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Happy Arbor Day! This annual day (typically the last Friday in April) celebrates planting, caring for and loving trees. Although we love trees every day, we still honor our plants on this holiday.  Plus, there ain't a better place to celebrate everything trees than in Philadelphia, where any day is an excuse to drink locally and hang out with friends. Here's 7 Ways to Celebrate Arbor Day in Philly:

Late night pizza calls, Chinese food runs, and endless burger or fries at the cafeteria are the epitome of college; eating healthy during these four years is extremely difficult. Desolate in North Philly, Temple students are especially further away from the convince of a fresh produces and healthy options. With the closest Whole Foods being two miles off campus, my fellow owls and I are stuck shopping at the pricey Fresh Grocer. Since Junk food is simply a phone calls away, what about options for different on-the go meals? For Temple students, there’s a place where you can have salads, sandwiches, fresh juices, trail mix and other sustainable snacks. Plus, it only serves food that is sourced locally within 150 miles of Philadelphia, AND functions as a zero-waste supply chain model. Sounds too good to be true, right? Find out more about Temple's newest (and hottest) co-op, after the jump.

I'm convinced that most banana muffin recipes are born as a result of a bunch of bananas sitting on the counter about to go bad. Well, at least that's the situation I find myself in every time I bake with bananas. So I had my browning bananas and I happened to be craving a good muffin.  BUT I really wanted these muffins to contain some protein. If I don't eat protein with my breakfast I'm typically hangry (angry hungry) shortly after. I also had hopes of keeping these fairly low sugar to avoid that post breakfast sugar crash that occurs with most bakery muffins. Suddenly I was inspired and these banana protein muffins were born. I was a little nervous baking with stevia for the first time, but ended up being pleaseantly surprised. These banana protein muffins are so good with a little bit of earth balance, peanut butter or even jam! (And they passed the husband test too). Click through for the recipe.

Let’s face it: our city has a notorious reputation for being dirty. Don’t believe me? Walk the streets of London for a few hours or ride the metro in DC. Return to Philly and compare. But when people talk about Philly being dirty, they’re often referring to our litter problem. Yet litter is such a large, debated topic. How do we combat litter? Do we concentrate efforts on educating people or cleanup efforts after the fact? Neighborhoods with litter tend to have higher crime rates, lower property values and less pride in the neighborhood. In order to get a more insight on Philly’s litter, I asked the City of Philadelphia, a few friends and associates about their experiences with trash in the city. Find out more about our city's litter epidemic, after the jump.

Feel guilty that you didn't have a chance to help out on Philly Spring Cleanup Day? You can clear your conscious by cleaning up West Philly's Clark Park this Saturday, April 19th. The best part? You can get free food & beer after your clean up, so you're receiving a little bonus on top of the feel-good volunteering. Check the details, after the jump!

Did you know that women make up 51% of America, but only 17% are serving in the House of Representatives as spokeswomen? Or that only 34 women have served as governors compared to 2319 men? America now ranks 98th in the world for percentage of women in its national legislature, behind Kenya and Indonesia and barely ahead of the United Arab Emirates. Find out what's wrong with these numbers and what you can do, after the jump.

It is awkward to be a vegetarian in the company of carnivores. I’m out to eat with my parents, in town visiting, and we’ve stopped for a bite to eat. And I am realizing for the first time since adopting my new diet what it means to be a man and a vegetarian in America. The waitress asks me if I’m a vegetarian after she takes my order. Although in the grand scheme this isn’t a big deal, I do notice that when my father orders meatloaf, she does not say, “Carnivore, huh?” In these questionable moments when I feel like I’ve committed a social taboo, I realize how important my meat-free decision is for my own personal growth. By giving up meat and seafood for the forty days of Lent, I can challenge my religious discipline AND my own preconceived notions about the dietary expectations of an American male. Read on as l examine my clumsy metamorphosis into a vegetarian, and find out more about my journey:

The Philly Farm & Food Fest returned to the Philadelphia Convention Center on Sunday, April 13th. The collaboration between PASA & Fair Food expanded from the expo hall into the Atrium to showcase more vendors that ever before. Since this was my third time I've attended this annual affair, I decided to peruse the newest, local vendors. Find out about some of the newest vendors, after the jump!

We recently hosted a bookclub with Nic Esposito to discuss his first book, Seeds of Discent. A beautiful evening last week, we appropriately gathered at Head & the Hand Press headquarters over wine, with friends in a conversation that covered sustainability, urban farming and how it all began. Head & the Hand Press Beginnings Nic Esposito had a passion and noticed a problem. Authors with book deals aren't always necessarily better than those who didn't have big publishing companies behind them. Some of the best writers in Philly didn't have published works to their names. Local writers simply didn't have the accessibility of New York to make those essential connections to get their books published.   Yet Philadelphia is a city of sharers, entrepreneurs and people who support their community. Find out more about Seeds of Discent, Head & the Hand and our discussion on urban sustainability, after the jump!