Note: Week 4 of Green Team programming was suspended due to precautions regarding COVID-19. Groundwork is deeply committed to keeping our community partners and staff (including Green Team and their families!) healthy during this pandemic. The week off allowed everyone to get tested and receive results, without putting anyone at risk. We came back perfectly clear and ready to finish out the rest of our summer programming.
Beginning of a New Project - Tuesday, July 28th, 2020
This Tuesday, we went to our office to work on one of our projects: making recycled paper from paper waste. We worked on breaking down old paper and cardboard, as our first step of creating new resourceful paper. We also did a fun team building activity where two teams had to compete against each other to see who could figure out the order of a story about a boy who turned into an owl. Afterwards, we continued working with Lawrence to inventory and explore more Groundwork gardens around Milwaukee. We visited and checked a few gardens, documenting any damage to be fixed in the near future.
Exploring Discovery World - Wednesday, July 29th, 2020
Wednesday, we went to Discovery World where we started off by cleaning out any animal waste and plastic we found on the aquatic plants. Once we were done with that, we did a fun activity where two teams competed with each other to see who could build the best structure that could protect an egg from a fall. For our lunch break, we went to shake shack, one of Groundwork’s partners. We ate some delicious food. We finished the day off weeding the garden boxes in front of Discovery World. All of the food grown in those beds is free to take for anyone walking by!
Making Paper - Thursday, July 30th, 2020
Thursday, we went to the office again where we met up with Elena. Elena is Groundwork’s Volunteer & Community Programs Specialist. She’s also an expert at creating recycled paper from used cardboard, old papers, and even using fruits as dye. Throughout the day, Elena taught us the ins and outs of creating paper, and how we can do it ourselves at home. It’s a bit labor intensive, but the results are amazing. We also did a group activity called the “The Best Game Ever” where each member has a chance to show off their qualities to everyone else.
Going to the Maglio Farm - Friday, July 31st, 2020
Finally, it was Friday. We started by splitting into two teams. One team planted asian greens and another team planted carrots in a hoophouse at the Maglio Farm. After that, we had a professional, named Samson (Groundwork’s Volunteer & Food Systems Specialist), teach us about different farms and their objectives. He taught us how some farms stay organic and don’t use pesticides or chemicals and how other farms only focus on making one type of vegetable or fruit. He also explained to us what GMO means: genetically modified organisms. At the end of the day, we did a three-legged race between two teams. It was difficult getting through the obstacles but extremely fun.