Warren County students host hunger drive for people in need

Good News Notes: “A Warren County school is helping to feed people in need, and students are having fun along the way. Kids at Harmony Township school collected unopened cereal boxes for donation. To up the excitement, they turned the collection into an Instagram-inspired domino chain. While they didn’t reach their goal of wrapping the…

Popcorn with a purpose? How this N.J. nonprofit is impacting the community.

Good News Notes: “Popcorn is positively changing the lives of people in New Jersey — and not just by being a salty treat at the movie theater. It’s thanks to an organization known as Popcorn for the People, a Piscataway-based nonprofit that employs people with autism and developmental disabilities to produce its line of gourmet treats….

Packing peanuts to be banned in NJ under new law

Good News Notes: “More recycled plastic, glass and paper will be used in everyday products — from trash bags to beer bottles — under anew law Gov. Phil Murphy signed Tuesday. The law also prohibits the sale of polystyrene packing peanuts in New Jersey within two years — a move supporters say will help keep the easily blown…

Meet Ice Pop the gator, and the woman who saved him from the Lehigh River

Good News Notes: “The sight of a young alligator swimming Sunday afternoon in the Lehigh River shocked two fishermen, but it was business as usual for the gator’s rescuer. Christina Obrecht has collected hundreds of reptiles, and the 3-foot American alligator swimming sluggishly in the shallow part of the river in Allentown was no different. The men…

America’s Grow-a-Row donates 14 million pounds of produce to food insecure

Good News Notes: “America’s Grow-a-Row has reached the milestone of donating 14 million pounds — or, 56 million servings — of fresh fruits and vegetables to those experiencing food insecurity. America’s Grow-a-Row, headquartered in Pittstown, is a nonprofit organization that grows and gleans fresh fruits and vegetables that are donated to those facing hunger throughout…

AeroFarms to expand with indoor vertical farm in St. Louis

Good News Notes: “AeroFarms, a Certified B Corporation and leader in indoor vertical farming, today announced its plan to expand to the Midwest region as part of a project with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the St. Louis Controlled Environment Agriculture Coalition (STLCEA) to demonstrate innovative strategies to minimize the environmental footprint of indoor agriculture….

Price Rite kicks off pilot of Flashfood food waste reduction app

Good News Notes: “Wakefern Food Corp.’s Price Rite Marketplace has begun testing the Flashfood food waste reduction app in western New York. The free app from Toronto-based Flashfood gives shoppers access to exclusive deals on products — including meat, produce, seafood, dairy, deli and bakery — that are nearing their best-by date. In turn, the significantly reduced…

These entrepreneurs want consumers to reuse wine bottles

Good News Notes: “Americans aren’t the biggest wine sippers in the world — imbibing a mere 3.2 gallons per person in 2020 versus the 16 gallons guzzled by Portuguese residents, according to estimates from the industry’s primary source of stats.  But the habit still translates into a whole lot of single-use bottles: About 4.3 billion of…