Green Ideas
Properly Dispose of Medications on National Prescription Drug Takeback Day
April 23, 2024Do you have unused medications that need to be thrown out? DONT flush them down the toilet—instead, dispose of them properly during National Prescription Drug Takeback Day this Saturday. Flushing pharmaceuticals leads to source water contamination, because wastewater treatment plants were not designed to remove these chemical compounds. Aside from potentially showing up in drinking…
Earth Day 2024: Planet vs. Plastics
April 16, 2024Join us this Saturday as we celebrate Earth Day in The Park with the City of Allentown! Allentown’s Earth Day in the Park was started in 2018 to “create awareness about environmental protection, while bringing community members together to celebrate Earth Day and have some fun!” The free celebration will be held April 20, from noon to…
Six Tips To Recycle Your Christmas Tree
January 3, 2024The holiday decorations are coming down and live Christmas trees are already lining the curbs. But don’t just toss that live tree out with the trash! Consider an eco-friendly solution and recycle your Christmas tree instead. Most municipalities offer curbside pickup of Christmas trees, which are then turned into mulch or compost. Residents of Bethlehem, Allentown and…
This Fall, Go Easy on the Lawn and Garden Cleanup
September 19, 2023Are you getting ready to tuck your garden beds away for the fall? This year, try taking a more light-handed approach to “garden sanitation”—your back will get a break, and so will Mother Nature. The long-accepted approach to fall lawn and garden care has been to rake every leaf and prune, chop or pull just…
Fertilize Lawns and Gardens Carefully To Avoid Nutrient Pollution
April 13, 2023Spring is in full swing, and many of us are getting our lawns and gardens ready for the growing season. One springtime ritual, however, regularly leads to green, polluted waterways: over-fertilization of lawns and gardens. Plant fertilizers contain nitrogen and phosphorus, nutrients that are major sources of pollution in waterways. When too much fertilizer is…
Tired of Mowing? Sick of Watering? Convert Your Lawn!
March 7, 2023Spring is just around the corner. Are you dreaming about mowing the lawn every week yet? No? Then maybe it’s time to convert your lawn into something more beneficial (and less time-consuming) instead. If you love your sod, we get it. The American Dream has long been characterized by a house with a white picket…
Skip the Straw — Today, and Every Day
February 23, 2023Can you guess the item that routinely makes the “Top Ten” most-collected items list during the Ocean Conservancy’s yearly International Coastal Cleanup? If you had breakfast, lunch or dinner at a restaurant today, you probably saw or used one: the plastic straw/stirrer. And over the last 35 years, costal cleanup volunteers have collected nearly 14…
Show Your Water Some Love for Valentine’s Day
February 13, 2023This Valentine’s Day, show some love to one of the most important things in your life: water! Water is crucial to your everyday existence. It makes up between 55 percent and 78 percent of your body weight, and you literally cannot survive much more than three days without it. In fact, the Mayo clinic states…
Keep the Holidays Green: Recycle That Christmas Tree!
January 3, 2023The holiday season is wrapping up, and lots of folks are already kicking their Christmas trees to the curb. But if you have a live tree, please don’t just toss it out with the trash! There are lots of eco-friendly solutions that will not only keep your tree out of the landfill, but help the environment, too….
Avoid The Holiday FOG!
November 23, 2022No, we’re not talking about the brain fog and sleepiness that too much turkey and football brings on. We’re talking about the fats, oils and grease that commonly get dumped down the drain during those big holiday meals. Many plumbing companies across the country report that Thanksgiving and the days after it are among their…