Philly

The Philadelphia Flower Show gained some street cred on SNL. In the clip, Golden Globe host Ricky Gervais (played by Jason Sudeikis) hassles a plant. See the clip on the Flower Show Website here. (Clearly we don't care, but there's disclaimers. So we'll repeat. Please note: this video contains content that may not be suitable for all audiences.) Don't worry, Philly's not the only target - "Gervais" also insults Kids’ Choice Awards, The Westminster Dog Show, & the BET Music Awards.

I know Mayor Nutter wants Philly to be America's greenest city by 2015, but we're surely making some progress as of late! Here's a roundup of the latest green movers & shakers:

Did you know our current recycling rate is 34% annually? Although it saves greenhouse gases of 35 million cars on the road (or growing 5 billion trees over 10 yrs), we can still increase this stat. Tomorrow (November 15th) is America Recycles Day, a day to promote, educate & motivate recycling in the USA. Here's a few ways Philly & you can celebrate this joyous holiday celebration:

After last year's successful drive, Philly is kicking off their 2011 Bagged Leaf Drive this Monday, November 7th through Friday, December 16th. Collected leaves are used for composting, for beautiful benefits like fertilizing gardens & nourishing trees... and wayyy better alternative to face-planting in a wet leaf pile. (Not like I've done this…) Here's how to get your leaves collected:

Camphill communities in Chester County will host the fifth annual Camphill Challenge cycling event on Sunday, October 16. Camphill Special School, Camphill Village Kimberton Hills, and Camphill Soltane provide life sharing and educational opportunities for children, youth, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In just five years the Challenge has grown from twelve cyclists to over 300! The bike ride begins and ends at Kimberton Waldorf School in Kimberton this year and offers 50, 25, and 10-mile courses for all ages and ability levels. Read on for more details!

Filmmaker Josh Fox of the critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated documentary, "Gasland", comes to Franklin Commons Wednesday September 7that 6:00 pm. The public is invited to join Fox and legislators for an important discussion regarding the dangers of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking.") Fracking is a means of natural gas extraction that involves millions of gallons of water, sand, and undisclosed chemicals being injected under high pressure into the ground. 205,000-935,000 pounds of chemicals are used per frack per well and scientists have identified many carcinogens, including benzene, in gas drilling waste. The event at Franklin Commons in Phoenixville, PA will begin at 6:00 p.m. and include (read on after the jump!)

I'd like to give a special shout-out today to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society! Philly Mag did a nice write-up about President Drew Becher a few months ago, and they continue to make huge strides in the green community & beautifying Philly. One of the latest efforts reaches out to youths - The Green Machine, a special program run by PHS and funded by the William Penn Foundation, is to deliver expertise and assistance to those who use and love (find out more, after the jump!)

Rumor mill alert on a local green business: Greenable is moving from its No’ Libs home to 3 new locations:

Although I had my own experience last fall as a Zipster for Zipcar, I fully respected the PhillyCarShare non-profit option... Another alternative where Philadelphians could share cars, pay less, and support the 'little' guy. PhillyCarShare announced that it's being purchased by Enterprise Holdings (aka the world's largest car rental company). They had been in financial trouble - aka