PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) – Planning for Valentine's, Galentine's or even Palentine's? Then consider sharing some local environmental love and warm fuzzies for the planet at large.
Pick 1 Thing (or more!) from our list for a green Valentine's Day! Reservations are guaranteed and there won't be any supply chain snags to worry about.
1. Adopt a flower bulb for your love
Center City District “lets your love grow” when you adopt flower bulbs for your sweetie. A tax-deductible donation starting at $25 (for 25 bulbs) supports jobs in the landscape program and beautifies Dilworth Park at City Hall, and Cret and Sister Cities Parks on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway when they bloom in late March. Your recipient will get an e-card notifying them of your green gift.
2. Join a local garden club
Help your love lump cultivate their own green thumb with a membership to a garden club. Consider the Chestnut Hill Garden Club, established almost 70 years ago, which advocates for branching out from healthy plants to healthy communities. Members Sheila Kelly and Theresa AlDamlouji describe a busy year-round roster of lectures, trips, and activities. They include donation drives for Maddy Dixon’s Community Cupboard in Ambler, supplying and arranging holiday decorations for Keystone Hospice, as well as barrel flower planting in Chestnut Hill and engaging as a member of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) whose mission, among other things, is to create healthy living environments.
“Our Club today spans three generations of members directly related to one of the original founders!” says Kelly.
“We are open to anyone with a love of gardening and an interest in contributing to our community and environment. We are a diverse group interested in expanding our knowledge and engagement with horticulture in many venues.”
3. Make the gift bag the gift!
Load some in the back of the car today: as of May 4, 2022, reusable shopping bags will be required while running your errands in the Garden State. Under New Jersey’s P.L. 2020 c.117, retail stores, grocery stores and food service businesses will no longer provide or sell single-use plastic carryout bags or polystyrene foam containers. The same goes for single-use paper bags unless the store is less than 2,500 square feet. Check out local designer exit343design to build up your reusable bag stash with Philly pride.
Related
4. Say sayonara to single-use straws
Get serious about reusable drinking straws and tuck them into your new totes. That same New Jersey law makes drinking straws available only by request in restaurants. You can suck it up (sustainably) with one from The Philadelphia Zoo and help the critters there with your purchase. Actually, you'd be helping critters everywhere by keeping the plastic tubes out of the eco-system.
5. Get in on the action with Green Philly
Attach this to your Valentine’s e-card: e-tickets to Green Philly's virtual Symposium, "Climate Promises to Action", on Thursday, February 17th. It’s a day-long reveal of lectures, panel discussions and lightning talks on issues from Philly’s Climate Action Playbook, helping kids relieve pandemic stress through sustainable cleaning practices, and understanding and supporting a circular economy. The e-ticket gives you access to recordings of any symposium section that you might miss.