Philly

Who's ready to Keep Up the Sweep Up again? The Streets Department's 6th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup Day will be return on Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 9 AM - 2 PM. 2012 efforts achieved over 350 projects, 12,000 volunteers and 1 million pounds of trash. Can we try to top it for 2013? We're happy to return to our hosting site of 2012, which is 8th & Poplar in Northern Liberties. We're co-hosting with (Find out the details and how to join, after the jump!)

3,771 is not the number of murals in Philly or the amount of visitors that Reading Terminal gets a day. It’s the number of plastic bottles that apparel brand United By Blue pulled from the Schuylkill River during our 2012 summer cleanups at Bartram’s Garden. If those same bottles were stacked end to end, they’d tower over the Comcast Center, or Philadelphia's tallest skyscraper. So who is United By Blue? A group of caped crusaders ridding our rivers of litter in the dead of night? Not quite. United By Blue is an organic apparel brand that removes a pound of trash from oceans and waterways for every product sold. Translated? If you buy the softest, organic shirt you’ll ever feel, we roll up our sleeves. You buy an organic, waxed canvas bag for your next adventure; we’re out on the water. (Find out more about how you can help, after the jump!)

Mayor Nutter shocked environmentalists in Philadelphia today when he announced that he was lowering his ambition for sustainability in our city. Rather than aiming to be the greenest city in the USA in Greenworks Philadelphia plans, Nutter wants to hit less sustainable goals in lieu of reaching the top 10. As he mentioned today in a press conference: "Just like the rest of Philadelphia and especially our sports team - the Eagles, Sixers, Flyers and Phillies, we don't need to be the best to prove our dedication. We can settle for almost reaching the best without claiming the number one spot. We're not even the fattest city anymore! Not the healthiest, most attractive, nor a travel destination. Why should our greening efforts be any different?" The Greenworks plan is knocking down its 15 sustainability targets to a solid 10 and discouraging compositing where it costs too much. Find out more about this cut-back green plan, after the jump!

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia’s female sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women’s History Month. We're wrapping up the week with Sandy Bauers of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sandy is the Inquirer's Environment Reporter; She covers the city's environmental news on her blog and column GreenSpace. She's worked as an editor and reporter at the Inquirer for more than 20 years. Sandy lives the green life in northern Chester County with her husband, cats and pet chickens.  I've been reading Sandy's work for years, and was delighted for the opportunity to pick her brain a bit.  Click through to get Sandy's thoughts on Philly's greatest environmental accomplishments and more!

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia’s women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women’s History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some are a little more under the radar. Today, we head over to Chestnut Hill College to talk with two religious women. Growing up Catholic, I didn't hear much about 'sustainability' or treasuring our Earth in Church lectures. But is God green? It was quite interesting to sit down with two sisters about their views on how sustainability and religion fit together. Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark was a GPB guest blogger, is Director of the Sisters of Saint Joseph Earth Center, and Special Assistant to the President of Chestnut Hill for Sustainability. Sister Miriam MacGillis is founder of Genesis farm, an organic earth literacy center in New Jersey.

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia’s women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women’s History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some are a little more under the radar. Our interview for today is with Executive Director of Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed, Julie Slavet! A Boston native, Julie Slavet has been involved in the sustainability scene for over 30 years. Designing her own undergraduate degree in environmental studies (since it didn't exist yet) at Smith College, she proceeded to get an energy independence internship with the National League of Cities and receive her grad degree at UMass. She's worked in a variety of places including work on local, sustainable initiatives in Washington and local governments in Massachusetts. Not one to settle for par, she left a Dallas Texas Suburban hell to raise her family in the more walkable Philadelphia community, Jenkintown. After working various local communication positions and learning about sustainable initiatives in Philly, she landed her role at the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed. Let's get to our interview with (the other) Julie!

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia's women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women's History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some are a little more under the radar. Our interview for today is with Drexel Senior and Drexel's (only environmental group) Sierra Club President, Nicole Koedyker! We first noticed Nicole Koedyker on our Facebook, Twitter & blog comments with her green wit & knowledge. When we attended a Sierra Club meeting at Drexel, we previewed first hand how she combined a mix of green 'lessons', local events and motivating eco-curious students to get involved in Meatless Monday, Earth week events & a clothing swap on campus. As a Drexel Senior majoring in international business & economics, this lady stays active in the college sustainability scene. Her missions include working student groups to divest from fossil fuels from the endowment, ban bottled water, and encouraging Drexel to complete the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's Sustainability Tracking and Assessment Rating System. On a personal level, she's very likable. Her cat Meowies would be Pounce DeLeon's BFF, and we love her bike & spin class teaching enthusiasm. Let's get to our interview with Nicole! (Check it out, after the jump!)

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia's women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women's History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some have yet to break out from under the radar. We kick off our week's interviews with Katherine Gajewski!   As Director of Sustainability for Philadelphia, Katherine Gajewski has helped our city become greener since July of 2009. Prior to coming on board to head the sustainability front for Mayor Michael Mayor Nutter, she worked on the smoke-free legislation for Breathe Free Philadelphia Alliance and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Gajweski has lived everywhere from Montana, Vermont, Seattle and Chicago. We asked her a few questions to find out more about Mayor Nutter's sustainable lady-in-charge. (Jump on through to read the Q&A, & find out where in the world Katherine would magically transport herself if she could!)

Feel like you want to get out and meet new sustainably-minded people? You're not alone. During our recent plastic bag reduction happy hour, we met a few new Philadelphians who were interested in finding green events - but had no idea how. But the weather is getting warmer and Philadelphia is kicking up its sustainable activities. How can you get outside and active? Whether you’re brand spanking new to Philadelphia have accumulated many rosters of Phillies t-shirts, we have 8 ways to meet new Philadelphians: