What is the Green Team?
Green Team is a service and education program for club volunteers to enhance our local environmental quality and inspire individuals of all ages to continue to invest in their community through experience from outdoor activities working with, learning about, and enjoying nature.
Who is on the Green Team?
We are of any age, any ethnicity, any lifestyle, and are joined by the common thread of caring about the environment in our area. Green teammates are people who are driven to do more than an occasional volunteer event and are willing to commit to longer-term volunteer participation over a series of activities of their choosing. Teammates may even take the next step in becoming a Green Team Leader that schedules and inspires others in volunteer activities.
What types of activities happen on Green Team?
Getting outside and doing hands-on service activities is the objective of this group. Volunteer acts are personally rewarding and instill a desire to do it again! Ventura Sierra Club has regular outings throughout the year to fulfill these objectives including:
- Local river and area cleanups combined with nature observation days
- Local hikes with a focus on native/invasive plants or wildlife or other environmental specific topics
- Working under other groups on ecological projects such as restoration sites (plantings, invasive removal, etc.), data collection (water sampling, raptor evidence, etc.), beach clean up, tree planting, etc.
- Being speakers for school or groups about local nature topics, preferably held outside on campus or on nature sites
Another great way to participate with the Green Team is visiting school classes. Upon request by a teacher, we provide a program that is age and topic-appropriate. Green Team provides knowledge about local water, wildlife, plant ecology, or other general environmental subjects. Teammates don’t need to be experts but are confident speakers and approachable to kids. Bringing items for students to handle is very helpful! Speakers may have to follow specific school campus requirements.
How do I join the Green Team?
If you are the kind of person who wants to take repeated action for water protection, wildlife habitat, native plant restoration, and inspiring others to do the same, join us! Simply come to and sign up on the Green Team roster at a Ventura Sierra Club volunteer event. Events are scheduled on our Meetup and are identified as fulfilling a Green Team activity. Show the event leader your sign-in.
And there are rewards!
Though Green Teammates are not invested in the work for rewards, we still like to show appreciation and give thank you’s! Teammates sign in at events and sign-ins are then tracked on a google doc. You can watch your status on our Google Doc. Teammates earn the following rewards after certain activities:
- Activity 1: Green Welcome – Email card
- Activity 3: Grow Your Green – Pack of flower, vegetable, or plant seeds
- Activity 6: Eat Green – Farmers’ Market token
- Activity 9: Shop Green – Goods or gift certificate from a local sustainable business
- Activity 10: Lead Green – Invite to Leadership
How do I become a Green Team leader?
Congrats to all who make it to the level of Leadership invitation! Leaders are critical to the program and becoming a Green Team Leader is very rewarding. Adults and kids who come to your activities look up to you as a role model! Being a leader helps you practice group management and successfully accomplish work with others. These leadership skills apply to many other parts of life, from family to professional settings. Leaders are trained and approved by Sierra Club in two steps : (1) classroom outdoor leader training (online or in-person) and (2) provisional activity (having a real event and being evaluated by a club officer). In addition, leaders need to be Red Cross First Aid Certified. When you are ready to take the important step in becoming a leader, get in touch with us at SierraClubVentura@gmail.com
