Blog Archives

Water-efficient hand dish washing technique

2/27/2026

Using an efficient dish-washing technique, you can save water when washing dishes by hand.

Modern dishwashers are generally more energy and water efficient than washing dishes by hand. If you don’t have a dishwashing machine or just prefer handwashing your dishes, there are steps that you can take to minimize your water and energy consumption. Perry Santanachote describes the two-basin method in her article on Consumerreports.com (updated by Molly Bradley, October 29, 2023; retrieved November 30, 2025). Another method is to wash the lightly soiled dishes over the more heavily soiled dishes and pots to allow them to soak as you wash. Always turn off the faucet when you are not actively using the water.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Clean your bird feeders

2/20/2026

Keep bird feeders clean to prevent the spread of disease among birds.

Keeping a filled bird feeder helps our avian neighbors find enough food in our human-transformed suburban habitat. However, it is important to keep those feeders clean to prevent spreading diseases among the birds. Plastic and metal feeders are easier than wood to keep thoroughly clean.

Photo by Sean O'Donnell

Swarthmore Curbside Food Compost Program

2/13/2026

Participate in Swarthmore Borough’s new Curbside Food Compost program to reduce the amount of trash sent to be incinerated. Collected food waste is composted into usable soil.

Swarthmore Borough now offers curbside food-waste collection with pick-up every other week. All residents were provided with a 5-gallon bucket. This program helps divert food scraps from trash incineration and instead keeps it in the cycle by converting it to usable compost. This in turn reduces trash disposal costs. More information about the program, including the pick-up schedule for your area, is on the Swarthmore Borough website, including FAQs with additional information. Some items that you can dispose of through this program include bread, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable scraps, soiled pizza boxes (stack under the bucket at the curb), wine corks, and spoiled cheese. The program does not accept any meat or containers, even if they are labeled as compostable. A complete list of what items are accepted can be found here. If you need a bucket, contact EZ Composting ([email protected]). The cost of this service, including one 5-gallon bucket, is included in Borough taxes. If you produce more food scraps in two weeks than can be contained in just one bucket, you can order additional buckets directly from EZ Composting for a fee.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Reuse your reusable items; don't buy too many

2/6/2026

Use what you have as many times as possible. Reusable items do not have a lower carbon footprint if they’re not used enough.

The biggest problem with reusable items is that we have too many of them. Extend a reusable product’s lifetime as much as possible. Avoid buying more, even if it is reusable. Having a large collection of reusable water bottles uses more resources than having just one to replace disposables.

Read more from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability

Water-efficient hand dish washing technique

Clean your bird feeders

Swarthmore Curbside Food Compost Program

Reuse your reusable items; don't buy too many

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