MIAD Bridge

1MIAD bridge |

JULIA KOZERSKIthe personal side of service

a city

SUBMERGEDfive ways to become an

ECO URBANITE

3715

what’s inside

OUTER CHANGE & INNER GROWTH

ECO URBANITE

environmental eatsFrom Fun to Yum!

Here’s a fun and easy way to show kids that eating healthy can not only be

fun but it can taste oh so yummy!

milwaukee in actionGrowing Power

See what Milawukee-based organization offers solutions to the many deep- rooted problems

of our community, starting with food.

A CITY SUBMERGED

MIAD bridge | 2

letter from the editor

Who Goes There?

That night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called him “WILD THING!” and Max said “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” so he was sent to bed without eating anything. That very night in Max’s room a forest grew and grew - and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max and he sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are. And when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws til Max said “BE STILL!” and tamed them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all and made him king of the wild things.

In the beginning of this creative process that eventually lead to the creation of this one edition of MIADbridge, I was rather worried. For one, I hate working in InDesign. *Two, I was hating the fact that the Service Learning course was mandatory to graduate. And finally, I just get nervous about things I’ve never done before. But as I unwillingly explored this new project I realized it wasn’t that bad. In the end, I like InDesign a little more, I learned a lot, and I have a gained respect for MIAD’s Service Learning Course. My issue of MIAD bridge focuses on service that effects, promotes, and involves our environments. It revolves around the exploration of Milwaukee through our communities. It touches on the difficulties of and provides solutions for living a greener urban life. And really, most importantly, I hope this issue somehow, in some way, excites or motivates you to not only live a cleaner more eco-friendly life but to do so by becoming apart of your community.

Caresse ReilandCaresse Reiland Editor-In-Chief

*I don’t have community service. It’s just I’ve been doing it my whole life and it’s kinda messing my schedule up.

Julia Kozerski volunteered for a total of 41.5 service hours at the Schiltz Audubon Nature Center.

Throughout this experience she performed a wide variety of tasks as part of the Land Stewardship

Department. In this department, Julia took part in many unique assignments pertaining largely to

the removal of invasive plant species. Like many students, Julia was not particularly confident in

gaining anything besides a good grade for her services. However, while she was making a positive

change in her environment she slowly realized something more was growing, deep inside of her.

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Identify at one specific powerful moment and one spe-cific frustrating or challenging moment in your service.

My most powerful and my most frustrating/challenging moments in my service at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center occurred on the same day. Mid-way through my volunteerism, a small group of us had gathered early one Saturday morning and made the decision to tackle one of the biggest and most daunting chores around the property. . . cutting down Buckthorn. Although, for the most part, the trees are small in size (most of them no thicker then the thickness of a pencil,) the species of tree is extremely invasive and had literally taken over a good portion of the local landscape. On this particular frigid day the group decided to trudge through the knee-high snow and ice to the densely wooded property behind the Land Manager’s house. We began our cutting as we had so many times before. The day’s work seemed just as ordinary as any other; determining each tree’s species by it’s visual charac-teristics, using a saw or clipper to cut the Buckthorn, and then applying an herbicide to the exposed wood in hopes of preventing further spreading and gemination of the plant.

About half-way through the day our group heard Matt Smith, the Land Manager at the SANC loudly exclaim the words “Oh my gosh!” We ran over to him to find him in perfect health, although maybe in some state of shock, standing in front of a humongous Buckthorn tree. Quite literally the tree was so tall that we could barely see the top and so wide that when the five of us in the group outstretched our hands around tree’s trunk, our hands did not touch. This was the largest Buckthorn plant any of us had ever encountered. Excitedly we took turns photo-graphing one another, and the group as a whole, standing in front of the epic beast. After the high of our discovery wore off, we realized that this tree, having been produc-ing berries which contain seeds, has been one cause for the continued growth and spread of this invasive species. After an hour or so of discussion and planning, Matt and our group were hellbent on executing the cutting down of

the giant Buckthorn tree we had discovered. Armed with a safety gear, ropes, and a chain saw our group of volunteers toppled our enormous adversary. Once the coast was clear we applied herbicide to the exposed wood and then collectively joined in a private celebration. We reveled in the accomplishment of, not only removing the tree from the landscape, but also in the fact that because we had done so, we had deterred and prevented further growth of this invasive species in this area of the property. For all of us in the group, this day would go down in the record books. We had really made a difference! (Plus we had a great story to tell our friends and our future generations; the story of how we defeated a giant Buckthorn.)

In juxtaposition to the empowerment I felt that morning came an overwhelming feeling of frustration and hopeless-ness. During the celebration following the Buckthorn’s fall, we took turns counting the tree’s rings. In the end, we come to the general condenses that this particular plant was over 60 years old. While knowing the tree’s age may not seem frightening to many, our group knew the signifi-cance. That day was the first time any of us had ever seen or heard of the tree. For at least 60 years that particular tree had been growing taller and taller and, with each pass-ing year, had been spreading the seeds and sprouting new Buckthorn plants. It’s not that the terrain or that the task of Buckthorn removal had been neglected, it was the fact that the Nature Center sprawls an impressive 185 acres and that it is nearly impossible, given limited funds, to be fully eradicate and completely prevent this non-native plant from the property.

My most powerful and my most frustrating moments in my service at the Audubon Nature Center occurred on the same day.

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So there we were, Matt, myself, and four other volun-teers, giddy with excitement over a victory for the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center but likewise filled with the acknowl-edgement that their may be other plants, possibly bigger, taller, older Buckthorn trees growing (not to mention the hundreds of thousands of smaller Buckthorn plants in various stages of growth and reproduction) around the property. With that acknowledgement, we gave each other one last high-five and returned to the task at hand. . . never ending Buckthorn removal and prevention.

What changes would improve the organization where you served? How has the time you have spent there changed you, your outlook on community and others?

Throughout my placement at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, I witnessed a lot of positivity and optimism. I feel that the organization as a whole has a fantastic grasp on their mission and has implemented realistic goals and sensible plans of action to reach those goals. Because I worked mainly in the “front of the house” as a land steward, and not very much behind the scenes in the areas of mar-keting and financials, I can only suggest changes related to my current knowledge.

With the stated plans for the land which include the removal of specific species, the planting of new species,

the general maintenance and upkeep of the property, as well as the specific attention to being proactive against the Emerald Ash Borer, it is clear that the Land Stewards at the SANC have a lot of responsibility. Weighing the Center’s mission against the fact that they only employ one paid Land Manager and one paid Assistant Land Steward, it can be daunting to think of the amount of work that each of these individuals will have to accomplish (and the time it would take to make any real progress; seeing as they must tend to nearly 150 acres of land.) Obviously it is unreason-able to assume that these two individuals would/should be held accountable for all of the tasks at hand. The Nature Center’s well-being literally depends on people like me. . . volunteers.

Like I stated before, I believe that the SANC is doing a fantastic job given their financial restraints. But, with the analysis of my experience inside and outside of the Center, I would like to offer up a few recommendations towards improving efficiency towards furthering their mission as well as streamlining their current workloads.

My first suggestion is quite general. The Schlitz Audubon Nature Center needs more advertising. I have literally lived in Milwaukee all of my life and have been fairly active within the community however, I had never heard of the SANC before seeking placement for this class (at age 26!) The Nature Center is such an asset to our community and our state as a whole. We need to spread the word of all that the organization has to offer. From preschool classes and middle/school field trips, to hiking trails and bird watching, even it’s uses for special events and weddings, the Center is accessible to all ages, genders, races, etc. There is no discrimination found within the confines of this organiza-tion and therefore would appeal to almost everyone. We need to spread the word of the wonder that is the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center.

My second suggestion is more specific to my time working with the Land Stewards; it is very minor. On weekdays

My experience at the Nature Center was productive and positive in all aspects. It was a truly cathartic experience where I could relieve some frustration and put those actions towards a greater good.

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we would gather at 9:00am and on Saturday’s we would gather at 9:30am however there was a bit of lag between our meet-up time and the actual time in which we began our physical labor. I understand that the land stewards are mainly made up of volunteers and therefore the atmo-sphere tends to be more casual and relaxed but, realisti-cally, that 15-20 minutes of conversation that takes place before we head outdoors could be better spent completing the task at hand. When it comes to a nearly all volunteer task force vs. the overwhelming amount of work that needs to be accomplished around the property, it would be wise to better utilize that “down” time. Also, it seemed that the Land Managers never knew how many volunteers (or who) would be showing up to work on any particular day. Some volunteers such as myself came on a regimented basis while others trickled in randomly. Because of this, there was a bit of a guessing game as to what tasks we would be doing that day dependent on the ages, skills, and abilities of those who showed up on any given day. For this, I would recommend an online “check in” system where you could log in and just say “yes’ or “no” to whether or not you would be volunteering your time on certain days. Having a better understanding of who will be there would allow a more streamlined approach to completing tasks. For instance, if they knew that there would be a group of 10 students, 3 outside volunteers (retirees, etc.,) and one land manager ahead of time, they could plan to initiate a controlled burn or mass Buckthorn removal that day rather than assume that only a few would show and then scramble (wasting time and resources) that morning. If a check-in system is not realistic, maybe then make a written list of activities categorized by skill and number of needed workers that they could look to in a situation.

The suggestions that I am making are quite minor. I think the SANC has a good grasp on how to operate their organization however, streamlining their efficiency may be in their best interest especially when it comes to utilizing their volunteer workforce to their best advantage.

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grandparents and I met retirees (I even “met” a handful of deer and a few wild turkeys.) I met a wide variety of people, people who I thought were outside of my “community” because they didn’t live near me. What I discovered during my volunteerism is that “community” can represent a physicality like my neighborhood or even the grounds of the Nature Center, but it can also stand for a grouping of like-minded individuals. In the context of my volunteering, “community” stood for a cause, the mission of the SANC. I now feel like I belong to a community of people interested in and inspired by the need “to become responsible stew-ards of the natural world” (Schlitz Audubon Nature Center.)

Written By: Julia KozerskiImages & Editing By: Caresse Reiland

My time at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center was actually quite amazing. To be honest, given my personal situation this semester, the idea of volunteering 40 hours within the context of my schooling and home life was daunting. In the end, I could not have imagined a better placement for my volunteerism. I know that I was able to make a physical difference within the landscape as well as had the pleasure of not only sharing my stories with others but also learning about the backgrounds, interests, and ideas of others. Keeping physically and mentally busy during these weekly visits was almost like therapy for me.

Bringing my experience of volunteerism back to the idea of community, I met so many great people at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. I met very small children, I met students from local high schools, I met parents and

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Getting kids to eat their fruits and vegetables

is already a daunting task. So getting them to

eat an organic and healthy dessert may seem

impossible. Here’s a fun and easy way to

show kids that eating healthy can not only be

fun but it can taste oh so yummy!

environmental eats

Peel the bananas and wrap them in wax paper.

Place the bananas wrapped in was into the freezer. Leave bananas in the freezer for about one hour or until thoroughly frozen.

Take bananas out of freezer. Unwrap the frozen bananas from the wax paper. Discard wax paper.

Plug in and turn on your juicer. Using the taper, slowly force one frozen banana at a time through the juicer.

The frozen banana will then come out through the pulp tube. I should be a fine smooth texture just like ice cream.

Now just place in a bowl, add your desired toppings and enjoy a sugar-free, cream-free, dairy-free desert.

Written By: Caresse Reiland

THINGS YOU'LL NEED• 2-3 bananas per serving

• wax paper

• a freezer

• a juicer with a homogenizing function.

ECO URBANITEENVIRONMENTAL LIVING, INVASIVE SPECIES, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

“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.

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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 location 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 being 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. For this paper I am sticking to researching and discussing only the living off the grid portion of that equation. 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. What I am going to be discussing is the Urban Ecology Centers and a detailed description on what it is they do and who they are. Then I will be researching living off the grid and how the Urban Ecology Center sparked my interest in it. Finally I will look into what the agency has taught me and what were the experiences I gained from volunteering. 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 learn-ing 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 Milwaukee youth, protecting and enhancing the flourishing Milwaukee natural areas, building a community around vol-unteering, stewardship, recreation, and camara-derie, and finally the teachings of environmentally responsible behavior. The types of services they offer are: Neighborhood environmental education 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, steward-ships, 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 swimming, 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 keystone of Milwaukee culture and community building. There are now two locations Riverside on the East side of Milwaukee off of Oakland and the other, Washington Park, is on 40th and Lisbon. Although the two centers correlate with the same organization they differ. They each share differ-ences and similarities. Each offers different or similar programs and activities. Riverside has a native Wisconsin animal room, river system tanks, a slide, a

My ideas are a bit

more extreme...

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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 cre-ated in 2004 and being located 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 Washington 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 neglect.” The Riverside section does not state anything about ridding it of crime. When volunteering there I was surprised 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 history 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.

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 sustainable ways of life were the 5 essential projects when creating a homestead, harvesting water, obtaining power, dealing with human waste,

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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 Knutzen in their book The Urban Homestead, revolve mainly around starting your own food source. Growing your own food source is a huge project and can be overwhelming and a daunt-ing task. It is an important 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 garbage 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 shred-ded 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 decomposition, 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 characteris-tics of soil. “The best compost we’ve seen almost looked like crumbled chocolate cake” (Coyne 49). Now we move onto the second step of the 5 essen-tial projects; vermiculture or composting with worms.

Worm bins are a second source for composting. This kind is particularly important when living in an apartment setting without a yard of some sort. The reason this is such a good method is the worms will eat all your kitchen scraps and leave an odorless nutrient rich soil. Worms will consume vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds, tea bags, plain pasta, and cooked grains. Ground up eggshell is also a good material the worms can feed on because the calcium

is necessary for there breeding process. Keeping the scraps underneath moist shredded newspaper detracts from flies. Properly keeping them in a plas-tic bin will not attract flies or an odor. A good spot for them is underneath a sink in a room temperature room where they thrive best but they can survive in temperatures below freezing and over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In the event you do experience bad smells and flies here is what you do: The bin is either to wet or overloaded with food and the worms can’t consume fast enough. Either puncture ventilation holes or stop feeding the compost for a while. In the

Growing your

own food source

is a huge project

and can be over-

whelming and a

daunting task

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event of flies the chances are they are getting to the improperly covered food in the bins. Be sure to keep the food well buried or use a piece of cardboard to cover the bed in a final effort to deter the flies (Coyne 55). Lets move onto the third step of the five.

Mulching your yard is important to keeping healthy plants and rich soils around the homestead. This will keep your garden in top shape. The reason for using mulch in your garden is that it keeps in moisture while regulating temperatures and weeds. There is three types of mulching you can do for your garden: regular mulching, sheet mulching, and lasagna mulching. They range in complexity but essentially its just loads of organic matter placed on your gardens and yards. Regular mulching is just laying down a thick layer of organic mulch material around plants that allows for the soil beneath to get strong in nutrients. Sheet mulching is just like regular mulch-ing but it is upgraded with a weed barrier. The weed barrier is something permeable and organic that will smother the weeds and not let any new ones get any sunlight. An example of this would be newspaper or cardboard. This will rejuvenate large areas plagued by weeds. Lasagna mulching is sheet mulching to the next level. It is the layering of different types of mulches to revitalize poor soil. The lasagna mulch-ing process falls as so: Mow or stomp down weeds, layer high-nitrogen material, then the weed barrier explained before, a compost layer, and the top layer which is materials that will work its way through the layers bit by bit such as wood chips, sticks, or pine needles (Coyne 58). We’ve got all these nice com-posting techniques but now what about the place to grow your crops?

Building a raised bed is the next step to the 5 essentials of urban homesteading. This is an essential place in growing your own crops because the type of yield you can get out of a raised bed is

immense. Raised beds provide nutritious soil needed for healthy root development. They are also easier to weed and maintain. Soil in them is warmer so planting earlier in the spring is a possibility and they drain nicely so waterlogged soil is no worry. They are typically bottomless to allow for the healthy soil and easy water drainage. The height of these beds range from one foot to waist level. They are constructed mainly from something that can retain water and soil such as wood. It is more common to see that of the one to two foot beds (Coyne 61). For the final step in keeping this entire workhorse running is a self-watering contraption for all of these gardens.

The problem for a city dweller and watering their plants is time. It is difficult to judge when your plants need water and on certain high heat days in the summer multiple watering trips are required. Not to worry anymore though. Building a self-watering container is the quickest way to solve this problem and keep your plants healthy and strong. Pots have a tendency to dry out fairly quickly. A solution to this is instead of there being a hole in the bottom there is a water reservoir. Water is then pumped through the soil by various mechanisms, such as a pipe,

These 5 steps are

truly important

steps in making

sustainable living

become a reality.

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keeping the plant constantly moist. It is possible to span watering up to once a week depending on the depth of the reservoir (Coyne 67). This is crucial to keeping your crop and garden in top condition because not everyone has the time in a day to keep an eye on their plants constantly. These 5 steps are truly important steps in making sustainable living become a reality. Creating a food source is extremely important. Knowing where it is your food is coming from and how it is grown is something that seems to have been lost for quite sometime. Being able to grow and maintain a portion of your food source is incredible. Along with food another important step in living off the grid is the ability to get a water source and power source.

Radical climate changes have sparked water shortages in many parts of the world according to scientists at the National Center for Atmosphere Research (Coyne 239). I get most of my water from the tap and with the impending crises over water shortages it has pushed me into the territory of creating my own water supplies and harvesting water from a renewable source. Just like plastic and paper water can too be recycled. It can be put to better use than just being put down the drain and emp-tied into the sewers. There are six ways to harvest rainwater outside of city water. The first technique is to start depaving your concrete. Taking a sledge-hammer to pavement will allow for more rainwater to fall onto permeable surfaces. Pavement is unhealthy for the earth. There are ways to cut down on it such as paving only the tire tracks with gravel on a drive way and allowing for grass growth around it. The second technique is smart gutters and downspouts. Roofs and gutters are another impermeable surface that can be changed to better harvest rainwater. The run off can be redirected towards gardens or water basins to better harvest the water. Thirdly there are earthworks, which are ways to maneuver water flow

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around your home with natural elements such as rocks. Next there are mulch basins that are good for dealing with floodwater or washing machine water. Mulch basins are shallow trenches with raised walls that are filled with wood chips. They hold large amounts of water resulting in a good soaking of the soil. The fifth technique is terracing. This is mainly for properties located on hills. When rain falls down the hill and into the street it doesn’t have the ade-quate amount of time to seep into the soil. Terracing slows down the rainwater allowing for a better soak-ing by cutting stair stepped terraces in the earth. Rain barrels are the sixth and final technique. This technique is my favorite because you can utilize it for many things such as showering which some urban revolutionaries have been able to do. It also has the capability of creating drinking water (Coyne 253). This is a very complex task but is worth it in the end. Harvesting water is going to become more and more necessary when catastrophes arise from water short-ages around the globe. Having the technology and will power to have a self-sustainable resource for water is something everyone should strive for. There would be less water wasted and would open up to new ways of delivering water to the masses. Power is another one of these resources that is important to get on your own.

Generating your own power is something I will strive for in my journey of living off the grid. With all of the talks about clean energy it makes me wonder why we don’t implement more solar powered and wind powered energy sources. I would certainly like to implement solar energy in my home. Photovoltaic panels have the ability to convert the light coming from the sun into electricity. They come in all sorts of shapes from small to multiple panels that can run a whole house. There are off grid and grid tied options when it comes to using solar energy. Off grid means you are completely independent from electrical

companies and a power outage would have no effect on your home. The only down fall to this is during the evening hours or a lengthy storm you will have to rely on back up batteries and cut down immensely on power consumption. The more common prac-tice is that of grid tied. This is when you are still in contract with your electrical company but run your house off of solar power during the day. The more energy your solar panel makes and the less you use the less you will spend and can lead to the electrical company paying you. During the evening hours you rely on the company to deliver electricity. There are many options when it comes to buying solar panels and are becoming more integrated in society and less expensive due to low cost manufacturing of PV panels in China (Coyne 297). I hope one day I will be able to be completely off the grid when it comes to solar power.

Another topic of concern is that of dealing with waste in a living off the grid environment. Handling fecal matter in away separate from that of a tra-ditional toilet has been a curiosity to me when researching this topic. Sewage is broken down into two categories gray water and black water. Gray water is the water from bathtubs, bathroom sinks, and laundry machines. This water is considered to be gray water because it is not contaminated with feces. Black water on the other hand is the water

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that has been in contact with human fecal matter. It is extremely pathogenic but can be used if treated and purified. Gray water also contains pollutants that can be sifted out and used for use around the house. Two types of off the grid waste management that peaked my interest are septic systems and composting toilets. Septic tanks are the high-end means of disposing of human waste. It is a large tank that collects and releases wastewater. Bacteria in the tank break down the solids beginning a separation process. When new wastewater pours in old waste is poured out into a drain field. Sediment in the drain field acts as a natural filter and allows for the soil to break down bacteria as nutrients (Black 156). The second is composting toilets. They are warmed, “well ventilated container[s] with diverse microbes that break down and create a dry, fluffy, and odorless compost” (Black 157). This compost can be then put into your compost pile creating a completely renewable resource. Dealing with human waste in a manner that can be a renewable source is something I see important and can benefit the earth as a whole. I would like to say that one day on my journey to becoming off the grid I would attempt the composting toilet or even further drastic choices.

Along with waste handling another topic that really sparked my interest was the living off the grid ideas of transpor-tation. I looked into this because I would say that my

methods of transportations are most certainly off the grid. My thoughts on how I impact the earth really started to stem and get serious when I began to bicycle everywhere around the city. The shape I am in and the connections I feel to my neighborhood spark a serious interest in other ways I can begin to live off the grid. Biking and mass transit transforms our living spaces. We get out of the isolation of cars and meet face to face on the streets. Guy Debord stated, “Traffic Circulation is the organization of universal isolation. In this regard it constitutes the major problem of modern cities. It is the opposite of encounter, it absorbs the energies that could otherwise be devoted to encounters or to any sort of participation” (Coyne 307). Guy Debord is a huge influence on my thoughts when it comes to ideas on society. He was a Situationists, which was a group of people who attempted to get people to have directly lived experience outside of the spectacles of society. For a person living of the grid transportation can revolve around these four principles: The journey is the journey which means that our mode of transportation shouldn’t be that of a stressful one but should promote joy and commuting as a recreational activity. Low-tech which is your main source of getting around should be able to be fixed by you and not taken to some specialist that has to import parts from over seas. The bicycle is elegant and simple allowing for its rider

I would say that

my methods of

transportations

are most certainly

off the grid.

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changes but they are worth it in the end. 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 pollut-ants, 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 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 blossoming 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 nickname 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

to master its every part. The third principle is transporta-tion as exercise. Who would of ever thought? Crazy! The detrimental effects of obesity and type 2 diabetes can be directly correlated with the amount of time people spend in cars (Coyne 307). You save time with exercising while com-muting instead of having to go to the gym and it is from a real life experience not a treadmill. Walking is also another transit choice that is for some one living off the grid.

Walking allows you to meet your neighbors, actually feel the transitions of the seasons, and get in touch with the world around you. Hikers use this trick called Naismith’s Rule. It is the idea that the average person can walk one mile in twenty minutes. You technically add 30 minutes to each 1000 feet you elevate but for urban scenarios no need to worry on that (Coyne 308). I am glad to see how many of my transportation points are align with that of a person who lives off the grid. As it goes for the book report section these books have taught me a great deal in the absolutely massive world of living off the grid. The topics of essential farming projects, water and power, waste disposal, and transportation are all topics I found to be a good pre cursor for anyone looking into living off the grid. For some these are huge life style

environmentalism

is not about

trying to use less

but about trying

to be more

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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.

Written By: Ryan StrzokPhotography By: Caresse Reiland

Outside of Midwesterners, it’s safe to say that most Americans overlook rural farmland states like Iowa. There are no professional sports teams with show-stopping athletes, no noteworthy theme parks or major entertainment epicenters, national landmarks or beaches. Iowa’s largest city, the capital city of Des Moines, falls from its local number one spot to 106th on the list of most popu-lous U.S. cities, by which time the state of California has already weighed in 17 times. But while Iowa may be lacking in superstardom, they hold their own in the drama department, laying claim to an especially devastating history of record-breaking floods.

From May through August of 1851, the United States Midwest experience record-setting rainfalls. Of all the states affected by the consequential flooding, Iowa suffered the most. The degree of devastation was most likely exacer-bated by the newness of the state’s major settlements, which had only been established for less than ten years at the time. Inexperienced new residents weren’t prepared for a major flood and river towns lacked the necessary levees and substantial bridges capable of withstanding significant flooding. Crops were destroyed, roads rendered impass-able, houses and fences reduced to rubble and strewn across the farmlands, rendering the entire work of the season unsalvageable. Des Moines suffered a decrease in population, which some directly blamed on the flood. Over the next century, Iowa bounced back from the obliteration of their first settlements. The introduction of railroads in the 1850’s and 60’s transformed Iowa into a major agricultural production center. The economy continued to grow and change as the U.S. industrialized, giving way to the rise of a significant increase in manufacturing, which brought about a correspondingly significant increase in monetary gain. Soon major companies, including but not limited to General Mills, Heinz, Quaker Oats, Wonder Bread/Hostess, John Deere, and the Maytag Corporation, erected advanced processing and production facilities throughout the state. Just as the state seemed to be settling into a routine, disaster struck again.

The Great Flood of 1993 is still one of the most costly and devastating to ever occur in the U.S., warranting over $15 billion in damages. An unusually rainy fall season and heavy winter snowfall combined with the faulty system of levees put in place after the 1851 flood was disastrous for not only the state of Iowa, but multiple others surrounding the Mississippi River and it’s respective tributaries. Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, and the Dakotas all suffered catastrophic repercussions resulting in destruc-tion, displacement, and disarray. While 1993’s Great Flood was greater in continental terms, on a more localized scale specific to the state, Iowa hadn’t seen anything yet.

The Iowa Flood of 2008 is the latest and greatest in the state’s unfortunate history of hydrological happenings and has often been referred to as “Iowa’s Katrina.” (Corbett) The flooding of two of Iowa’s top five largest cities, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, were particularly devastating. Of these two, the recovery for Cedar Rapids has proved a considerably more drawn out and costly ordeal. Where Iowa City was adequately anticipatory of potential dam-ages, Cedar Rapids was unfortunate in their underestima-tion of the forces of nature.

Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in the state of Iowa and the county seat of Linn County. The city spans both banks of the Cedar River, making it entirely susceptible to the dangers of fluctuating water levels. City hall, the Linn County Courthouse, and the county jail – government run buildings of significant function – were all located on Mays Island, a small plateau in the middle of the Cedar River, before the 2008 floods rendered them unfit for occupa-tion. In the history of natural disasters, Cedar Rapids is the only U.S. city to lose their City Hall, County Jail, Municipal Court Facilities, Central Fire Department, Central Library, and Police Headquarters all at once. Based on damage to public facilities, this was the 5th largest state disaster in U.S. history. (Willis)

With the somewhat precarious locations of important governmental structures, Cedar Rapids seemed to be living on the edge, toeing the thin line between success and demise. As with any developing city, waterfront access was

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beneficial in more ways than one. The Cedar River, a tribu-tary to the great Mississippi River, served as both a mode of transportation and an integral avenue of commerce in addition to functioning simply as an aesthetic bonus to the surrounding community. As positive as the river was for the growth of Cedar Rapids, the 2008 Flood came to prove that it wouldn’t take much to cross that dangerous line.

Iowa State University meteorologist Elwynn Taylor claimed that the warm wet air of the 2007-2008 winter season, the type of air that produces significant snowfall, was directly correlated with the excessive wetness of the spring of 2008. He continued to explain:

“Fog in the winter is normally the result of a strong flow of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, which normally does not occur in the winter. Usually that occurs in March and April. It’s caused by either low pressure over New Mexico or high pressure over Bermuda. Both are common in the summer. Both are rare in the winter. More than 80 percent of moisture that falls in the Midwest is from the Gulf of Mexico, and the primary cause of it coming here is the Bermuda high pressure. The pressure arrived very early and much stronger than usual by April and May this year [2008]. And it was also the case in 1993.” (Corbett)

All it took was one uncharacteristic winter season to bring about $5.74 billion in damages. At the peak of the flood, water levels crested at 31.11 ft, approximately 19 ft above flood stage. And the timing couldn’t have been worse. Such a wide-reaching natural disaster coupled with the

country’s simultaneous economic recession left the city of Cedar Rapids with inadequate relief funds. The universal community message put together by a team of local marketing, communication and media professionals states that “Cedar Rapids has suffered a disaster in the billions and only received funding in the millions.” (Willis) Even now, almost three years after the fact, Cedar Rapids has yet to get back on it’s feet.

After the initial flooding, the city was faced with a myriad of health concerns, the most pressing of which being the compromise of their domestic water supply. The Cedar Rapids water treatment facility had been knocked out of service, which resulted in close to 25 million gallons of raw sewage being dumped into the river on a daily basis. All but one of the city’s wells had been overtaken by floodwaters, waters contaminated with the aforementioned sewage as well as leaked petroleum products and a variety of other toxic materials that had been swept up and spread around over the course of the month that affected areas were submerged. Only through a vigorous sandbagging effort perpetuated by members of the community had the city managed to maintain control over their sole source of clean water. Water Pollution Control would not recover for another 12 weeks. (Willis)

In addition to the increased tension of a now limited water supply, there was an obvious spike in the homeless population as nearly 20,000 citizens were displaced from their homes. Only a select few could be accommodated by the limited supply of FEMA trailers. Without the neces-sary funding for adequate relief, many people spent the three weeks following the flood making temporary shelters among the wreckage.

As the waters receded, tremendous amounts of potentially infectious debris surfaced, including tons of accumulated garbage and dead animal carcasses. The endlessness of the debris coupled with the heat and humidity of the summer provided an environment dangerously conducive

to the breeding of mold and bacteria and the residual onset of disease. The amount of displaced waste was so great that over a year later there were still reports of trash and debris littering the streets. In order to accommodate it all, the city was forced to reopen a landfill they had previously closed, citing that otherwise the new one would be filled in “one fell swoop.”

Refrigerators filled with rotting food and decomposing animal carcasses were host to festering bacteria and soon enveloped the city in a noticeable stench of decay. Contact with polluted water gave way to skin rashes and in some cases dysentery. In an effort to combat such a multitude of threats to public health, the major hospitals and clinics worked together to provide over 9,000 free tetanus shots. (Corbett) In addition to the physical afflictions brought about by such extreme conditions, many of those who were flooded out developed mental health issues. The loss of personal possessions, items of family history and the like, resulted in consequential depression for some people, which occasionally lead to the development of post-trau-matic stress disorder.

The flooding disaster was so extreme that the financial cost exceeded the ability of the state to adequately recover. Where the recession rendered the government unable to provide relief, the citizens of Iowa stepped up to the plate. Without jobs or homes to answer to, men, women, and children banned together and devoted themselves to the comforting and assistance of one another in any way that they possibly could. “While many people around the nation were fighting for individual economic relief, Cedar Rapids citizens voluntarily passed a sales tax increase that was expected to bring in millions of dollars a year,” (Willis) millions of dollars that would go toward closing the gap between what was needed and what had been provided to rebuild. Citizens even tapped into their personal funds with full knowledge that they would not be reimbursed. The Cedar Rapids City Council made promises to purchase approximately 1,300 damaged houses and business before

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they had the $175 million necessary for such an under-taking. In doing so, they pledged to help the thousands of struggling survivors make ends meet in the wake of unimaginable devastation. News crews put together media kits that aired on national television, desperately appealing to the nation. Websites went up with personal accounts and statistics in an effort to get as much of their story out as possible.As time has passed and word has gotten out, Cedar Rapids has made great strides toward the future. The revamping of service organizations, such as the local branch of Habitat for Humanity, has expedited relief efforts and seen significant results in reinstating housing communi-ties throughout the region as well as providing resources for the repair and upkeep of homes and buildings that may have survived. The government still hasn’t met the projected $5.74 billion needed for complete recovery, but they’ve currently conceded $848 million, earning the Iowa Flood of 2008 the title of the 6th largest national disaster as declared by FEMA. The city appears to be stabilizing, which might actually hurt them more than help. Chuck Hammond of the local lip balm production company, Raining Rose, says:

“My biggest concern, candidly, is that DC has lost us, we’re off the face of the map because we’ve ‘recov-ered,’ and at the same time we’re not recovered. Because we were so strong in the early stages, I think there’s a presumption that it’s kinda behind us. But we’re just getting started.” (Associated Press)

There are still entire neighborhoods full of empty houses that have been condemned to demolition. City Hall, the Linn County Courthouse and the county jail buildings remain desolate on Mays Island, unable to be reoccupied.

However, Cedar Rapids is a resilient city, one that remains optimistic of its future. With so many renovations and reconstructions, there’s been a surplus of job openings that have greatly benefited the displaced working community.

The plans to secure “a vibrant and urban hometown” have been set into motion and all citizens are in agreement – it’s time to move forward. But does the future hold?

Flood experts have spoken to the potential for future devastation akin to the Flood of 2008. According to them, it’s not a matter of “if,” it’s a matter of “when.” Apart from reconstructing the city’s urban landscape, citizens and government officials alike have sounded off on the need to address the preventative measures defined by the “outdated Army Corps of Engineers model that says there is little to fear.” (Dorman) Unfortunately, the unity that saw Cedar Rapidians through the worst of it all has dissipated and politics have clouded the ability to agree upon a solid solution. Todd Dorman, a writer for the Cedar Rapids Gazette expresses his sentiments:

“I was here for the real disaster. The big one. I, like many of us, marveled at the initial, selfless response by a united community. And I’ve seen an arduous recovery that’s shaken away our early resolve and sparked plenty of anger. Old divides widened. New ones cracked open. We’ve been exposed to the fail-ures, limitations and lapses of democratically elected governments from City Hall to the White House. Our trust has been shaken and our institutions damaged in ways that most communities, luckily, never endure. It’s no wonder that so many people look upon nearly every decision with seething skepticism. I’m skepti-cal, too, but I’m also certain about one thing: Another massive flood will not make this better.”(Dorman)

And so the fate of their city remains up in the air. Until they can reclaim the resolve instilled in them in the early throes of tragedy, the citizens of Cedar Rapids cannot know how secure their future is. In lieu of the endless bickering and stagnation in legislation, one can only hope that the city rallies to their own defense before the unthinkable happens. Again.

Written By: Shannon WunderlichIllustrated By: Kori Levy

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milwaukee in action

“I think ahead to a new economy that is good

for all the people. And I feel this process

of renewal is going to begin with the most

important thing in our lives: food”

- Will Allen, Farmer, Founder and CEO of Growing Power

GROWINGPOWER

EXCERPT OF ARTICLE WRITTEN BY GRACE BLEVINS: In the midst of one of the worst economic periods we have experienced in decades, the organization Growing Power offers solutions to the many deep-rooted problems, which exist in Milwaukee and Chicago. The problems are visible near my neighborhood: a distinguishable lack of nutritious, affordable food sources in low-income areas, or food des-erts as they are commonly known. The problems exist in our industrialized food system, that has developed from a structurally racist system, which disables low-income com-munities of color. “The store at Growing Power’s Milwaukee farm is the only place for miles around that carries fresh produce, free-range eggs, grass-fed beef, and homegrown honey” (Bybee). With new job programs, sustainable, organic practices and providing and establishing healthy food options in necessary areas, Growing Power is pulling communities out of desperate circumstances in a decisive and structural way.

Growing Power originally began as a youth program, which gave teenagers an opportunity to work at Will Allen’s store, work in the greenhouses and grow food for their community, in the North side of Milwaukee. Milwaukee has expanded it’s operations considerably, but the focus on being an education source in the community has not changed. “At Growing Power, we believe that the farm is an educational lab” (Growing Power). Educational skills range from topics in urban planning, sustainable growth, effective soil, food distribution, marketing and community engagement. Growing Power still has youth programs in Milwaukee and Chicago, which allows 10-18 year old kids the opportunity to learn basic agriculture and develop leadership skills. Similarly, the organization has partnered with U.S. EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, to support “Los Cultivadores de Paz” Growers of Peace Community Garden, summer program located in Milwaukee’s predominantly Latino Southside. The main initiatives are soil remediation, removing lead from the soil and nutrition education. Growing Power has also partnered with numerous Milwaukee school garden projects: the garden and school-wide composting initiative at University School of Milwaukee. The schools composts lunch waste, which is used in their plant beds and the plants grown in the garden are prepared in USM’s kitchen. Growing Power also works with Urban Day School, a UWM charter school, which educates children from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade. The school incorporates lessons from their summer school curriculum to coincide with the work in the garden. The garden represents the students choice of ingredients commonly found in Latino cuisine: tomatoes, peppers, cilantro and onions. In partnership with the Milwaukee Public School system, Growing Power has procured locally grown food for an Milwaukee’s elementary schools. Farm Fresh to MPS provides teacher training via workshops and customized trainings, curriculum-based programs comply-ing to Wisconsin State Standards.

For full article contact Grace Blevins at graceblevins.com

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Julia KozerskiRyan StrzokKori LevyShannon WunderlichGrace BlevinsChristiane GrauertShawn Simmons

my classmates

thanks,

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