This past Greek Earth Day took the University of Miami to the Montgomery Botanical Center in Coral Gables. When the buses pulled up to the center, various students commented that Coral Gables does not need the free labor they were providing and that they thought they “would be working with an underprivileged community”.[i] I shared the same sentiments…until I researched the organization that has been fighting invasive species in the Botanical Center and transplanting rare plants.
The Urban Paradise Guild works with the Montgomery Botanical Center to help fight various invasive species to the palms and cycads grown there from around the world[ii]. This may not seem significant considering the volunteer day was meant to help, well, those who NEED help. But the Urban Paradise Guild itself provides environmental aid to Botanical Centers and community gardens throughout Florida, regardless of the socioeconomic status (SES) of the region. Some of these locations include: Liberty City, Hialeah, Oleta, Viscaya, El Portal, Matheson Hammock, and FIU South. But part of the Urban Paradise Guild’s objective includes creating and maintaining a paradise in otherwise urban areas. So what does this mean to us? It means that the Guild is committed to resolving an environmental issue which usually revolves around a lack of vegetation in overdeveloped areas, and it also means they are willing to introduce projects at NEW locations![iii]
How can the Urban Paradise Guild make an impact in a new location? What if the location does not have enough community property where a garden can be built? The Urban Paradise Guild operates without funding and is volunteer-based. Community nurseries and gardens can also be small in size, ranging from being started on a rooftop to being planted under a tree. But the nurseries that the UPG promote are created native species on South Florida, and volunteers bring these plants to life from the seed to transplanting, and finally, the final step of planting them.[iv]
So what sort of community impact does the UPG have, and how can volunteering help their efforts? The University of Miami already demonstrated on Greek Earth day that this sort of volunteering is much simpler, and less time consuming that one might think. We uprooted invasive species by hand and shovel, and transplanted native species from small pots to larger pots. Lines were formed to pass soil and groups were made to water the plants. The teamwork and solidarity between different Greek organizations was fantastic to see and made being a student at the University of Miami seem more worthwhile. But why stop with one day of volunteering? And why not open locations where we know vegetation is scarce? It can be simple to volunteer, and the time commitment is minimal. Make your community or someone else’s greener to help preserve the Paradise everyone hopes to enjoy. Bring the Guild to Urban areas, and keep the U involved. Volunteer at: http://www.urban-paradise.org/volunteer
[i] Anonymous Greek volunteer
[ii] "MBC Living Collections." Montgomery Botanical Center I. (2011): Web. 4 May 2011. <http://www.montgomerybotanical.org/Pages/Research.htm>.
[iii] "Locations & Chapters." Urban Paradise Guild. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://www.urban-paradise.org/Locations>.
[iv] “Native Community Nurseries." Urban Paradise Guild. Web. 3 May 2011.
<http://www.urban-paradise.org/nurseries.>.
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