Philly

Obama swung by a wind-turbine Plant to talk about Energy, reducing US oil imports and getting clean Energy on Wednesday afternoon. This coincides with Obama's announcement for re-election. Luckily, Philadelphia is producing a whole-lot of green-energy jobs as part of Obama's energy initiatives. But as we saw from his State of the Union Address, he needs to step up his actions and talk less about the changes. "These are not your father's windmills," Obama told (find out more, after the jump!)

This past Saturday, Philly Spring Cleanup Day united 10,000+ volunteers in 248 cleanup efforts around the city. Our 34 volunteers in the 300-600 block of Washington Ave gathered more than 30 bags of trash and 8+ bags of recycling in the 5 hour event. Among the items collected were hundreds of cigarette butts, broken bottles, a shoe, silly bands, and paraphernalia that should not lie anywhere close to where children play. I was quite proud to see everyone eager to help out as they got down and dirty (with gloves, shovels and brooms, of course!) Despite our success, (find out more, after the jump!)

OK, I'll admit it. I'm slowly turning into the 'green', earth-loving stereotype. While I try to keep my lecturing & whines to a minimum, I keep getting greener and greener since the start of Green Philly Blog. I'm 99% pescatarian. Finally, I bought a bike. So, readers. Please bear with me for a second, while I celebrate. There's a big announcement for people like me: Philly's going to add more bike lanes. WOOO-Hooo! :-) 2 North-south bike lanes a block apart are going

Although living in the city is great, there are occasionally downfalls... such as endless supermarket lines, loads of Pizza options circa 2 AM and pesky leases that prohibit dogs. Don't fret dog-lovers... there's a program that allows you to "time-share" dogs... ethically. The Monster Milers is a group of runners who run the PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) dogs to "connect Philadelphia runners with homeless dogs as running companions". Benefits for the pups are giving them exercise, time out of the shelter, and a little bit of runner's love. The running outlet for these canine pals have resulted in less frantic behavior when adopters meet them - and much faster adoptions. Founder of the group, Carrie Maria is

On a sidenote, this marks Green Philly Blog's 400th Post! Thanks for reading, whether it's your first visit or 400th ;-) We appreciate all the continued & amazing support. Hope you had a chance to visit the 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show this past week, which benefited the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society! PHS announced the Plant One Million campaign during the show, an initiative that will plant 1 MILLION trees in 13 counties in Greater Philadelphia Region, New Jersey & Delaware. The campaign will improve the environment, create jobs, strengthen communities & improve air/water quality. This campaign helps to (find out more about this amazing campaign, after the jump!)

This past Saturday, I toured Greenpeace's 50-meter Arctic Sunrise at Penn's Landing for their Coal Free Future Tour. This month-long tour, also hitting up Wilmington, NC, NYC & Boston, is teaching the Northeast about the major impacts the coal industry has on the environment. Regardless of the campaign & political jargon, "Clean Coal" in an oxymoron. Coal is dirty by production, the single largest source of carbon dioxide pollution in the US & the largest source of mercury emissions in the country. Pollution from coal-powered plants is responsibly for 13,200 deaths per year, (Treehugger) (1359 from PA alone), 20,000 heart attacks, 217,600 asthma attacks, and more than 1.6 million lost work days per year. "Clean coal" is a technology that will cost billions to test and wouldn't be ready for decades. (Find out more about Greenpeace & the Coal Free Tour after the jump!)

Snow storms have hit harder than the norm this year - and it's not even February. Naturally, this has folks grumbling about the annoyance of digging their cars out. Further, driving can be tricky - and at times dangerous. What can you do to get around Philly easier during these sometimes treacherous months? This winter consider upping your use of public transportation. Staying out of the driver's seat will give you peace of mind. Plus, you're saving emissions and gas money. (Don't worry - even Julie survived her Low Car Diet run.) Here's a refresh of the public transportation options available to Philadelphia residents:

Italy decided to start the new year off right by completely banning plastic bags in the country. Italians were using 20 BILLION bags per year - more than 330 per person, and was about 1/5 of the bags used in Europe. However, starting January 1st, retailers were required to distribute biodegradable plastic, cloth or paper bags instead. Italy joins the ranks of Mexico City & San Fran to implement a complete plastic bag ban, which Philadelphia failed to pass in June 2009. (However, retailers with Philly locations like IKEA & Whole Foods have banned plastic bags internally.) Other cities have imposed taxes on plastic bags:

A friend/former colleague tipped me off on the very impressive students at the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia. The students created art from only recyclable materials - anything from barbies, tennis balls, or everyday materials like cloth or string. My personal favorite is the dinosaur - See the video here (after the jump):