Blog Posts

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

Berry-producing native shrubs feed birds

5/1/2026

Feed the birds! Plant native shrubs and trees such as viburnums, spicebush, and dogwoods whose berries provide high quality nutrition for birds.

The diet of many North American birds includes fruits. Growing native shrubs in your yard will help sustain these species as they feed their young and help fuel migration by non-resident birds.
Here are some examples of PA natives to include in your landscaping and the birds that they support:

Elderberries (Sambucus sp.), and serviceberries (Amelanchier sp. - see photo) are eaten by cardinals, rose-breasted grosbeaks, scarlet tanagers, robins, and waxwings.
Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) – our native dogwood – grows its fruits in the fall and supports robins, bluebirds, thrushes, catbirds, and cardinals.
Viburnum species, such as Nannyberry and arrowwood, are shrubs that are easy to grow in your yard. They flower in the spring and produce berries that are eaten by robins, bluebirds, thrushes, catbirds, cardinals, finches, and waxwings.
Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) is a hardy shrub whose attractive red berries are an important food source for birds that overwinter here. This plant has separate sexes, so it is best to plant both male and female shrubs.
Spicebush berries are consumed by both resident and migrant birds and the shrub is deer resistant. It can grow in the shade but will produce more berries in a sunnier location. This shrub also hosts caterpillars which are another important food source for birds.

Find out more from Audubon.org.and Cornell Bird Lab.

Photo of Serviceberry by Susan O'Donnell

Water-efficient hand dish washing technique

4/24/2026

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

Yard care resources on the EAC website

4/17/2026

Check out the resources on the restructured web page of the Swarthmore Environmental Advisory Council. There you can find information about EAC initiatives related to zero waste, energy transition, and supporting a sustainable environment. Under the heading of Sustainable Environment is a set of FAQs about sustainable yards and yard care. This document is full of tips about how to make your yard more beneficial to wildlife, how to switch to electric power for yard care, bird-friendly practices, beneficial plants, and non-toxic mosquito control. Check out these tips as you start working in your yard this season.

Safely store and dispose of 9-volt batteries

4/10/2026

9-volt batteries should not be thrown away with trash. They are hazardous waste. Store fresh 9-volt batteries in original packaging, not loose.
9-volt batteries can start a fire if not stored safely. Store upright in original packaging. If loose, cover the positive and negative posts with tape to prevent them from contact with metal objects. Bring to a hazardous waste disposal site for proper disposal. Keep an eye out for collection events.

Read more at NFPA.org

When in doubt, leave it out of the recycling bin

4/3/2026

Do not put something in the recycling bin just because you hope it is recyclable. When in doubt, leave it out.
Any items that are not recyclable have to be sorted out of the mixed recycling. The sorting machinery catches some of it, but many items have to be removed manually. Waste and recycling collection has become the fourth most dangerous job in the country, after roofers, fishing and hunting workers, and logging workers. Many injuries and deaths are caused by items that should never have been put in a recycling bin. Film plastic (especially plastic bags) gum up the sorting machinery and has to be removed by hand. Large items like pieces of wood and broom handles do not fit in the machinery at all and also have to be removed by hand. Leave these out of your recycling.

Read more at earth911.com

Plastic plant pots are not recyclable curbside

3/27/2026

Don’t recycle black plastic garden plug trays. They can’t be identified by the sorting technology at most recycling centers even with a recyclable code because the dark color absorbs the scanner’s light.
Even if a recycling center could sort them, they would need to be cleaned of leftover soil and roots, which is not practical for curbside programs. You can reuse them or take them to Home Depot for reuse, however, and look for the many compostable alternatives out there.

Read more at earth911

Avoid AI searches

3/20/2026

Skip AI when you don’t need it. For a quick answer, use a smaller or faster model to save energy, while reserving AI for tasks that genuinely require it.

Every time you ask AI for a recipe, draft a report, or ask for a summary, a data center draws power from the electrical grid, generates heat that must be cooled with water, and produces carbon emissions. A single query seems trivial. Multiplied by the billions of daily AI interactions now occurring worldwide, the cumulative impact is anything but.

Read at earth911.com

Insulate hot water pipes

3/6/2026

Insulating your hot water heater pipes retains heat in the water that reaches your faucets, saving energy and money.

According to PECO, “Insulating your water heater pipes can help recover lost heat, decrease the time required for hot water to reach your faucets, and save you money. You can install foam insulation yourself in just a few hours.” By retaining heat, the water that reaches the faucet is at a higher temperature. This allows you to reduce the temperature setting on your water heater, further saving energy and money.

Insulating your hot water pipes is an inexpensive DIY project, and the materials are readily available at hardware stores.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

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