Philly

Today, we're dishing the dirty truth about plastic bags. Each year... Americans use approximately 100 BILLION plastic bags ...creating 300,000 tons of landfill waste The average US family takes home 1500 plastic shopping bags An estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide ... Which equals over 1 million plastic bags used per minute. (Find out what we're doing to ban plastic bag, and how you can help NOW, after the jump!)

Hey Green Philly Fans, We're eating a piece of (vegetarian, local) cake today to celebrate our 4th birthday! Starting as an online publication to help you be green as you can be,  our number one goal remains to help our readers, old and new. (Find out more, after the jump!)

Save the date! The Hemp Heals Music Festival takes place in Philly at Penn's Landing Festival Pier on August 25th from 4pm-11pm. As the name suggests this music event is unique in that it's founded with a specific mission in mind. Former Philadelphia Flyers player Riley Cote is hosting the event with Live Nation in an effort to educate the public on the powers of holistic healing. He founded the non-profit org, The Hemp Heals Foundation after his younger sister, Jaime was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and found a way to treat and alleviate her symptoms through her diet - specifically through the use of hemp. Click through for details!

Nope it's not a trendy new club or restaurant opening,  this is better friends... The Dirt Factory means good news for Philadelphia composting. The Dirt Factory is University City's new composting center. If you're new to the green game, (find out about the Dirt Factory & composting, after the jump!)

I recently received an invite to attend an evening sold as a "conversation" about the local food movement. (Disclaimer #1: Specifics withheld:My intention is not to embarrass any individuals, but to discuss my frustration from this experience.) Since I've been screaming 'GO LOCAL" on GPB for the past few months, I felt like I wanted to rejuvenate my feelings on the topic and get some new insight. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. The format of the discussion was pretty straight forward: Young woman "expert" wrote a thesis, presented a PowerPoint with a few short clips (including Food Inc. & Freakanomics), followed by discussion. The most frustrating part of the evening was the presenter's arguments against the local food movement. (Disclaimer #2: I've read a book pro-locavore and anti-locavore.) Although I love a good debate, I felt that many of her anti-locavore arguments weren't well explained. Therefore, I've analyzed a few of the "Going local isn't all it's cracked up to be" arguments:

I've had a few friends move and therefore ask this question lately: Where can I get a recycling bin?

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has returned for another round of their Pop Up Garden again... They transformed a vacant lot in Rittenhouse Square into a temporary garden. 1905-1915 Walnut St will turn

Not ready to bite the bullet and purchase a bike yet? You can now give it a spin by renting one in Fairmount Park! Today, Mayor Nutter, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and Fairmount Park Conservancy welcomed Wheel Fun Rentals to Fairmount Park at 3 locations: Lloyd Hall (Boathouse Row), Love Park & Bathey House/Trolley Car Cafe in East Falls. These bike rentals won't be strictly benefiting (Find out more about these new wheels after the jump!)

'Twas the night before Philly Beer Week... And all through the town... We woke up from our dream and got psyched to drink locally! Woohoo! OK, so Philly Beer Week  starts today, June 1st.  This glorious week (and a few days...) is a 10 day celebration of our amazing beer-drinking city... Rather than importing brews, let's stay on our love all things local tangent and enjoy just a few of the local & sustainable beverages of the week: