Philly

Election Day is Tuesday, November 2nd. It's crucial that you vote, and here's a quick guide to who's on the ballot & their environmental stances to help you be informed & decide: (Disclaimer: My opinion is italicized so you can tell the difference between what's actually on the candidate's page/fact and my opinion, which does not reflect the candidates' thoughts. None of the candidates have contacted myself nor Green Philly Blog for endorsements.)

In honor of the Phillies race for the pennant, we wanted to share some pics of the fabulous Ryan Howard's contributions from The Ryan Howard Family Foundation. They're dedicated funding & support to the Hunting Park revitalization effort. Philadelphia Parks & Recreation & Fairmount Park Conservancy recently broke ground on the Hunting Park baseball field to kick off the field’s $500,000 renovation project. City of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Citizens Bank President and CEO Daniel Fitzpatrick and The Phillies’ Ryan Howard joined Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and the Fairmount Park Conservancy in the ceremonial groundbreaking. Pics from breaking the ground:

Those students at Moore College of Art & Design continue their eco-friendly strides through artwork & fashions. Fashion design graduate Auralis Herrero was the 1st Latina designer to present a collection at New York Fashion Week’s eco-friendly runway, the GreenShows. (Not to be outdone by the big apple - Luckily Philadelphia kicked off their Fashion Week last week with Earthly Beauties.) Herrero was 1 of 10 eco-friendly designers that showed her collection of sustainable fashions event at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea committed to ethically sound, sustainable fashion. Her collection introduced an “Urban Tropical” look, inspired by Salsa musicians and artists from her roots in Puerto Rico. Auralis’s emphasis is designing only using organic, sustainable, natural & recycled fabrics such as

Eating less meat reduces carbon emissions greatly and has many other eco benefits. (For example, food for a vegan can be produced on 1/6 of an acre vs 3.25 for a meat eater!) But whether you want to go vegan, vegetarian, or just incorporate a more veggie-friendly lifestyle into your diet, it can be a little tricky to find local resources: Vegvine has menus, restaurants, news, and calendars just for those who are veg-friendly. The Philly restaurant section describes vegetarian, vegan or health store options complete with contact info & reviews. You can add the VegVine toolbar to your browser - Easy step by step instructions are

Move over New York! Philadelphia Fashion Week kicks off tomorrow with an Local & Eco-themed night. This year's show features 29 designers from 9 countries and other theme nights include Student night (Thurs), Streetwear (Fri), and Contemporary Couture (Sat). In addition to seeing awesome fashions, you can also expect live music, DJs & dance performances. Philadelphia Fashion Week is making another eco-first: CMK Entertainment created the 1st mobile application (PhlFshnWk) for a major, national fashion event. Stay tuned about designer times down the runway, designer bios, artists’ performances & sponsoring boutiques with your iPhone, iPad or iTouch! This environmentally-conscious & user-friendly app for Philadelphia Fashion Week App can be found here on iTunes. Creating this app has cut about 75% of the printed material for the event - PFW is expecting 1000 people per night and only created 1000 programs total for the week. (Nice work!) Wednesday's Local & Eco theme is looking promising already! Local tastes include:

Philly's gearing up for the big game this weekend. It'll be a particularly interesting battle as Sunday marks Donovan McNabb's return to the Linc. I could go on about what the outcome of the game means for perception and morale. But, this is an environmental blog after all. So let's talk green. Where do the Eagles stand with their eco-efforts in 2010?

It's certainly honorable for a fashion and apparel company to use sustainable and organic materials. But a company that is highly active in the pursuit of a healthier environment is by far cooler... Take United by Blue... United by Blue is a Philly based brand and apparel company specializing in organic t-shirts, jewelry and bags. UBB decided to go beyond selling green and take action to reduce ocean pollution. Why?

Festivities for Manayunks's Eco Arts Festival go as follows: Thursday, September 23rd, 6-9 PM:Launch party at Mango Moon (4161 Main Street). The "Green Carpet" will feature Nicole Miller runway looks, an award ceremony in honor of Mayor Michael Nutter and Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. as they are presented with the EcoChampion Award. In addition, VIPs will be treated to the Vodka Mar"tea"ni & Green Lantern created by Mango Moon and Mugshots Coffeehouse & Cafe while enjoying live jazz, free appetizers and green networking. Please RSVP to // mvidauri@manayunk.org // Saturday, September 25 11-7, & Sunday, September 26, 11-6: Come join eco-minded artists, green businesses and ecologically-concerned community groups on Main Street Manayunk at this free event to share resources and education about green & healthy living! Some of the Participating EcoArtists, EcoBusinesses, Main Street Businesses & Non-Profits Include:

Hey guys! Exciting news... After I applied on a whim, I was picked to be 1 of 20 lucky participants in Zipcar's Low Car Diet! Starting tomorrow for 30-days, I'll be virtually car-free! As co-author of Green Philly Blog, I know we all have skeletons in our trying-to-be-green closet... and haven't been able to kick my dreaded driving habit while working in the suburbs (which lacks a solid transit system). So I'm giving this a go, refraining from lunch outings and staying late on the weekdays. Every day, I'll be updating Julie's Low Car Diet blog to