Green Ideas
Ready to Get Growing? 7 Tips for Spring Planting
April 30, 2018If you’re anything like us, you’ve been impatiently waiting to get out in the garden and start the growing season — especially since winter seems to have been stubborn about relinquishing its hold this year. But even though the weather is warming, don’t rush off to the garden center and buy every plant you see. Those…
Join LCA in Celebrating Earth Day
April 17, 2018April 22 is Earth Day— and we’ll be celebrating with two events, both on Saturday. From 12-4 at Jordan Park, 1001 N. 6th St., we’ll be joining the City of Allentown Bureau of Recycling for Earth Day in the Park. The event includes live music, giveaways, a raffle, food trucks, face painting, crafts, activities, educational demonstrations…
Too much pee in Walden Pond
April 9, 2018A group of scientists who studied the iconic Walden Pond in Concord, Mass., say that urine from generations of swimmers is not only fouling the water, but changing the ecosystem. “More than half of the summer phosphorus budget of the lake may now be attributable to urine released by swimmers,” states the study published on…
Make Waves this World Water Day
March 20, 2018While you were standing at the sink filling up the coffee pot this morning, you may not have been thinking about your good fortune. But consider this: While most of us simply turn on the tap for clean H2O, there are 2.1 billion people across the world who lack access to safe drinking water. It’s…
Join us in honoring National Skip the Straw Day
February 22, 2018There’s nothing quite like a refreshing drink of water. But today, we’re hoping you enjoy yours without using a straw. That’s because Feb. 23 is National Skip the Straw Day. Why skip the straw? Because the majority of them are made of plastic — and plastic, because it doesn’t biodegrade, is causing a world of…
Beer, booze, wine and water: Is your favorite drink made sustainably?
February 16, 2018The next time you sip an adult beverage, you may want to consider how it was created — and whether its maker is taking steps to address water pollution. According to an article in Pollution Online, two Tennessee distilleries — Jack Daniels and George Dickel — are under scrutiny for exceeding allowable limits on pollutants released…
Plastic bottle pollution expected to reach crisis level by 2021
January 24, 2018The good: “Most plastic bottles used for soft drinks and water are made from polyethylene terephthalate (Pet), which is highly recyclable,” states an article in The Guardian. The bad: Recycling efforts can’t keep pace. “Fewer than half of the bottles bought in 2016 were collected for recycling and just 7% of those collected were turned…
U.S. creates first Global Water Strategy
November 26, 2017For the first time in history, the federal government has created a U.S. Global Water Strategy that aims to address “a growing global water crisis that may increase disease, undermine economic growth, foster insecurity and state failure, and generally reduce the capacity of countries to advance priorities that support U.S. national interests.” “Safe water and…
Talking turkey about water footprints
November 19, 2017It’s almost Thanksgiving, and as usual, we’ve got water on our mind. With all the cooking (and dishes to clean), we were wondering how much H20 is involved in the annual festival of food. Then we thought, “Why limit the question to what we use at home? Let’s find out just how much water it…
Algae: Green menace or green solution?
November 8, 2017For all that we’ve written here about algae — like the fish-killing, toxic effect algal blooms have on Lake Erie and other waterways, and the role that nutrient pollution has on accelerating its growth — you’d think we absolutely detest the tiny organisms. But like everything in nature, algae has a purpose, and researchers have…