Meetings are every other Monday at 6pm in GAR 1.134! Next meeting: 3/24/14. Environmental Brigades at UT Austin is a discipline of Global Brigades, the world\\\\\\\'s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. The UT Austin chapter systematically works with more than 350 other university groups around the world to deliver and implement one of nine skill-based programs that benefit more than 130,000 Honduran, Panamanian, and Ghanaian community members annually. Environmental Brigades volunteers work with rural families and community leaders to improve environmental sustainability and livelihood. During the brigade, volunteers utilize household surveys conducted by Global Brigades staff and face-to-face discussions to connect with the community members and understand their environmental needs, and work alongside them to implement solutions to reforest, farm sustainably, and better manage both inorganic and organic wastes. The planting of native tree species restores the biodiversity and nutrient-cycling directly on the families’ land. By creating and utilizing organic fertilizers and natural pesticides, as well as diversifying the number and placement of agricultural plants, soil nutrients are improved while erosion is minimized. Agricultural yields can be increased without dramatically altering the lifestyle of the rural farmers, while in the meantime, the cost of sustaining the farm can be lessened by breaking away from petrochemical fertilizers. Volunteers will also have the opportunity to educate community members on the hazards of waste burning, as well as the environmental and health benefits of setting up composting along with other waste diversion methods.