Articles Written by Julie Hancher

Obama swung by a wind-turbine Plant to talk about Energy, reducing US oil imports and getting clean Energy on Wednesday afternoon. This coincides with Obama's announcement for re-election. Luckily, Philadelphia is producing a whole-lot of green-energy jobs as part of Obama's energy initiatives. But as we saw from his State of the Union Address, he needs to step up his actions and talk less about the changes. "These are not your father's windmills," Obama told (find out more, after the jump!)

A huge part of being 'green' is giving & reusing products so they have a second life. The Art of ReUse by Green is Universal & Etsy encourage participants to submit simple & creative ways to give unwanted items a second life. Unfortunately, I prefer (find out what, after the jump!)

This past Saturday, Philly Spring Cleanup Day united 10,000+ volunteers in 248 cleanup efforts around the city. Our 34 volunteers in the 300-600 block of Washington Ave gathered more than 30 bags of trash and 8+ bags of recycling in the 5 hour event. Among the items collected were hundreds of cigarette butts, broken bottles, a shoe, silly bands, and paraphernalia that should not lie anywhere close to where children play. I was quite proud to see everyone eager to help out as they got down and dirty (with gloves, shovels and brooms, of course!) Despite our success, (find out more, after the jump!)

OK, I'll admit it. I'm slowly turning into the 'green', earth-loving stereotype. While I try to keep my lecturing & whines to a minimum, I keep getting greener and greener since the start of Green Philly Blog. I'm 99% pescatarian. Finally, I bought a bike. So, readers. Please bear with me for a second, while I celebrate. There's a big announcement for people like me: Philly's going to add more bike lanes. WOOO-Hooo! :-) 2 North-south bike lanes a block apart are going

Hey friends & readers- Who's excited to help Philadelphia this Saturday for Philly Spring Cleanup Day? As we mentioned, Green Philly Blog is partnering with greenlimbs, in Queen Village neighborhood of 300-600 Washington Avenue. Our volunteers will help bag trash, recycle, tend trees and prepare beds for spring planting. My friend and I visited the project location on Sunday afternoon. While there were 20-30 kids playing in this park, trash litters the streets and area inside. Here are some pics of the area (click through for the slideshow courtesy of Chad Collier):

Sick of litter on the streets? Tired of Philly's dirty rep? Readers, who's ready to take some action for the 4th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup?!? As we mentioned, the City of Philadelphia announced their 4th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup, “Keep Up the Sweep Up", on Saturday, April 2, 2011 (rain date, Saturday, April 9) from 9 AM- 2 PM. Green Philly Blog is partnering with another local blog, greenlimbs. Together, we're thrilled to announce that we’ll be keeping & 'sweeping' in South Philadelphia's Queen Village neighborhood (300-600 Washington Avenue). We'll need volunteers to help bag trash, recycle, tend trees and prepare beds for spring planting - (and we'll even have a Pennsylvania Horticultural Society-trained tree tender in our group). You can sign up to volunteer with us through the Streets Department site or by emailing us directly to (find out, after the jump!)

Although living in the city is great, there are occasionally downfalls... such as endless supermarket lines, loads of Pizza options circa 2 AM and pesky leases that prohibit dogs. Don't fret dog-lovers... there's a program that allows you to "time-share" dogs... ethically. The Monster Milers is a group of runners who run the PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) dogs to "connect Philadelphia runners with homeless dogs as running companions". Benefits for the pups are giving them exercise, time out of the shelter, and a little bit of runner's love. The running outlet for these canine pals have resulted in less frantic behavior when adopters meet them - and much faster adoptions. Founder of the group, Carrie Maria is

While many in Philadelphia started celebrating St. Patrick's Day with the Erin Express & such this weekend - the official big day is approaching! We love greening our holidays... especially one of our favorite days of the year when everyone wears green! Here's a few ways to celebrate leprechaun-style & green your St. Patrick's Day:

On a sidenote, this marks Green Philly Blog's 400th Post! Thanks for reading, whether it's your first visit or 400th ;-) We appreciate all the continued & amazing support. Hope you had a chance to visit the 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show this past week, which benefited the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society! PHS announced the Plant One Million campaign during the show, an initiative that will plant 1 MILLION trees in 13 counties in Greater Philadelphia Region, New Jersey & Delaware. The campaign will improve the environment, create jobs, strengthen communities & improve air/water quality. This campaign helps to (find out more about this amazing campaign, after the jump!)