League of Women Voters of Spartanburg County
  • Home
  • About
  • Join Us
    • Membership Step-by-Step
  • News & Events
    • Centennial 1920- 2020
  • Focus Areas
    • Voting
    • Running for Office
    • Redistricting
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • Natural Resources
  • Share Your Story

LWV US Position on Natural Resources

As citizens of the world we must protect our planet from the physical, economic and public health effects of climate change while also providing pathways to economic prosperity.
LWV US Natural Environment Issue Page
LWV SC Natural Resources Page

Plants & Pollinators - In Your Yard!

5/13/2026

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Alice Sutton
A lawn is like a desert, but we can create a beautiful habitat for wildlife literally in our own back yards. Here are some links, steps and tips to get you started.

My Favorite Resources

Links from Dr. Doug Tallamy, Environmental Entomologist
  • VIDEO: Nature’s Best Hope
  • Next Steps for Nature
  • Homegrown National Parks Learn more and register your yard with Homegrown National Parks!

Other Resources:
  • Top Ten Things New Native Gardeners Need to Know
  • National Wildlife Federation
  • Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  • How to grow goldenrod
  • How to grow coneflowers (echinacea)

Steps & Tips:
  1. Add a meadow strip along the fence or on one edge of your lawn —stop mowing & weeding there. Add native flowers and grasses as you can.
    • Native Grasses and Sedges: Smart Choices for Better Landscapes
    • Native Grasses for SC
  2. Change up a chain link fence! Add host plants like Carolina jessamine (poisonous), passionflower, climbing aster, and Virginia creeper.
  3. Birdbath Renovation!
    1. Out My Backdoor: Birdbaths Key to Wildlife Abundance
  4. Attract pollinators to your garden with top 5 annual plant picks: Snapdragons, Marigolds, Zinnias, Cosmos, Alyssum
  5. Always double check that the plant you are buying is native! Don’t trust the person working in the nursery—look it up!…There are American hollies, English hollies, and Asian hollies. There are American magnolias, Asian magnolias, and South American magnolias. There are salvias from North America, South America, Asia, and the Mediterranean…
  6. Don’t plant pink-flowered milkweed—it can take over your garden!
  7. Look for butterfly weed!
  8. Keep cats indoors! In the United States, cats kill an estimated 1.3 to 4.0 billion birds annually. This makes cats the single greatest source of human-related bird mortality.
  9. Reduce mosquito population with mosquito dunks
  10. Fend off squirrels with bloodmeal fertilizer.
  11. Recycle plain cardboard by using it in the garden to prevent weeds (cover cardboard lightly with mulch).
0 Comments

SC Aquarium Litter Sweep Program

4/11/2022

0 Comments

 
Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection and is designated for fostering appreciation of the earth's environment and awareness of the issues that threaten it. We are asking our members, their families and friends to do litter sweeps in their own neighborhoods and favorite parks during the month of April in honor of Earth Day. See more details at the SC Aquarium.

How to participate in Litter Sweep:
  1. Gather your supplies: bag, gloves, and your electronic or paper datasheet.
  2. Return Data Sheets to Darcell Davis-Williams by email.
  3. Choose any location with litter that you can safely and legally access.
  4. Contribute your data. As you pick up litter, document the numbers & types of all the debris items, including brand names if possible.
  5. Take photos: Team photos with the total amount of litter collected are a great way to document your impact.
  6. Remove and properly recycle or dispose of the litter.
  7. Above all, have fun, stay safe, and pat yourself on the back for being a hero to the planet!

Download your litter sweep collection document, either long form or short, and send the results to Darcell Davis-Williams by email. If you don't see an item on the list, just jot it down in the margins.
Long Form (1 per page)
Short Form (4 per page)
littersweepcollectiondoc_lwv.pdf
File Size: 774 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

littersweepcollectiondoc_lwv_short_form_4_up.pdf
File Size: 101 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


0 Comments

Litter Sweeps with Tyger River Foundation

7/21/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
0 Comments

Litter Sweep near the Grimke Mural - 6/15

5/18/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
0 Comments

Virtual Workshop: The Road to Litter-Free Neighborhoods - 3/18/21, 7pm

3/9/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
0 Comments

SC Environmental Legislation Watch

3/1/2021

0 Comments

 
The League of Women Voters of South Carolina keeps an eye on a variety of legislation related to its various positions. This session, the following pre-filed legislation pertaining to environmental issues are being tracked. For the full text of the bills or to check their sponsors or status, go to https://www.scstatehouse.gov/index.php. If you have an opinion on one or more of these, take the time to express it to your representatives in the House and Senate!
  • H3051 Require evaluation of green considerations feasibility (e.g. sidewalks, bike lanes) before construction begins, not as a post-road construction afterthought.
  • H3194 Enacts reforms to Santee Cooper and authorizes sale of the utility.
  • H3354 To amend Section 12.37.220 as amended Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976 relating to property tax exemptions so as to exempt a renewable energy resource property having a nameplate capacity of and and operating at no greater than twenty kilowatts.
  • H3515 A joint resolution to require the Department of Health and Environmental Control to promulgate regulations to establish maximum contaminant levels for certain pollutants in public water systems.
  • S107 A bill to amend section 48-39-280, as amended, code of laws of South Carolina,1976, relating to the state's beach preservation policy, so as to apply certain exceptions to the establishment of a baseline for coastal erosion zones and to remove the study requirement in cases where primary oceanfront sand dunes do not exist.
  • S162 A bill to amend section 44-96-40, code of laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to solid waste policy and management, so as to provide that post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks used in pyrolysis and gasification processes are "recovered materials" and are not "solid waste" for the purposes of regulation by the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
  • S184 A bill to amend the code of laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Article 7 to Chapter 15, Title 50 entitled the "sea turtle protection act", to provide that the Department of Natural Resources shall establish designated coastal areas which are utilized or likely to be utilized by sea turtles for nesting, to define necessary terms, to prohibit the use of artificial light to illuminate an area of the beach designated by the department, to establish requirements for certain types of lighting, and to provide a penalty.
  • S294 When a person or corporation using an electric vehicle charging station is not an electric utility, and to further provide that any increase in customer demand or energy consumption associated with transportation electrification shall not constitute revenues for an electrical utility.
0 Comments

Household Hazardous Waste Collection 3/28/20, 9am-2pm

3/12/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
1 Comment

Discover Your Watershed - Tyger River: 4/25/20 - 10:00-3:00

3/9/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
1 Comment

Spartanburg Water - Public Comments accepted through 8/30/19

8/23/2019

1 Comment

 
Spartanburg Water is accepting public comment on its draft Watershed and Reservoir Rules and Regulations through August 30, 2019. Visit www.spartanburgwater.org to see details and offer comment.

Invitation Letter:
"We wanted to let you know Spartanburg Water is opening a window of opportunity to submit public comments for a draft set of Rules and Regulations governing our drinking water reservoirs. The Watershed and Reservoir Management Rules and Regulations will serve as a framework to encourage the responsible use of these natural resources in order to help us achieve our top priority: to protect the integrity of the water quality and sustain a long- term supply of source water. These draft Rules and Regulations are a comprehensive document that apply to all three reservoirs.

In a continued effort to engage with our customers and community, Spartanburg Water will accept feedback on the draft Watershed and Reservoir Management Rules and Regulations between August 1, 2019, and August 30, 2019. Your input is important to us. In order to maximize participation during the public comment window, we have made the complete Rules and Regulations document readily available to you in several formats.

You can read the draft as a digital
version on our website, www.spartanburgwater.org. If you prefer to review a hard copy of the document, the digital version will be print-ready and we will also have copies available for review at each of the following Spartanburg County Library branches: Downtown Spartanburg, Boiling Springs, Chesnee, Inman, Landrum.

While we prefer you submit comments electronically through the online form that is
available on the SWS website, written comments will also be accepted by mail. If sending written comments, please make every effort to note the document section you are referencing. Written comments can be sent to: Spartanburg Water System Attn: Public Comments P.O. Box 251 Spartanburg, SC 29304"
1 Comment

WILD Spartanburg Poster Contest

1/4/2019

1 Comment

 
Have you ever seen the iconic National Park Posters from the 1930s and ’40s? They were beautiful serigraphed posters originally produced by the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project to promote travel to National Parks. Few of the original prints remain, but the original screens were restored and artists are reproducing those images as posters, stickers, etc. which can be purchased today. Through the WILD Spartanburg Poster Contest, you’ll be able to purchase posters and stickers of your very favorite Spartanburg nature preserves sometime in 2020!

In October, SPACE and the Tyger River Foundation launched the WILD Spartanburg Poster Contest to showcase some of the beautiful natural spaces in Spartanburg while encouraging environmental conservation. This project invites artists from all over Spartanburg County to submit a poster design of one of the following places:
  • Berry Shoals Bridge
  • Cottonwood Trail
  • Glendale Shoals
  • Nesbitt Shoals
The deadline for entry is January 15, 2019, and posters will be displayed at the Headquarters of Spartanburg County Public Libraries from February-April 2019.  Go to the Chapman Cultural Center website to learn more about the contest and see how much you could win!
Picture
1 Comment
<<Previous
    SC Aquarium Litter Sweep Collection Document:
    littersweepcollectiondoc_lwv.pdf
    File Size: 774 kb
    File Type: pdf
    Download File


    Some Links

    SC Aquarium Litter Sweep Program
    ​
    B2 Breathe Better Program

    Leave No Trace Project

    Piedmont Audubon Society

    Spartanburg Water: Healthy Lakes

    Tyger River Projects

    TATT Natural Beauty & Resources

    Upstate Forever

    Upstate Watershed Ecology Center

    Archives

    May 2026
    April 2022
    July 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    March 2020
    August 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Connect with us!
Donate to LWVS
LWV of Spartanburg County, PO Box 6507, Spartanburg, SC 29304
  • Home
  • About
  • Join Us
    • Membership Step-by-Step
  • News & Events
    • Centennial 1920- 2020
  • Focus Areas
    • Voting
    • Running for Office
    • Redistricting
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • Natural Resources
  • Share Your Story