Philly

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:

Are you a commuter who trudges into Philly everyday? Or worse, an urbanite who must leave the city every day to make a living? Philadelphia commutes are longer than the national average (31.5 minutes compared the to average of 25.5), and we have 253,000 workers commuting TO the city and an additional 147,000 city residents on the reverse commute daily. Philly has 25.6% of all commuters taking public transit, compared to 5% nationwide. This is half as much as New York's commuters (55.66%) in the number 1 spot, putting Philly at #7 after Jersey City, Washington DC, San Fran & other cities. Good, but not great. It's frustrating to see Philadelphia pat ourselves on the back for minor accomplishments when we could be SO much better. But in order to relieve our commutes, we need to improve SEPTA and public transit first. Here's what we have going for and against us:

Is your recycle bin overflowing compared to your trashcan? (Hint: If you're shopping wisely, reusing & composting, you should barely have trash in the can!) Do you want to help green Philadelphia schools? We're letting you know how to get FREE 32-Gallon recycle bins for Where Can I Wednesday? The Streets Department is running a special promotion to get a Super Recycling Bin in your hands. (Find out how, after the jump!)

Cheerio! Do you feel like you're craving tea, sophisticated accents and bad teeth? (Just kidding about that last one..!) You don't need to get on a plane to get your London fix. If you enjoyed our Philadelphia Flower Show 2013 Preview, we have great news for you! We're giving away a pair of tickets to a lucky reader. (Find out how to win, after the jump!)

Are you a historic house enthusiast, a masonry aficionado, or someone with an interest and appreciation for preserving architectural history? Either way the Designer Craftsmen and Historic Home Show is a worthwhile event to check out. The Historic Home Show is happening at the Valley Forge Convention Center March 8-10th. The Historic Home Show serves as a great educational resource for learning about restoring, renovating and preserving the nation's architectural heritage. We're teaming up again this year with LimeWorks.US to offer a free ticket to a few lucky GreenPhilly readers! LimeWorks.US  owner Andrew deGruchy will present on Saturday March 9 at 12pm on Historic Masonry Dos and Don’ts.  

Need some fresh plants in your life? TreePhilly is back for 2013! Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Fairmount Park Conservancy and Wells Fargo paired up for the Spring 2013 TreePhilly giveaway. Now through March 31st, any Philadelphia property owner can request a free yard tree on their private property. New additions to the 2013 giveaway include:

Who cares about what we throw away? Why does it matter? And have you ever, truly thought about it? The Taxonomy of Trash is determined to find out. Back in October 2011, a group of artists were at the Revolution Recovery recycling center right here in Philadelphia to participate in the Recycled Artist-in-Residency program. They realized there were jewels in the rubbish, or dare I say, that 'One man's trash is another man's treasure' . The Taxonomy of Trash is an analytical approach to stuff we throw away. They're building a

Mayor Michael Nutter has done a lot of cool stuff for Philly's sustainability scene. In 2009, he realized that the city needed to treat every street as a "Complete Street" to accommodate the different ways Philadelphians choose to travel - whether by bike, bus, car, train or strolling. Thus, the Complete Streets Policy was required to accommodation safety and convenience for all users and balance the needs of ALL users. (This is why the recent Bill 120532, which increases fines for improper parking AND bicycling behavior emphasized importance on multiple transit types.) The result? Check out the Complete Streets Handbook 2013 final version, which has been released for your eyes here. We reviewed the 163 page handbook for you. To save you time, here are some sustainable observations: