GreenWorks

GreenWorks is a year-round environmental youth employment and community development initiative created by Joe’s Movement Emporium to provide young adults with entry-level environmental jobs in their own community. 

Our GreenWorkers clean local waterways through our GreenWorks Stream Team, plant trees and remove invasive species through our GreenWorks Tree Team, create art-based educational content, and host events to promote the protection of our watershed and urban tree canopy. GreenWorks strives for all Prince George’s County residents to have equitable access to quality ecosystem services in their communities.  

To date, we have active project sites in Cheverly, Colmar Manor, Cottage City, Bladensburg, Capitol Heights, College Park, and Mount Rainier. We are always looking to partner and expand our reach, please email greenworksjoes@gmail.com. We can help!

For updates and more, follow us on instagram and check out our Impact Report!

OUR MISSION

We want to provide free or subsidized green infrastructure solutions to environmental justice communities in Prince George’s County. We also strive to create stable entry-level employment opportunities for low-income and BIPOC young people, who are still underrepresented in the environmental profession.  

OUR VISION

We fill in the gaps, providing support to municipalities, residents, and local environmental organizations, while also maintaining our own unique identity and programming.  

WHO WE SERVE?

Low-income and majority BIPOC neighborhoods in Prince George’s County have for decades experienced rapid deforestation, concentrated development of heavy industry, and a lack of investment in green infrastructure for residents. With all our programs, we aim to serve these environmental justice communities.

Artwork of a tree SAVED from invasive English Ivy, submitted by Xander Jake De Los Santos

Are vines strangling your trees?

Do you want to restore natural habitats?

Are you curious if you have invasive plants in your yard?

The Invasive Plant of the Month Club is GreenWorks’ newest program where we learn together each month how to eliminate a new invasive plant species to protect the Prince George’s County tree canopy and biodiversity. 

We do this in 3 easy steps: 

1. Learn: Follow us on social media and for quick facts and tips about each invasive plant of the month. 

2. Practice: Come to one of our monthly events, receive training about how to identify, remove, and dispose of invasives once the removal is complete.  

3. Take Action: Share your knowledge with your neighbors, and remove invasives in your own community. Send us pictures of your successes, invasives art and we’ll post on our social media! Send to greenworksjoes@gmail.com

Plant of the Month Line-up

January - English Ivy; February - Winter Creeper, March - Lesser Celandine, April - Garlic Mustard, May - Porcelain Berry, June - Honey Suckle (Vine and Bush), July -Potato Vine, August - Tree of Heaven, September - Japanese Stilt Grass, October - Bamboo, November - Ground Ivy and Beefsteak Plant, December - Privet

Recommended Guidebook

Plant Invaders of the Mid-Atlantic, By: Jil Swearingen; National Park Service National Capital Region Center for Urban Ecology, 2010

Why is this work important? Local articles for you/friends/family.

Local Forests Are Failing to Produce The Next Generation of Trees; By: Jacob Fenston & Tyrone Turner; dcist.com; 2023.

Five Things You Can Do To Help Save Local Forests; By: Jacob Fenston & Tyrone Turner; dcist.com; 2023.

For more resources on identifying/removing invasives & planting/buying natives, check out our resource page.

The GreenWorks Stream Team, created in June 2018, manages 3 Bandalong litter traps within the Anacostia River watershed. Each week, GreenWorkers remove, sort, and report litter waste for our funder, Anacostia Riverkeeper, to help with their watershed monitoring and pollution mitigation efforts. We work with the City of Mount Rainier, Maryland National-Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, and Prince George’s Department of Environment.