Articles Written by Julie Hancher

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.

Trying to get rid of that old computer, laptop, tablet, monitor or television? A new Pennsylvania state law, effective tomorrow, prevents you from throwing out electronics curbside with the rest of your garbage. (Not like you would, anyway...) Unless your municipality (Find out the 411 on this new rule, after the jump!)

Yes we can... Again....  Back on a cool November night, my BFF and I sat on her couch as Brian Williams announced Mr. Barack Obama had been elected for a second term as President of the United States. Environmentalists were quick to bash the competition like the Sierra Club, mentioning "we" won over the corporate fossil fuel giants: Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars the fossil fuel industry dumped into this election to elect Mitt Romney, we proved that corporations are, in fact, not people. Obama's next four years in office are crucial to the environment as my 850-word election eve post begged. Although he still has to get buy in from Congress on sustainability initiatives, the momentum could bring some great changes. Since today is Obama's inauguration, here are my 10 green goals for President Obama's 2nd term:

We lead busy lives and with places like HipCityVeg, it's easy to grab a quick snack or meal out. But what about all those plastic utensils they give for free? Isn't there an alternative to more disposable crap? (Find out, after the jump!)