Articles Written by Julie Hancher

Plastic pollution increasing by land and by sea. Barrels of oil wasted.  BPA. High transportation costs. False advertising. Low regulations. Money wasted. Bottled water has a stigma these days. And sitting around the office “water cooler” (or perhaps ‘larger caskets of bottled water’) doesn’t have the same pizzazz that it used to, eh? We already know that plastic water bottles don’t make sense financially or sustainably. We bring our own stainless steel water bottles to fill up, but working for 8 hours a day leads to an inevitable refill or two. Those large plastic jugs you’re filling up with at work or the gym are still made of plastic, and therefore have the same green consequences as those single-sized bottled waters. A business based in King of Prussia, Quench USA, recognized this environmental conundrum of the ‘larger’ water bottles and came up with a better solution. (Find out more, after the jump!)

I recently found myself in North Carolina on a cool weekend in January to see the sights with my companion. Although it was the midst of a southern winter, the desire to get outside and do something athletic (and obviously sustainable) was high as ever. After searching for a few options, we found Zipquest Zip Lining. (Find the full story and tons of pictures (AND video) after the jump!)

Hosting a Super Bowl Bash on Sunday? Here's quick tip that will save you money (and help out the environment!)

After embarking on our ‘plastic bag reduction’ journey, I wanted to dig deeper on plastics. After a quick search of the Google, Beth Terry’s “Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and You Can Too” landed on my Kindle. Terry has a very challenging mission: She wants to live plastic-free. At first, it sounds simple – stop buying water bottles, disposable crap, DIY or find natural versions. But then you realize that EVERYTHING is plastic. I didn’t think of my shiny Macbook Laptop as 'plastic' (it's a miracle!), nor the Pyrex lids on my containers. Not clothes I wear, seats I sit in, airplanes I fly in…  Plastic is EVERYWHERE. Terry does a great job at (Find out more, after the jump!)

The big game is right around the corner - The PUPPY BOWL! (Speaking of which, fun fact! Last year, 9 of the pups came straight from Pennsylvania SPCA shelters!)  (Oh, and that other game for those football fans.) With Puppybowl and Superbowl translates into dips, appetizers and parties! And with all those dips come chips! Herr's, Lays, Sun, Tortilla, and many other chips! Oh, chip heaven is on the way for me! But now the green question... Can you recycle those chip bags?

Riding SEPTA isn't just good for sustainability, our public transit system is  learning to save dollars too, according to Plan Philly! SEPTA is in its third year of its formal sustainability program. All of the initiatives are trying to add environmental, social and economic value.  But, SEPTA is finding that sustainability is an easy way to save money too! Last year, they tried creating energy in creative ways, including  braking trains (captured & reused at power stations) and turned unused real estate into a self-sustaining urban farm. Here are some examples of how dollar bills were accumulating in SEPTA's pockets:

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Philadelphia gets more sustainable street cred, this time from the Mayors! The US Conference of Mayors recognized Philadelphia's public-private partnership with Recyclebank with an Outstanding Achievement Award. Last weekend, the Washington DC ceremony honored the city's Philadelphia Recycling Rewards program, based on criteria including:

Great news, friends. If you care about something and voice your opinion, people in power listen. Although I must admit, I used to be a bit skeptical of individual actions towards political change.  I was a political science major in college, and one of the main takeaways was "Corporations lobbyists rule government."  The internets were raging over the past few days, as City Council bill 120917 would hurt community gardens.