Green Tips of the Week

Protect your skin with sunscreen

7/10/2026

Viral TikTok tanning trends, including “base tans,” “sun contouring,” and “sun tattoos,” are misguided and dangerous.
Some recent TikTok trends are discouraging people from using sunscreen. Here are five viral sunscreen trends, the myths behind them, and how to stay safe from their potentially harmful effects.

Read more from Environmental Working Group.

Run heat-producing appliances at night

7/3/2026

When it is hot out, run heat-producing appliances such as dishwashers and clothes dryer at night when it's cooler.

Air conditioners are already working hard during the summer to keep the temperature inside your home comfortable. Reduce the heat that you add to your house by using appliances such as dishwashers and clothes dryers at night when the air outside is cooler.

Environment America authors Johanna Neumann and Abe Scarr* offer this advice: “Appliances that produce heat while they’re working can counteract your best efforts of to keep your indoor air cool. Among the worst offenders are televisions, dishwashers, and clothes dryers. You can wait until the sun goes down and the outdoor air cools off to run your dishwasher and clothes dryer. And you can try to avoid using your stove altogether on the hottest days; instead, serve refreshing cool salads for dinner or grill outdoors.
If you’re in the market for new appliances, choose models with the Energy Star label. They’re guaranteed to be more energy efficient and put off less wasted heat than your old ones.”

*Johanna Neumann and Abe Scarr, “How to lower your summer electric bill while keeping cool,” www.environmentamerica.org, June 29, 2024

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Plan menu to use up leftover food

6/26/2026

Reduce food waste by planning your menu around unused ingredients, leftovers, and perishable items in your refrigerator.

The Pennsylvania Resources Council reminds us that good meal planning can help reduce food waste. Unused food wastes the energy and resources expended to produce and transport that food. It also adds to your grocery bill. Be aware of unused ingredients and leftover food and plan your menu to incorporate them. Use up your oldest ingredients before they go bad. Left over ingredients from another recipe? Add them to your next meal. This practice saves on grocery money for you and wasted resources for the planet.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Organic food protects birds

6/19/2026

Purchasing organically produced food supports agricultural practices that protect birds.

Birds spend a lot of time in and around agricultural fields. Pesticides and herbicides that are applied to crops can be ingested by birds both directly through berries and seeds that they eat and indirectly by consuming prey such as fish, mammals, and insects that bioaccumulate toxins. Pesticides kill not only the target pests but a broad range of insects that birds rely on for food, especially for their young. Growers that use organic practices are not putting these toxins into the environment that could harm birds or accumulate in the insects and fish that they eat. It also preserves biodiversity and insect food base for birds. A study in Finland found a correlation between organic livestock farming practices and bird abundance. Use your purchasing power to support organic farming practices. Be organic in your own garden as well!

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Fix leaky toilets

6/12/2026

Save water by fixing leaky toilets. It may be as easy as replacing the flapper.

According to Week& contributor Danielle Smyth*, “simply checking for leaks will save hundreds of gallons of otherwise wasted water. If there is no water in the toilet tank, the rubber seal on the flapper is probably damaged, and all of your water is leaking into the bowl and down the drain. This can also be indicated if your toilet is constantly running as the refill tube attempts to top off the reservoir.”

To determine if you have a leaky toilet, add a few drops of food coloring into the toilet tank, wait an hour, and see if the color has leaked into the toilet bowl. Installing a new flapper is inexpensive and easy to do yourself. Swarthmore Hardware carries universal sized flappers. Just follow the installation instructions on the packaging.

*Danielle Smyth, “How many gallons of water does it take to flush a toilet?”, www.Weekand.com, last updated 3/8/2021.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Recycle IKEA furniture

6/5/2026

Furniture is the U.S.’s largest category of discarded household goods. Gently used IKEA furniture can be exchanged at participating stores for store credit or recycled responsibly there.

Customers can fill out an online IKEA Buyback & Resell form, receive a value estimate, and bring gently used IKEA furniture to any participating store.

Read more at earth911.com

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Empty label-backing sheets can only be recycled using EcoEnclose

5/29/2026

Shiny backing sheets from postage stamps, address labels, and stickers can’t be recycled curbside. But for home and small business use, EcoEnclose offers a release liner that can.

It’s the only recyclable release liner currently available at a consumer scale. Otherwise, the bottom line for consumers is that shiny liners must be thrown out.

Read more at Earth911

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Buy fewer clothes

5/22/2026

The resale clothing market is experiencing explosive growth, especially among younger shoppers, but environmental gains are negated by overconsumption.
Buying used clothes may psychologically and economically justify buying more than we otherwise would. Let’s be aware of our purchasing behavior.

Read more in YaleNews.

Shoe and Brita recycling at the Co-op

5/15/2026

No matter the condition, you can recycle shoes at the Swarthmore Co-op, as well as Brita filters and pitchers.
The Co-op recycles shoe donations through the Native Shoes Remix Project, which reprocesses and repurposes them for community projects. Brita filter, pitcher, and packages are recycled through TerraCycle. Take advantage!

More information on the Swarthmore Co-op web page.

Take shorter showers

5/8/2026

According to PECO, “Water heating accounts for about 18% of home energy consumption.” Challenge yourself to take a 4-5 minute shower. Wash efficiently, shave with the water off, and avoid idle time soaking in the heat. You can also install a showerhead labeled with the EPA’s Watersense designation. Watersense labeled showerheads reduce water use when you shower, saving you money by reducing both your water consumption and energy use.

Photo by Jaysin Trevino, Flickr Commons

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