Philly

Good news - the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia revealed in their Cyclegram that bikers in Philadelphia have gone up again in 2011, maintaining our title as the country's highest bike-commuting city. How do the stats compare in 2011?

Confession: When I was supposed to give up something for Lent growing up, I failed miserably. (Sorry Mom & Dad!)  Whether it was chocolate or swearing, I caved at some point. Instead of failing again at a petty sacrifice, I decided to make a 40-day commitment in 2012 that could make an environmental impact.  Some of my potential options... "Going vegan for 40 days"? Overdone.  (Plus, many people are vegan by choice... like the Skinny Bitches, LA & this Team Vegan Philly.  It would be like one of my friends saying "Guess what! I'm going eco-friendly for 40 days." Yawn.)  Zero-waste household? The Johnsons have already documented their transformation. So, I decided to go back to my roots... My 40 day challenge is

This week Mayor Nutter announced a new tree-giveaway program dubbed TreePhilly. Roughly 2,000 trees will be given to residents who commit to taking proper care of them. Philadelphia area residents will be given an opportunity to get involved with planting trees on both public and private property. The initiative is led by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation in partnership with the Fairmount Parks Conservancy and Wells Fargo. “TreePhilly is an investment in our city’s future,” said Mayor Nutter “Our city will be healthier, safer and more attractive as a result of...

Mark your calendars! Whole Food Markets is proud to offer Philadelphia residents the opportunity to recycle “anything with a plug” on February 18, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at their South Street (929 South Street) and Callowhill Stores (2001 Pennsylvania Avenue). All types of electronics will be accepted. Click through to find out what!

Main Line Chamber of Commerce Go Green Committee is taking action to help area businesses learn about sustainable practices and resources, and how saving energy, saves money. Ardmore law firm, Silver & Silver is the lucky recipient of the Main Line Chamber of Commerce 2012 Green Makeover award. Find out more info on the award here. On February 1 Go Green Committee co-chairs, Roderick Wilson of Wolfson Architect and Beke Beau, a popular Main Line makeup artist , joined by a team of local business people will set up shop in Silver & Silver’s 100-plus-year-old shop to film an on-air energy audit.

Hey Green Philly Blog Readers, Fans & Friends, Thanks for reading, commenting, and inspiring us to help Philly become a shade greener. We still have a long way to go, but we're very thankful for our readers - veteran and new! We started this blog over 3 years ago... as two women who wanted to make a difference.  Carpooling & complaining about our former company's lack of recycling bins, we realized our passion could develop into something bigger.  Something that can educate others.  Something that could help make our city a little bit greener. Since Green Philly Blog's infancy, we've... (click through to read the rest of our 500 post reflections!)

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: