Hey! I’m Radley!

I’m a Sea Turtle, and I’m also the new ambassador for the Lehigh Valley Zoo’s KNOW PLASTICS campaign!

I need you to help me reduce single-use plastic waste around our community! About 8 million metric tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year; endangering marine wildlife like me, the ecosystem, and even the food you and I both consume! Together with your help and my Conservation Crew, we’ll communicate Lehigh Valley Zoo’s conservation missions. Check below to read a little bit about my new friend, Carmella, and her personal mission of rainforest conservation!

In the near future, you might see me hanging around the zoo or showing up for photos at some of our many signature events! I’ll be spreading the message of reducing single-use plastic waste around our community and informing people about the hazards and detrimental effects that plastic waste has on ecosystems and animal species. If you’d like to read a little more about that, check out the Lehigh Valley Zoo KNOW PLASTICS page!

Thanks! See ya later!

–Radley

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Meet Carmella!

The newest member of Radley’s Conservation Crew

Hi – I’m Carmella the Sloth!

I’m the newest member of Radley’s Conservation Crew. I’m an artist, and I absolutely love shade-grown coffee! Because of this, my mission is to spread the message of rainforest conservation throughout the Lehigh Valley and beyond!

Did you know that shade-grown coffee is a sustainable and eco-friendly way of producing coffee? The coffee plant is actually a shade-growing shrub that flourishes in the understory of tropical forests. But the high worldwide demand for coffee led many farmers in rainforest regions to clear the land so they could make way for sun-grown coffee.

By clearing these forest grounds, farmers disturbed and displaced beautiful and vulnerable wildlife such as birds, reptiles, bats, and other mammals such a sloths like me! Not only that –  they destroyed the natural processes of the rainforest! This means that coffee farmers have had to rely on unnatural farming practices like toxic pesticides and artificial irrigation that further destroys the land. With shade-grown coffee, farmers don’t have to worry about those things!

So next time you brew a pot or pick up a cup on the go, please take a second to look for certifications. Little gestures like this really add up when we all do our small part!

I’ll also be joining Radley in spreading the message of reducing single-use plastic waste through Lehigh Valley Zoo’s KNOW PLASTICS campaign. You might see me around the Zoo in the near future, so be sure to come over and say hello. I’d love to meet you!

Ciao!

– Carmella

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