Philly

Benjamin Franklin's birthday may have just passed on January 17th, but we're always remembering the Founding Father as we galavant across the city with constant reminders. Benjamin Franklin's claims to infamy in Philadelphia tend to be historically related: signing the Declaration of Independence, frequenting Christ Church, Masonic Temple & more. But did you know Ben influenced much of Philadelphia's green scene? Benjamin may not have founded recycling or bike lanes, but he did have a few impacts. Let's revisit a few of them:

Philadelphia's green scene wins another accolade, as ranked in the top 10 US Cities for Green Meetings. What perfect timing after the USGBC's Greenbuild International Conference was hosted here in November. Our city was ranked 8th, as Denver, Las Vegas & Chicago respectively took the top 3 spots. Find out more about this recognition, after the jump!

Frozen or not, Philly's own Schuylkill River was named the 2014 Pennsylvania River of the Year by the PA Organization for Watersheds & Rivers. Our hometown river won 43% of the popular vote during a 5-week voting period. The recognition even got a mention from last night's Philadelphia2035 update. Find out more, after the jump:

Happy Monday, readers! There's been a ton going on in green news lately, so here are some updates & links for you to get a recap. Recent Green P hilly News for January 6 2014:

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:

'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.

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!

There's always a downside to a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. Like most of those fragrances you see plastered with the gorgeous faces of Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian and Queen Bey have a dark side. The US National Academy of Sciences targeted fragrances over 25 years ago as one of the 6 categories of neutroxins (ie toxic to your brain) as perfume; are made from synthetic, petroleum-based chemicals and may contain cancer-causing toxins. So what's a green guy or gal to do? Local Company Spotlight: The Perfume Fountain