmentalists saying that the best way to change the way the earth is being treated is to volunteer your time,

passion, and self to an organization it definitely puts a giant smile on my face when volunteering. I chose to volunteer my time and energy

to the Milwaukee Urban Ecology Centers at both the Riverside loca-tion and the Washington Park location. Living in Milwaukee and

being on my own I live more so around my ideals and want to began my journey as this sort of eco urbanite. Creating an urban homestead catered towards my ideals on environmentalism. My ideas are a bit more extreme than that of the pretty term of be-ing green. I want my journey of being environmentally active to stretch into the ideas of minimalist living, living off the grid, and acting outside of conformity. Service learning has connected me to my community in a way I never thought I would. Volunteering at the Urban Ecology Center’s opened me up to the idea of living a more self-sustained life. During the early years of living in Milwaukee and biking down the bike path I would cruise by a towering rock climbing wall with a sleek solar powered building next to it. Never really knowing what it was until visiting it with my service learning class. Realizing at that moment my need to get involved with the organization. The congregation of people there who shared similar viewpoints to mine truly sparked my interest. It’s a sort of vessel to meet people and to get better acquainted with the environment and living off the grid. The UEC (Urban Ecology Center) mission statement revolves around the idea of creating ecological empathy and using it as a tool for change. They also focus on providing an educational science service for Milwau-kee youth, protecting and enhancing the flourishing Milwaukee natural areas, building a community around volunteering, stew-

“I WANT MY JOURNEY OF BEING ENVIRONMENTALLY ACTIVE TO

STRETCH INTO THE IDEAS OF MINIMALIST

LIVING,

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ardship, recreation, and camaraderie, and finally the teach-ings of environmentally responsible behavior. The types of services they offer are: Neighborhood environmental edu-cation project which supply existing K-12 science courses with more hands on experiences, urban adventures that get people active, field research, summer day camps, lectures, workshops, discussions, stewardships, internships, and so forth. Riverside Park has been around for quite sometime and was once a flourishing attraction to the residents of Milwaukee County and travelers. Activities such as swim-ming, boating, skiing, and ice-skating were very common in the early 1900’s. As the river became more and more polluted due to the growing industrial powers of Milwaukee the river became less active. It wasn’t until 1991 when Dr. Else Ankel started the revolution to revitalize the Riverside Park system. Twenty years later it has morphed into a key-stone of Milwaukee culture and community building. There are now two locations Riverside on the East side of Milwau-kee off of Oakland and the other, Washington Park, is on 40th and Lisbon. Although the two centers correlate with the same organi-zation they differ. They each share differences and similari-ties. Each offers different or similar programs and activities. Riverside has a native Wisconsin animal room, river system tanks, a slide, a giant puzzle, crayfish tank, camouflaged classroom, observation tower with a rock climbing wall, and a sustainable building exhibit. Washington Park on the other doesn’t have nearly the same amount of highlights. With Washington Park being only created in 2004 and being lo-cated in a supposed rough area of the city it can be seen the differences in the two locations. Washington Park’s funding does not seem to be as great. It states on the Washing-ton Park section of the UEC’s website, “Washington Park is surrounded by a community of people looking to revitalize their neighborhood park, preserving it from crime and ne-glect.” The Riverside section does not state anything about

ridding it of crime. When volunteering there I was s u r p r i s e d to see the

state it was in. Ultimately coming to a conclusion that they need a lot of volunteers because of there location. It made me think to of the his-tory of Riverside and how the UEC was an attempt to rid the area of the crimes and rejuvenate the community around it. You can see how Washington Park is trying to do exactly that which is very exciting to see because it too is going to become a place that is less crime ridden, a strong community, and more diverse, I believe. It definitely needs the funding and the amenities that Riverside has to become that place. Funding is a topic that is important when discussing the UEC’s because they are a non-profit organization leaving the question of where do they get funding? Their financial base is created by the donations from friends, program fees, grants, and annual fund raising events. An example of a fund raising event they just had would be the Summer Solstice Soiree. The UEC stated that, “We were able to surpass out attendance and fun-

“I WANT MY JOURNEY OF BEING ENVIRONMENTALLY ACTIVE TO

STRETCH INTO THE IDEAS OF MINIMALIST LIVING, LIVING OFF THE GRID, AND ACTING OUTSIDE

OF CONFORMITY.”

“I WANT MY JOURNEY OF BEING ENVIRONMENTALLY ACTIVE TO

STRETCH INTO THE IDEAS OF MINIMALIST

LIVING,

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draising goals for another re-cord breaking

year!” Donations go towards things such as providing a membership for a low-income family, supporting a high school summer intern, and sponsoring a school that will have 24 field trips to inner city youth. The UEC’s have a wonderful staff on hand, at both locations, who are there to teach and get you involved. Riverside has a much larger staff than that of Washington Park. As for the volunteers go there seem to be a pretty steady flow at riverside but at Washington Park there are only a few. They’re always in need for constant volun-teers. There are over 250 active volunteers. The Urban Ecology centers have sparked my interest in the idea of living off the grid and creating a more sustainable way of living. I biked to the Milwaukee Library and utilized my local community resource and looked up green living solutions. Three books that peaked my interest were No Impact Man, The Urban Homestead, and Living Off the Grid. Each discusses a new way of looking at ones consumption of energy and the idea of living off the grid. Key topics I found to be important to understand while on my journey to sus-tainable ways of life were the 5 essential projects when creating a homestead, harvesting water, obtaining power, dealing with human waste, and transportation. I feel, out of the vast majority of topics there are when looking into sustainable living, these are some of the toughest and biggest ideas to grasp and that is why I researched them and would like to share with you the knowledge I received. The 5 essential projects, proposed by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knut-zen in their book The Urban Homestead, revolve mainly around start-ing your own food source. Growing your own food source is a huge project and can be overwhelming and a daunting task. It is an impor-tant move for anyone looking to becoming more self-sufficient. Step number one for urban homesteaders is to create a compost pile. You can basically compost in any sort of bin you rightly choose but gar-

bage cans or tires are ones fit nicely for the job. To kick off the compost pile all you need to do is begin throwing food scraps and lawn trimmings into the pile. Keeping a nice equilibrium between nitrogen rich material and carbonaceous material is a way to well-kept compost. Nitrogen material is classified as the green materials such as fresh leaves, kitchen scraps, weeds, manure, and coffee grounds. Carbonaceous material is classi-fied as brown because it is mainly dead things such as dried leaves, wood chips, sawdust, and shredded newspaper. Turning over your compost once a week is also a task that will prove to result in great compost. It is supposed to decrease the amount of time needed for decomposition. Materials to avoid are bones, meat, fish, oils, and dairy products. The reason for not using these in the pile is the amount of heat needed for decomposi-tion, which would be difficult to achieve with a small bin. It will also have the chances to attract pests such as raccoons. Finally the compost will have the same characteristics of soil. “The best compost we’ve seen almost looked like crumbled chocolate cake” (Coyne 49). Becoming self sufficient will allow for communities and the world to be more self sustained and less reliable on sources coming from thousands of miles away. Resulting in fewer pol-lutants, stronger communities, healthier people, and a better world. Working at the Urban Ecology Center has taught me how to live up to these standards. Before working at the UEC I didn’t know what to expect. My preconceptions were that it was just another nature park but once actually experiencing it fully it was much more than that. It turned out to be extremely engaging. The center brings the

THE UEC SURE HAS TAUGHT ME

A LOT ABOUT LIFE, INVASIVE PLANTS,

AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.

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community together in many different ways that I had no idea about. What surprised me the most about my placement in volunteer services was the difference between the Riverside Park and Washington Park. I believe that the Washington Park needs a lot of up keep and more workers and I see funding being a thing that stands in the way of Washington Park blos-soming into the community that Riverside is. I believe it is on the right path though. As for experiences go I would have to say Washington Park proved to be the best. It all started on Saturday when weeding at Washington Park for a good four hours. I was weeding by myself minding my own business when a little voice came up behind me and exclaimed, “Hey! Sucka!” I turned around to see a ten-year old little kid with stitches under his eye. He then said, “Can I help you weed?” I replied, “Of course.” For about the next two hours we talked back and forth laughing and joking about random stuff. He asked if I was a football player and dubbed me the nick-name Lil’ Wayne. I said, “Do I look like Little Wayne to you? He laughed and said, “No.” His name was Tavares and also went by the nicknames Chris Brown and Man Man. Everyone at the UEC knew him by Man Man so I stuck with that one. It was funny to find out too that he wasn’t even apart of any of the youth science clubs at the UEC. He was just from around the neighborhood and came to hang out. At the end of the day when we were done weeding I carted him around in a wheelbarrow through Washington Park while we talked about flying to the moon in cardboard space suits and drum lines. He made my work probably twice as difficult but he made my week. It was a real eye opener to see the kind of kids from that neighborhood. Overall the Urban Ecology Centers have opened me up to the community of Milwaukee as a whole. It has made me closer to the people here and the causes they support. This class took me out of the typical classroom and put me into real life experiences with people who taught me real tangible things. The UEC sure has taught me a lot about life, invasive plants, and everything in between.

DEAD LEAES, BRANCHES, TWIGS

GRASS CLIPPINGS, VEGGIE WASTE, FRUIT SCRAPS AND COFFEE

GROUNDS ETC

WATER

MAKE SURE LARGER PIECES ARE CHOPPED OR SHREDDED

MIX THE LAYERS TOGETHER

ADD WATER

MIX EVERY ONE TO TWO WEEKS

CONTINUE FOR A COUPLE MONTHS,AND VUALA! COMPOST

DO MORE!HOW TO CREATE YOUR

OWN COMPOST PILE

3WITH JUST THINGS

Beavan, Colin. No Impact Man. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2009. Print.Black, David S. Living off the Grid: a Simple Guide to Creat-ing and Maintaining a Self-reliant Supply of Energy, Water, Shelter, and More. New York: Skyhorse Pub., 2008. Print.Coyne, Kelly, and Erik Knutzen. The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City. Port Townsend, WA: Process Media, 2010. Print.Welcome to the Urban Ecology Center! Web. July 2011. <http://www.urbanecologycenter.org/index.html>.

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