Philly

Philly's cleaning up!  Both the 'city blocks' & 'vacant lots' are both being judged HARD in Philly this week by two Philly-based organizations. The Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee (PMBC) is in the middle of judging 17 city blocks to wrap up the 2012 "cleaning season" in Philadelphia. The 2012 Clean Block Contest selected finalists from over 6,600 organized blocks which had cleanups throughout the year. Fun stats for this year's beautification efforts include: (Find out more about city efforts & see a before/after, after the jump!)

While complaints about the Barnes moving from Merion have mostly calmed down, the Barnes Foundation is continuing to make news! This time, their new(ish) Philly home received a great GREEN honor today: LEED Platinum. The Barnes is the 1st art & educational institution to achieve the LEED platinum status from USGBC (US Green Building Council). They also have a piece of the Big Apple (literally.) How did they accomplish such a task?

Philly residents have a lot on their mind - will the Eagles squeak out a win again this Sunday, will the Phils make the playoffs, how long will the beautiful weather last? However, we continue to feel pleased to hear that Philadelphians also care about the city's plastic bag use. When someone signs our plastic bag reduction petition we ask that they list a reason why this initiative is important to them. Here's just some of the reasons Philadelphians are saying prompted them to sign the plastic bag petition:

What's more interesting than the amazing comments of support we've seen about the plastic bag ban is the opposition. I LOVE dogs. I have my parent's daschund (whom I trained as a mini hot dog) as my iPhone background. I adopt pit bulls (and other breeds) for an hour (per session) through the Monster Milers program at PAWs. And I stop strangers on the street to ask and pet their cute canines. Dog owners, I hear you. Your dogs shit. A lot. And you prefer (free) plastic bags to clean up their poo. I get it: Love: Dogs! Hate: Poop. So what would you do if plastic bags were banned or if there was a fee?

Eco-minded Philadelphians were graced with a picture-perfect day yesterday for GreenFest. The historic Headhouse Square was lined with rows of green businesses and non-profit organizations. It was refreshing to look around and see hundreds of like-minded people gathered in one place. Though we're constantly interacting with so many of Philadelphia's eco- activists and green companies, it's always revitalizing to chat in person. For us, much of the day was focused on discussing the Plastic Bag Ban.

Zipcar is one of Philly's prime car sharing solutions for urban dwellers who want to live a mostly car-less life but need wheels every once in awhile. Now the world's leading car sharing network is expanding to include Zipvan™ cargo van service across North America. Zipcar is launching the Zipvan service in Philadelphia, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon and will expand to other markets over the next year. I had a chance to ask Zipcar Philly's General Manager, Peter Bruvik, some questions about the new van sharing initiative . Read on for the Q&A.

It's been a month since our "Ban the Philly Bag" - Plastic Bag Ban Awareness campaign on July 26th. Our petition has remained open and we're still gathering signatures. Bringing attention to the plastic bag issue was step one of this campaign. We've been doing a lot behind the scenes over the past month. But after discussing the previous plastic ban vote's failure with those who were campaigning in 2009, we need your support - first and foremost. Mark your calendars: We're happy to announce we'll be at the Clean Air Council's Greenfest Philly on Sunday, September 9th to say hi to you all, and discuss why this ban is crucial for Philadelphia. BONUS: We'll even have a sweet raffle prize for those who sign the petition. How can you help? (Check out how AND the sweet “Empire State of Mind” parody, after the jump!)

Dirty, homeless, beggers, unclear bus schedules apparently is the summary of how hometown heroes describe the Best Large Transit System in the Country! SEPTA beat out 64 agencies that

We're so excited to about yesterday's success! We had the Plastic Bag Ban petition shared by fellow Philadelphian bloggers all over yesterday. So many people were discussing #BanPhillyBags on Twitter (even though Twitter melted down midday!)  It was picked up by Sandy Bauers on Philly.com and Philly Mag! (We also had a few other mentions, both lovers and haters.)  There were thousands of people that saw our message and picked up an issue that had been dismissed since 2009. But, we Just Started. Yesterday begun our movement with such a big bang that we wanted to leave the petition open to encourage more signatures before sending to Mayor Michael Nutter, Director of Sustainability Katherine Gajewski, the Office of Sustainability & Philadelphia City Council. We'll send the letter next week, but the petition will remain open until the plastic bag ban has passed. How can you help? Please keep sharing the petition and your personal stories!  If a 12-year-old in Chicago can do it, we can do it! The most inspiring part of yesterday was reading the enthusiastic comments on our Change.org petition. Here are some highlights: