Earth Day comes outside to play
Mt. Lebanon’s Earth Day celebration, which has been as virtual as everything else these last couple of years, is returning to an in-person format, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, April 24, at Mt. Lebanon Park.
The event will feature two activity tents, with music, meditation and yoga and presentations on health and the environment. The Pennsylvania Resources Council will present composting and rain barrel workshops, which will include compost bins and rain barrels to take home. Registration is required [1] for the workshops.
New this year is a program from state Rep. Dan Miller’s office on electric vehicles, including charger installation and safety, electric savings programs and incentives from Duquesne Light, state resources regarding refunds and rebates, and alternative transportation including e-bikes and scooters.
In addition to the in-person events, LeboGreen, the organization that coordinates the event, has a virtual Earth Day story map and a virtual walking tour on its website [2]. See photos from past Earth Day celebrations on LeboGreen’s Facebook page [3].
If you would like to be a vendor, sponsor or volunteer, contact Kathy Hrabovsky at lebogreen2020@gmail.com [4] or 412-953-5202.
Recycle your glass
Although glass currently cannot be included in curbside recycling, residents have a new place to take their glassware.
The Glass Recycling Collaborative of Southwestern PA, a newly formed partnership between municipalities in Allegheny County and the Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC), has installed three permanent glass recycling dumpsters in the Village Square Mall parking lot.
The dumpsters, paid for with a grant that Dormont obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, is located near the Fine Wine & Good Spirits store. You can bring glass bottles, jars and jugs of all colors. No sorting is required. Containers should be empty and rinsed, with lids and labels still on. Take the bags and boxes used to deliver the glass with you.
Mt. Lebanon is partnering with Dormont, Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair to sponsor the program. The glass will be collected by Michael Brothers Hauling and transported to CAP Glass in Mt. Pleasant.
“Mt. Lebanon’s current comprehensive plan contains a recommendation to raise the bar for environmental sustainability within Mt. Lebanon,” said Municipal Manager Keith McGill. “It talks about the desire to see the community become a progressive green community through recycling/composting and reducing waste.”
The environmental benefits to recycling glass include the reduction of CO2 emissions and lower energy demands and raw material needs. Learn more at www.gpi.org/why-recycle-glass.
“Glass is still one of the most recyclable materials we generate in our homes, and the market for glass recycling is very strong,” said Sarah Alessio Shea, PRC deputy director. “It’s important from an environmental perspective to keep glass out of landfills, and PRC is dedicated to building an efficient, region-wide glass recycling collection network.”
For more information regarding glass recycling, visit the PRC website [5].
Tree City
Mt. Lebanon loves its trees all year long, but every April we give trees their very own special day.
At 2:30 p.m., on Friday, April 22, the municipality will partner with the Mt. Lebanon School District to present Trees Are a Breath of Fresh Air, a ceremony at Markham Elementary School. The event will include student poetry and music, remarks by Markham Principal Jocelyn Artinger and Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Steve Silverman, followed by the reading of a Tree City proclamation and a tree planting on Markham’s grounds.
Mt. Lebanon has been recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA since 2007.
Spring Clean-up
Getting the yard in shape for spring? Mt. Lebanon has several collection events to help rid you of your yard waste (see the Public Works recycling section of www.mtlebanon.org). Please don’t take your yard waste to Mt. Lebanon parks or other public spaces. Dumping yard waste, or even house plants, undermines the work the Parks Advisory Board and the Mt. Lebanon Nature Conservancy do to clean the parks, and may reintroduce invasive plants to areas where volunteers have worked to remove them.
If you would like to help even more in the fight against invasive species in the parks, the conservancy schedules work dates for volunteers to clear the parks. The next one is slated for noon to 3 p.m., on Saturday, April 9, in Bird Park. Bring water, gloves, loppers, clippers and/or saws. Wear long pants and sleeves (for tick and poison ivy protection). All activities are weather permitting. Registration is required. Register at the Events section of the conservancy’s website [6].