Tia Richardson is a Milwaukee-based community artist who provides visual arts programming as a tool for community-building for young people and adults, focusing on how community art reinforces empathy and cooperation with one another. She met Davita and I at Menomonee Valley one afternoon to share how she became a member of the Urban Ecology Center about two years ago, and how membership continues to provide her with an essential extension of her community and her home.

Pat Mueller and Roger Coleman are two of the most familiar faces at the Riverside Park Urban Ecology Center, each one sharing a history with the Center that goes back nearly two decades and an appreciation that persists to this day. You’ll find Pat volunteering behind the reception desk every Thursday morning and Roger back in the office 5 days a week completing his Volunteer Program internship. They met with us at Riverside Park one afternoon to tell us their thoughts on nurturing, growth, and taking care of what you have.

Steve & Barb Weinstein have lived in the Riverside Park neighborhood since 1978. Steve bikes the Oak Leaf Trail every day, at times stopping to rest and take in the sounds of children playing in the park. He strolled into Riverside Park one evening after work and told me about his history with the Center; thinking back to when this building was nothing but a dream and his daughter was too young to work, he spoke of the Center’s growth with a strong sense of pride and a hint of nostalgia.

Repurposing items is one of the most fun ways to be more environmentally friendly and can also cure boredom. All you need is items you no longer need or use and a little creativity. You’re only limited by how creative you can be!

Before you recycle or throw something away, see if you can think of a way it could be used for something different. You might be surprised at the ideas you come up with and you'll end up making something that is one-of-a-kind!

This week is about reusing! Our tips will give you ideas about how to reuse things instead of recycling or throwing them away after one use. Reusing something is an easy way to reduce the amount of items you need to buy and the amount of waste you produce.

This week’s Milwaukee Earth Month theme is reduce. Our first set of tips were ways to refuse things you don't really need. The next step is to reduce the amount of resources you use. Reducing the amount of electricity, water and gas you use daily can have a big impact on your environmental footprint and your wallet. We've complied 7 things you can easily incorporate into your daily routine that will help you save money and start good eco-friendly habits.

Earth day may be April 22nd, but we’re celebrating all month long with Milwaukee Earth Month! We have 30 days of eco-friendly living tips to help you celebrate Milwaukee Earth Month at home! Each week we will share easy tips from one of the 6 R’s: refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle. Challenge yourself to try as many as you can!

Michelle Young is an MPS teacher and proud mother of two extremely bright girls, Jada & Kennedy. She’s been nominated for Teacher of the Year for the past 3 years, but has yet to accept the award: “When you teach from the heart, you don’t get your validation from adults; you get it from the kids." Her family signed up for membership soon after Jada and Kennedy joined the Young Scientists Club in 2010/2011, and they’ve been actively involved in our educational programming ever since. She met Davita and me at Washington Park to tell us about her profound appreciation for what she’s learned here and how it shaped her life and career.