Environment & Outdoors
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Abington Senior High School Makes Fruitful Effort to Combat Food Waste
A program at Abington Senior High School is dedicated to slashing food waste. English teacher Mariam Freeman noticed that some of the students were throwing away the provided fruit that came with the school lunches, reports Katherine Scott for 6abc. That’s when the seed was planted. The school’s “Fruit Ninjas” came into fruition to donate…
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Anonymous Donations Save ‘Boy Scout Tract’ — Near Gladwyne — Forever from Development
A collection of anonymous donations — $3 million in total — will forever preserve 24 acres in Roxborough, slightly northeast of Gladwyne. The protection of the land, a plot known as the “Boy Scout tract,” was covered by Frank Kummer in The Philadelphia Inquirer. The present owners, the nonprofit Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, had…
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WCU Adds Three New Propane-Fueled Buses as Part of Going Green Commitment
Three new propane-fueled shuttle buses have been added to West Chester University’s transportation fleet as part of the university’s longstanding commitment to help save the planet by reducing carbon emissions and emitting fewer greenhouse gases on campus. As an added environmental advantage, the vehicles also emit fewer smog-producing hydrocarbons and particulate emissions than conventional fuels.…
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West Norriton Commissioners Pass Ordinance to Get a Handle on Local Plastic Bag Pollution
The West Norriton Township Board of Commissioners recently passed — by unanimous vote — a ban on single-use plastic bags. The action is designed to rein in plastic pollution in area fields and streams. It is the 13th municipality in the state to do so and the third in Montgomery County. West Norriton residents use…
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Underwater Unease: Invasive Fish Is a Nightmarish Presence in Collar-County Waterways
Montgomery Countyians have faced off some rather formidable foes when it comes to invasive creatures in local neighborhoods, parks, and lawns. The out-and-out war on spotted lanternflies has been ongoing since 2014. And as any fan of the county waterways knows, signage listing tips to contain the New Zealand mudsnail have been around sites like…
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Plan to Raze Trees at a Villanova Estate Causes Environmentalists to Fervently Bark in Protest
A century old arboretum on a Gilded-Age era estate is the battleground between preservationists, environmentalists, and Lower Merion School District. Activists say that the school district wants to fell hundreds of trees on Villanova’s Oakwell Estate to make room for auxiliary playing fields for Black Rock Middle School. Stacia Friedman got to the root of…
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North Penn School District Willing to Embrace Propane for More Than Just Grilling
North Penn School District has received a new grant of almost $200,000 to convert additional seven school buses from diesel to propane, writes Dan Sokil for The Reporter Online. The grant, announced by district officials and State Rep. Steve Malagari, will help the district’s bus fleet — which already has around 76 percent of its…
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Giving Away the Green: How a Center at Norristown Farm Park Serves the Community
A green resource center is opening its space to the Montgomery County community. Its ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Monday, headed by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). The center is in Norristown Farm Park and will continue to support various organizations with its fresh produce, writes Marilyn Johnson for Newsbreak. The space so far has…
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Montco StoryWalk Strolls into Second Year with Award-Winning Tales by Local Authors
Montco StoryWalk — an outdoor series of signs containing a narrative to be read at a location by strolling visitors — celebrated its second year of its Montgomery County installation. In noting the anniversary, its coordinators launched a countywide contest to seek new stories to display. Entrants were gathered in two categories by age, 17…
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Pa. Ranks Among States That Could Most Benefit from Easy-Breezy Energy Source
Pennsylvania has great wind energy potential, but it is currently using only a fraction of what it could. A new Stacker report illustrated the gap. Stacker ranked states based on their untapped wind energy potentials using data from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Washington D.C. The ranking was determined by comparing…
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As Part of Statewide Effort, All Three Montco Wegmans Locations Are Phasing Out Plastic Bags
Wegmans, the New York-based grocery store, has enforced the ban of plastic bags in its Pennsylvania stores beginning on Sept. 22, writes Jennifer Shannon for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Montgomery County Wegmans locations in Collegeville, King of Prussia, and Montgomerville will follow as directed. Wegmans had begun to phase-out plastic bag usage in Massachusetts, Maryland,…
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State Funding Designed to Transition Former Pottstown Factory from ‘Blighted’ to Bustling
The former Pottstown Plating Works plant on South Washington St. will benefit from state funding to clean its contaminated real estate and renovate its structure. Rob Manch dug into the details for WFMZ 69 News. The nearly $500,000 of funding for the ambitious and visionary project is coming from the Pa. Dept. of Community &…
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IKEA Adopts Stance on Charging That Has Nothing to Do with Credit Cards
To help reach the IKEA ambition to become a circular- and climate-positive business by 2030, the Conshohocken company is bringing ultra-fast public charging stations and delivery fleet electric vehicle (EV) charging to over 25 IKEA retail locations throughout the U.S. The initiative is being undertaken with Electrify America, a Reston, Va., provider of charging stations.…
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Not a Stranger to Social Advocacy, Qlik Onboards Interns Who Match Company Passions
Qlik, a data and analytics company based in King of Prussia, is no stranger to social advocacy and bringing on sharp, eco-conscious interns who match the company’s ideologies. As Emily Koch, a senior Political Science major at Temple University, can attest, Qlik is constantly working to create strategic sustainability initiatives that not only place the…
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Electric Vehicle Advantages Spark Interest, Investments from Phila. Collar Counties
A growing number of municipalities in Philadelphia’s collar counties are transitioning their gas-powered vehicles and investing in the infrastructure required to support electric vehicles. Kenny Cooper juiced up his journalistic talent to cover the story for WHYY. Montgomery County currently has three hybrid sheriff vehicles and a number of municipalities with charging stations, including Lansdale,…
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Is it Coming to Montco Waters!? Another Invasive Creature Swims Into Pennsylvania
First we had to worry about the Lanternfly devastating our crops. Now there’s an invasive fish known as the snakehead. Also known as frankenfish, or channa argus, it is submarine-shaped, with a toothy mouth and can grow in excess of 33 inches, writes Susan Miers Smith for the Reading Eagle. Native to China, Russia and…
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A ‘Growing Waste Crisis’ in PA Calls for Recycling Overhaul
Environmental advocates say Pennsylvania is in a “growing waste crisis,” and blame a decades-old recycling law, writes Sophia Schmidt for WHYY. “We live in a much different world than we did in 1988,” when Pennsylvania’s recycling law was signed, said Darren Spielman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Resources Council. Advocates are supporting efforts by Delaware…
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Nonprofit Encourages Public to Consider ‘Green Burials’ Like at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd
A nonprofit formed last year, Friends of Green Burial PA, aims to educate the public about the option of Green Burials, writes Richard Gaw for the Chester County Press. Carin Bonifacino of Toughkenamon learned about green burial in 2004. The then-burgeoning movement encourages the alternative use of biodegradable caskets, shrouds, and urns and finding final…
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