Motorola workers tackle buckthorn as part of Global Day of Service

  • A Motorola worker clears up loose buckthorn as a roaring fire blazes beside him as he took part in the company's Green and Global Day at Busse Woods Grove 24.

      A Motorola worker clears up loose buckthorn as a roaring fire blazes beside him as he took part in the company's Green and Global Day at Busse Woods Grove 24. Mark Welsh | Staff Photographer

  • Motorola's Chris Stack hauls out heavy pieces of wood from Busse Woods Grove 24 between Elk Grove and Schaumburg, as part of the company's Green and Global Day. He was one of more than 400 people that were clearing and burning buckthorn.

      Motorola's Chris Stack hauls out heavy pieces of wood from Busse Woods Grove 24 between Elk Grove and Schaumburg, as part of the company's Green and Global Day. He was one of more than 400 people that were clearing and burning buckthorn. Mark Welsh | Staff Photographer

  • With a haze of smoke in the background from an earlier fire, Scott Wydra of Motorola, hauls buckthorn to a new fire along the bike trail in the Cook County Forest Preserve's Busse Woods Grove 24 between Elk Grove Village and Schaumburg.

      With a haze of smoke in the background from an earlier fire, Scott Wydra of Motorola, hauls buckthorn to a new fire along the bike trail in the Cook County Forest Preserve's Busse Woods Grove 24 between Elk Grove Village and Schaumburg. Mark Welsh | Staff Photographer

  • Motorola's Kevin Michalsen gets ready to throw wood on the fire as he takes part in the company's Green and Global Day at Busse Woods.

      Motorola's Kevin Michalsen gets ready to throw wood on the fire as he takes part in the company's Green and Global Day at Busse Woods. Mark Welsh | Staff Photographer

 
Daily Herald Staff Report
Published10/15/2009 12:01 AM

Hundreds of Motorola Inc. employees spent Wednesday afternoon at Busse Woods between Elk Grove Village and Schaumburg clearing out buckthorn, an invasive plant that tends to drive out native species.

The event was one of more than 70 projects that drew 1,500 volunteers in the Chicago area. Altogether, more than 6,000 Motorola employees in 41 countries volunteered at more than 300 projects as part of the company's annual community service program.

 

"Green & Global" was the theme of the company's fourth annual Global Day of Service, with the focus on sustainable solutions for better education and the environment.

Other Chicago area projects included cleaning up the North Avenue and Montrose beaches in Chicago; doing maintenance projects at Lambs Farm in Libertyville; and weeding, planting and mulching at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.

At Eisenhower Junior High School in Hoffman Estates, employees worked with more than 500 seventh and eighth grade students to teach practical applications of renewable energy by building miniature solar cars.

For each employee volunteer, the Motorola Foundation funds the planting of a tree in one of five deforested regions of the world through a partnership with Carbonfund.org, reducing the day's carbon footprint. Each employee who reuses a Motorola T-shirt from a previous event will get five trees planted. And employees can earn extra trees by bring in used mobile phones for recycling.

More information is at motorola.com/giving.

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