Greater Milwaukee Men

July 4th, American Independence Day, has passed - but one of its primary activities has not, at least here in Wisconsin. Storms yesterday and today have postponed many community's shows. But maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't have them at all. Maybe we should replace them all with something else, like laser light shows. Some communities, like Salt Lake City, are already doing it because of a few of the many reasons I will argue everyone should. Fireworks are... I'm looking for an appropriate word here... problematic. Personally I have stronger feelings against them than that, but I understand that many people enjoy the spectacle. But most people don't understand the negative effects. I'll start with the first and most obvious one and after the break I'll get into more. As a dog companion, specifically a dog with noise anxiety among others, fireworks are entirely unenjoyable. The times when official fireworks are set, and usually for days before and after at random...

It's always great when a local business supports the local community, and we get that chance with the new Sprecher ParkLife beer. First in a series of brews intended to give back to Milwaukee County Parks, one of the jewels of our community, you can grab one at the Grant Park beer garden, and other locations.

Milwaukee is great, just ask us. But sometimes you want to head out of town to see the rest of the country. For many destinations, if going by car that means heading through Chicago. That means Chicago traffic, tolls, and time. Since 2004 there has been a more relaxing way to head west, especially if going to or through Michigan: the Lake Express ferry. You can skip all that and have a relaxing ride across the lake to Muskegon, MI. Of course there is a cost to that convenience. It's not cheap, you could fly to Michigan many days depending on the current airfare rates, but then we know you are taking your car for some reason. Luckily there is a great way to reduce the cost. For a few years now, the Lake Express has partnered with Milwaukee Bicycle Collective on a bike donation program on or around Earth Day. In return for a donated bike you get one free round-trip passenger fare. This year the donation event is Thursday, April 20.

Great coffee starts with clean water. Luckily in Milwaukee we have some of the best water in the world (there's a reason we have had so many breweries in town). But that water quality from safety to taste is always under attack by environmental issues. Brewers - of beer and coffee and even tea - are part of the ongoing activism in making sure we always have good water. Local coffee roasters Colectivo Coffee are one of those. Colectivo has created a special edition Three Rivers with clean water in mind. For every bag purchased, Colectivo will donate $1 to Milwaukee Riverkeeper®. The combination of Fair Trade, organic selections from Nicaragua and Sumatra offers flavors of dark chocolate, orange, and dried fig with a hint of spice. The mission of Milwaukee Riverkeeper ® is to protect, improve, and advocate for water quality, riparian wildlife habitat, and sound land management in the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic River Watersheds. They envision a future in which peop...

Good, healthy food can be expensive, even for those with a decent job. Fast food and processed foods are not only more convenient but also more affordable to many. So-called food deserts, areas in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food, are unfortunately something Milwaukee has to contend with. A new restaurant opening this month in Milwaukee seeks to solve that problem for one neighborhood. Tricklebee Cafe is a new restaurant, run by Rev. Christie Melby-Gibbons, that follows the pay-what-you-can  (PWYC) philosophy as a member of the One World Everybody Eats organization. In a PWYC business, a sliding scale of prices for products or services allows for people who are better off to pay higher prices to cover for lower prices paid for by those with lower income.

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Bronson Koenig In recent weeks, two athletes of Wisconsin teams, one pro one college, have taken very different actions to show support for the rights of their people. Both of these stories are now 'old' as it concerns news cycles, a few weeks having passed, but they both remain relevant to the state of the nation. Packers Ha Ha Clinton-Dix decided to pursue a degree in Criminal Science to try to resolve the issues between police and the black community and Badgers basketball player Bronson Koenig went to North Dakota to join in on Native American protests of the Dakota Access oil pipeline .

Wisconsin Senator Gaylor Nelson created Earth Day back in 1970 On Earth Day - every April 22 - is a day for activism and awareness on environmental issues celebrated worldwide, celebration being the keyword where we observe and honor the earth and the environment in festive ways compared to regular activities that can often be seen as a more serious or even adversarial by the movement. When we think of the environmental movement and states that are at the forefront we may think of California, Colorado, or even Oregon. But did you know that Earth Day was started by a Wisconsinite: Wisconsin then-Senator and former state Governor Gaylord Nelson ? Through the work of Nelson and others, Wisconsin actually has a strong presence in environmentalism and being a leader in the celebration and protection of our world. We usually stay away from politics at Greater Milwaukee Men, honoring all men of all walks of life that are doing great thing, but on this and each Earth Day, we would d...

In efforts to reduce our impact on the environment, by using less to make things and discarding less things, we have all become accustomed to the phrase " reduce, reuse, recycle " which is sometimes referred to as the three Rs (much like the old "reading, 'rtitng, 'rithmetic of education). It just hit me though that there is another R missing - one for Repair. I guess semantically repairing could be considered part of Reusing, but to me Repair is a more personal, immediate, and active process than reusing which typically means that someone else is doing the using now instead of you. Reusing usually implies passing the item on so someone else can and will use it versus you re-using it, or using it for a different purpose - what is often called 'upcycling' these days. It could also have been left out of the program because whoever developed it thought it was a common practice, or inherently understood. But let's take a look at what makes Repair it...

Each month there are different causes, awareness efforts, or celebrations that are named and promoted. Often there are a few that work well together, whether planned or not. That is the case with May which, among other promotions, is National Bike Month , National High Blood Pressure Awareness Month and National Clean Air Month. To me these go together so well because by the simple act of biking more you can address the two other issues of reducing your blood pressure and helping keep our air clean with less vehicle emissions. There are lots of resources I could quote or link to to support the many benefits of getting out on your bike whether as a casual ride, exercise, or even as your primary means of transportation. But, whether some want to admit it or not, they all are pretty obvious so I'll leave it to you to accept it. Instead, since this is a Milwaukee blog, I want to do my own list of why you should get out on your bike here.

The Green Bay Packers green impact doesn't end in their home city - and I'm not talking about their team colors being worn around the state, country, and world. The Packers are helping make the world greener by donating trees for every first down achieved during the season. The Green Bay Packers First Downs for Trees program will enter its fourth season this year and is now presented in partnership with two environmentally-conscious companies, SCA and Green Bay Packaging Inc. , both which have local manufacturing operations. First Downs for Trees is a cooperative effort with the Packers, the U.S. Forest Service, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Wisconsin Public Service. One of the Packers’ Green Team initiatives, the program donates trees to participating Brown County communities based on the number of first downs achieved by the Packers in the previous season.

I recently saw a blurb about a local man that mentioned how he crossed North America on a trip to promote awareness of hereditary cancer, cancer that he himself has. Alone the tale is extraordinary, but there is so much more to the story. As I looked into it, I found out about a man who is the epitome of what it means to be truly Well-Met. Todd Spurrier with his trusty Ducati Todd Spurrier of Cascade, WI, inspired by Ewan McGregor's  Long Way Round  and  Long Way Down   chronicled motorbike adventures which also supported charities, decided to do something similar to raise awareness for Cancer which took his father as well as  Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP)  which was the root of his father's colon cancer and his two sisters, niece, nephew and himself have. But it's bigger than that.  He also wanted to bring attention to Desmoid Tumor Research - you see Todd has an inoperable intra-abdominal desmoid tumor which made it perso...

So, yeah I know there are races for solar-powered cars and such, so its not a novel idea, but this morning while flipping through channels I caught mention of a pro racing circuit that awards green initiatives. No, it's not NASCAR, silly. In the American Le mans Series, the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge , a first class, world-class environmental competition, challenges all prototypes and GT entries in the field to race 'green'.

Current technology keeps giving us more and more ways and reasons to be in front of that technology which often means less time in the 'real world' including people and nature. All this can be a drain on our psyche and we need to find ways to recharge and refresh. One of the best ways to do this is to just get outside, but to make the most advantage you need to unplug and disconnect from all that tech. There are lots of simple ways to do this, but I like to take it a bit farther and truly make sure I cannot use the tech even if wanted to - get rid of the temptation fully. There are lots of resources such as books and web site, not to mention organizations that promote this philosophy such as the National Wildlife Federation's Get Outside program and Biofriendly.org  and many focused specifically on families and children. As men it is a fairly simpletwo step process: 1. Plug your devices in to charge themselves 2. Open the door and go outside to charge yourself.

Odin, one of my rescue dogs This post is the culmination and wrap-up of various subjects over the past month. It being Earth Day - which occurs during Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month, and following Volunteer Week - this is the perfect opportunity to stress the importance and benefits of adopting a pet from an animal welfare agency, or  Rehoming  an animal. I consider it the fourth R of the Green movement alongside Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling since it really is a version of the first two rolled into one. Or maybe it is just a re-wording of Reusing to be more appropriate for a living thing. There are so many reasons to adopt a pet, and many articles have been written so I won't get into them all here, but the gist is that you are not only helping an animal in need but many others by not supporting mass breeders by buying from a pet store. If you want to read more here is a good article from the  HSUS  with these five reasons detailed: