Blog

All of this snow outside means people rush to treat their sidewalks and driveways. But don't run and buy the nearest rock salt available on your corner store. Common ice melt products and rock salt can become trapped in pets' paws, causing severe irritation and burns. Or, the animals will lick their paws in relief and ingest them, which is even worse and can lead to serious side effects. Even if you have an indoor animal, you'll track some salt in with your shoes in the cold weather. Find out more about choosing safe & pet-friendly ice melt, after the jump!

Get dressed up. Ball drops. Make a list of how to be more awesome in 2014. Did this sound like your December 31st evening? I've (almost) officially given up on New Years resolutions. To be totally honest, I don't know if I keep track of New Years resolutions after January 2nd. Instead, I've moved to throughout-the-year changes. I can even show a few examples to prove it:

Happy holidays, readers! Now that you're finished unwrapping those gifts, it's time to start thinking about what to do with your Christmas tree. Whatever you do, don't leave them on your curb - the city dumps them straight in the landfill, where the beautiful trees remain tree corpses forever. Or as the NLNA (Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association) brilliantly put it in their newsletter, "For the fifth year in a row, the City of Philadelphia will not be curbside collecting holiday trees for recycling. As a result, any trees left at the curb will go into landfills or incinerators, causing air and water pollution and contributing to global warming." Kudos for the clarification. :-) Regardless of the location, make sure to remove all decorations and lights before you recycle the trees. Here are the 2013-2014 Christmas Tree recycling options in Philadelphia:

As 2013 comes to a close, we all get to celebrate the holidays with time off from work, family, friends, whiskey and cats meowing as we're home. (...just us?) Maybe you were on vacation or Facebook forced you to miss a post or two from us. Speaking of which, scroll to the bottom of the post for a really easy way to see more of our updates... Regardless of the reason, make sure to check out our most popular posts of 2013... because if they're popular, people obviously like them. And you don't want to miss out on cool things. Here are our 10 most popular posts of 2013:

Whether you are hosting a festive party over the holidays or offering to clean up after one you attended, there's always the dilemma of dishwasher vs. hand-washing dishes. So which is better for the Earth?

'Tis the season to be giving... Fa la la la la, la la la la. But what wrapping, bags and paper can you recycle? Fa la la la la la, la la la la. Good news for you - we sorted out Christmas recycling tips for you, for what you can put in the single-stream Philadelphia bins! Here's what you can recycle over the holidays for today's edition of Where Can I Wednesday.

Call me senile, but I was getting a little sentimental. On Sunday, I officially turned 30. "30" wasn't something I had originally feared, but I thought about what this nice, round, even number meant to me. Although I haven't made the 30 under 30 list for Forbes or Inc. magazine, I've learned a few things in my young life that I'll share with you. Read 30 Pieces of Advice from What I've Learned at Age 30, after the jump.

Does the snow, ice and cold weather make you miss the PHS Pop-up Garden? Good news: there's a new winter wonderland where you can ice skate and warm up with food and local craft beer afterwards. Find out about the skating rink and how to win a FREE VIP pack, after the jump!

Ohhhh baby, holiday season is in full swing. I really love this time of year but it can be hectic as heck. When it comes to meals and snacks I find myself doing two things - 1. Craving sweets in a major way  2. Turning to quick & easy recipes that taste deceptively decadent. This is where my gingerbread smoothie recipe comes in. My gingerbread smoothie was actually born out of a failed attempt at gingerbread protein balls. I followed a recipe but they tasted super overpowering and the texture was off. I had just purchased a jar of molasses and have a husband who goes bananas for gingerbread so I was determined to achieve gingerbread flavor bliss. After playing around with a few combinations I found it. This smoothie takes less than 5 minutes to make and it tastes like the holidays. The protein powder provides extra sustenance so you may just be able to say no to that third or fourth holiday cookie.