Education
sort: title | dateAir Quality Index
updated: Monday, March 19, 2012The Air Quality Index (AQI) was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide a simple, uniform way to report daily air quality conditions. To view the current conditions for St. Louis Park (Twin Cities), click here. AQI values are reported hourly on the MPCA's Web site. Each weekday, you may also hear a recorded message...
Alternative Fueled Vehicles
updated: Monday, March 19, 2012The City of St. Louis Park promotes alternative use vehicles. St. Louis Park was the first city in the state to own an E-85 pump to fuel its E-85 fleet, which currently consists of 23 vehicles. The City also owns and operates 11 hybrid vehicles.
Click here for more information on alternative fuels and alternative vehicles.
Bottled Water vs. Tap Water
updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2012.gif)
Is bottled water really cleaner? One of the City of St. Louis Park's goals is to provide an uninterrupted supply of safe, high quality water to our community.
Click here for a fact sheet that discusses the relative safety of bottled versus tap water.
Buckthorn
updated: Monday, March 19, 2012Buckthorn is an invasive terrestrial (on land) plant that is found in many areas throughout St. Louis Park, the Metro area and, unfortunately, almost all of Minnesota. Buckthorn removal on private properties is encouraged by the City of St. Louis Park. The City loans out Weed Wrenches to any residents, for a one week period, which...
Emerald Ash Borer
updated: Monday, February 13, 2012The Emerald ash borer (EAB) is an insect pest that has invaded Minnesota, however it has not been found in St. Louis Park yet. EAB is a serious threat to Minnesota's urban and rural ash populations, which number over 900 million trees. Don not remove any ash trees or ash wood from your property without first checking your...
Environmental Stewardship
updated: Thursday, April 26, 2012As a steward of its environment, the City of St. Louis Park promotes recycling in many of its higher-volume parks. To encourage this practice and reduce the amount of trash thrown into the recycling containers, the city is now using a yellow barrel with a flat top in these locations. It is clearly marked and identifiable as a recycling container.
Greening Your Home
updated: Monday, March 19, 2012Get the whole family involved in achieving a greener home, making St. Louis Park a greener place to live!
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Turn off lights when no one is in the room.
- Close heat vents in areas of your home that are not being used - bedrooms by day, office at night, etc.
- Install a programmable thermostat and set it to lower temperatures at night and when no one is home during the day. Each degree lower can decrease a heating bill by 1%.
- Unplug coffee makers, toasters, food processors, etc. when not in use.
- Use power strips to turn off groups of appliances when not in use. Group together the DVD player, VCR, stereo and gaming units and power them down when no one is around.
- Set humidifiers and dehumidifiers to turn on only when the humidity level warrants.
- Don't overuse exhaust fans in bathrooms, kitchens or basements as they can suck out a roomful of warm air very quickly requiring your furnace to work harder.
Click here for more ideas.
Locally, the Center for Energy and the Environment has low cost loans to help make energy efficient improvements.
Click here for more information on their programs.
Invasive Species
updated: Monday, March 19, 2012There are insects, plants and animals that are native to St. Louis Park and those that are not. For example, some insects have ample opportunity to travel to our area on lumber trucks, while some are accidently brought over from Asia on a shipment of goods. This import of non-native or invasive insects disrupts the...
Metropolitan Mosquito Control District
updated: Monday, March 19, 2012
The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District provides a variety of services in the metropolitan area, including St. Louis Park, to monitor and control nuisance insect populations.
Click here for more information.
New Oak Disease Identified
updated: Friday, February 10, 2012There has been a new disease, called Bur Oak Blight (BOB) , identified for the Twin Cities area. This disease affects Bur oak trees and mimics sypmtoms of Oak wilt disease, with lots of brown leaves appearing during the growing season. Click here for more information on BOB.
Public Weed Control/Spraying
updated: Friday, May 11, 2012The City will begin contract spraying for weed control in selected parks and along sidewalks, retaining walls, in medians, and turn lanes. The contractor is Philip's Tree Care LLC. They will be using Glyphosate and Payload chemicals which have been determined to be safe for public use. Click here for more information and a list of parks...
Recycle Your Cell Phone or Printer Cartridge
updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2012Recycling Association of Minnesota has provided the City of St. Louis Park with collection boxes to recycle the following items: cell phones, PDA's, iPods, MP3 players, and printer inkjet cartridges. These collection boxes are located at City Hall, the Recreation Center, Westwood Hills Nature Center and the Municipal Service Center. For more information...
Related Links
updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2012- Sustainable Urban Landscape Information Series
- University of Minnesota Extension Service
- Arbor Day Foundation
Save Energy
updated: Monday, February 13, 2012Do you know there are many different ways St. Louis Park residents may save on energy bills?
Click on the links below to learn more.
Speakers Bureau
updated: Thursday, April 26, 2012
The City provides speakers to groups for topics ranging from water to fire prevention to recycling. The speaker’s bureau topic listing promotes city subjects and relevant employees that are willing to share their expertise. Click here for more information.
Storm Water Education
updated: Monday, February 13, 2012Do you know what storm water is in St. Louis Park? Do you know how it becomes polluted? Do you know how to help protect it? Click here for more information.
Storm Water Resources
updated: Thursday, April 26, 2012Do you know what storm water is in St. Louis Park? Do you know how it becomes polluted? Do you know how to help protect it? Click here for more information.
Additional Resources
Minnehaha Creek Watershed District
Bassett Creek Water Management Org.
MN Dept. of Natural Resources - Waters
Tree Care
updated: Thursday, May 03, 2012
You can help protect all your trees by
- Watering trees - even mature ones - during prolonged dry periods. The best way to water small trees is to let a hose run very slowly at the base of the tree for about an hour. For trees larger than six inches in diameter, water under the outer edges of the branches for one hour with the hose open-ended at a trickle speed.
- Saving routine pruning and trimming for dormant winter months where contractors will give you better rates. (Don't trim elms, oaks and honey locusts in the spring or summer. Trimming between mid-April and mid-August greatly increases their disease susceptibility.)
- By not banging into the base of the tree with your lawn mower.
You are welcome to call the city forester at (952) 924-2565 with any questions about tree care, tree selection or planting. For more information about trees, click on www.mntrees.org.
Click here for a list of licensed tree services for St. Louis Park.
Water Conservation
updated: Monday, April 02, 2012Sprinkle lawns early in the morning or in the evening. Don't sprinkle lawns from noon to 6 p.m. when as much as 75 percent of the water evaporates. Water trees and gardens with a hose or soaker hose rather than a sprinkler. Use mulch around trees, shrubs and flowers to retain soil moisture. Sweep driveways and sidewalks with a broom rather than hosing...
Which Watershed Do you Live In?
updated: Thursday, April 26, 2012Did you know each of us lives in a watershed? A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that drains off of it goes into the same place. This place could be the wetland, pond, lake or creek located outside your back door. Click here to find which watershed you live in within St. Louis Park.
Click here for Minnehaha Creek Watershed District map.
Click here for Bassett Creek Watershed map.
On This Page
- Air Quality Index
- Alternative Fueled Vehicles
- Bottled Water vs. Tap Water
- Buckthorn
- EAB
- Environmental Stewardship
- Greening Your Home
- Invasive Species
- Metropolitan Control
- BOB - New Oak Disease
- Public Weed Control
- Recycle Your Cell Phone or Printer Cartridge
- Related Links
- Save Energy
- Speakers Bureau
- Storm Water Education
- Storm Water Resources
- Tree Care
- Water Conservation
- watershed map