Blog Posts

Mulch mow leaves into lawn

4/4/2025

Mow leftover leaves into your lawn to provide a natural source of nutrients, reduce weeds and insects, and require less water.

Spread out piles of leaves or simply go over fallen leaves with your mower. They will settle down into the turf and be decomposed by valuable microorganisms within the soil.

Read more at MSU Extension.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Turn off your computer at night

3/28/2025

Turning your computer off at night could help you reduce its energy costs by 33%.

There is a misconception that the small surge of energy when turning on a computer uses more energy than leaving it on. It is also untrue that turning a computer on and off is harmful to the computer. Turning your computer off for the hours that it is not in use is the best way to reduce its energy consumption. Electronic devices, including your computer and monitor, draw some power even while turned off. Plugging these devices into a power strip and turning it off when you're not using them will save you even more. Allowing your computer to go into sleep mode when you are away from your desk is the helps reduce energy use during the day.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Reduce use of printer ink

3/21/2025

Use font and printer settings that waste less printer ink

Printer ink cartridges are expensive and run out remarkably quickly. Consumer Reports has some ideas for ways to make your ink cartridges last longer. For printing that does not require high quality, use the draft mode or eco mode in the printer settings. Print versions of documents, particularly those created from a web site, that don’t include ads and logos. Consumer Reports found that some fonts, such as Ariel, use more ink than others, like Times New Roman and Calibri. When possible use e-versions and skip the printing altogether.
Read more from ConsumerReports.org.

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Recycle old shoes

3/14/2025

Recycle both usable and worn-out shoes at the Swarthmore Food Co-op
Drop off your unwanted shoes into the box in the back corner of the store. Footwear of any style, even if it is worn-out and unwearable, is accepted. All donations are recycled through Native Shoes Remix Project. The donated shoes are reprocessed and repurposed for community projects such as seating, playground flooring, insulation, and other products. Learn more about the Remix recycling process.

Drink filtered water rather than bottled

3/7/2025

Getting a water filter pitcher instead of buying bottled water will save you money and reduce plastic waste.

Investing in a water filter pitcher or some other at-home water filtration system eliminates your production of plastic bottle waste and saves you money. Much of the cost of bottled water is from packaging, shipping, and marketing. In most places, municipal water is perfectly safe to drink, and the water filter can improve its taste. The pitcher can be stored in the refrigerator so that you have cold water to drink, and reusable water bottles make that water portable without the plastic. The Swarthmore Food Co-op has a box for recycling used Brita brand filters, packaging, and pitchers.

Read more at HowStuffWorks.com

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Eat cabbage

2/28/2025

Pound for pound, green cabbage costs about three times less than Brussels sprouts, can stay fresh for weeks, and is packed with vitamins C and K and a decent amount of folate and fiber.

Save money on groceries by swapping Brussels sprouts for green cabbage which costs about three times less. An uncut head of cabbage can stay fresh in the refrigerator for weeks, has just 20 calories a cup, and is packed with vitamins C and K and a decent amount of folate and fiber.

Read more here

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Compost paper towels, napkins

2/21/2025

Paper towels, napkins, and tissues cannot be recycled because their fibers are too short. Instead, compost them.

Papermaking fibers can typically be recycled five to seven times before they become too short to be recycled again. Paper towels and napkins are the last stop in the recycling chain. Also, only clean recovered paper that is free of food, trash, and other contaminants can be recycled at all.

Read more at StanfordMag.org

Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Line dry clothes outside, even in winter

2/14/2025

Even in the coldest months of winter, you can dry your clothes outside due to a process called sublimation.

Drying clothes outside is simple in summer but it’s also possible in the coldest months of winter. Due to a process called sublimation, water turns from a solid to a gas without having a liquid phase. Essentially, it evaporates without turning to water first, the same basic process as freeze-drying.

Read more at Ecowatch.com.

Expanded recycling at Staples stores

2/7/2025

Staples has added surprising new categories to its recycling including single-use batteries, pens, markers, colored pencils, glue sticks, zipper binders, luggage, and more.

Now Staples can be relied on to recycle not just tech items but items we resorted to throwing out in the past. These include batteries, school supplies, bags and luggage. Gather items and bring them to the store.

See the complete list on the Staples website.
Photo by Susan O'Donnell

Borrow things, not just books, from the library

1/31/2025

The Delaware County library system has a library of things, with items that you can borrow ranging from kitchen/lawn appliances and tech gadgets to camping gear. Before buying things new, first look for it at the library to see if you can just borrow them for the time that you need it. Borrowing items instead of buying new reduces using precious resources for manufacturing, packaging, and transporting new products. It also saves you money and helps you cut back on your clutter at home. Once you are finished with your task or event, just bring the item back to the library for others to use or until you need it again. You might be surprised by the variety of items on their lending list! It includes: yard games and board games (Jenga, connect four, table tennis, horseshoes, Bocce ball, croquet), electronics (scanners, metal detectors, DVD players, power adaptors, calculator), tools (drill, wrenches), musical instruments (guitar, glockenspiel), camping gear, health needs (blood pressure monitor, pulse oximeter, walkers and canes), crafts (sewing machine, crochet and knitting kits), and more!

For a complete list, check out the Delco Library System webpage and search for “library of things”. Or click this link.

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