Philly

From a Trashion Show to Mural Arts on Trash Trucks, Philly had quite an array of celebrations yesterday for the 40th celebration of Earth Day! Here's some photos, links & a video for your re-cap pleasure: Philadelphia Streets Department debuted 10 Mural recycling trucks like this one, with lots of abstract Philly scenery: This truck definitely looks like Spring & will hopefully motivate citizens to get Philly clean: This truck reminds me of Fall:

Philly's 3rd Annual Spring Cleanup had its biggest cleanup ever thanks to greenies like you with its UnLitter Us Campaign! Over 11,000 volunteers worked at 231 official project sites to collect over 1.3 million lbs of trash, 140K lbs of recycling, 50 parks & recreation centers cleaned and 763 neighborhood blocks cleaned! Incredible numbers, Philly! But how can you keep it up for this Earth week (and always...) Here's some suggestions:

Recently, Chevrolet visited West Philadelphia High School's Academy of Automotive & Mechanical Engineering to show students their new electronic vehicle, the Chevy Volt. We were able to catch up with Mel Fox, an Engineer for General Motors and Carolyn Markey from GM Communications to hear about the visit and Chevy's cleaner auto-alternatives (for those of us who HAVE to drive). Enjoy! Green Philly Blog: How did you get involved with this project? (I see you're a fellow Penn State Grad - any inspiration or experienced gained from our alma mater?) Mel Fox, Engineer for General Motors: I was a part of Penn State’s “ChallengeX” team in grad school. ChallengeX was a hybrid vehicle 4-year competition funded by General Motors & the US DOE. I was recruited to work on the Volt when I was at the GM Proving Grounds During the Year 3 competition in June 2007. I obviously gained a ton of experience while on the ChallengeX team, not to mention that it was invaluable and much more “real world” than I could have comprehended. Half of my graduate research focused on alternative fuel combustion in spark-ignited engines, so that certainly helped me to learn about the fuel/engine/emissions side of the world. Now that I am working on diesel combustion development at GM, I am learning how to apply my fundamental research-type knowledge here to future products. I have a Penn State flag in my cube, proudly displayed for all to see! (Julie/Editors note: Me too!) As it turns out, several of the combustion gurus here at GM are also from Penn State. GPB: Would the Volt be more ideal for city-dwellers or suburbanites?

Happy Earth month! Philly's packed with eco-friendly events for Earth Week! (For a complete listing, feel free to check out our new Philly Events Calendar page! Here are some highlights of upcoming events to visit:

Calculate your neighborhood's "Walk Score" here and see how walk-able your area is. This website will pull up a nifty list of

Moore College of Art & Design continues to set a green example in the college community. Furthering their commitment to be more eco-friendly, they've replaced the majority of paper products in student dining halls with plates made from tempered glass, reusable plastic cups and silverware. (The glassware is more environmentally friendly than chinaware because it is more durable and can be recycled if damaged or flawed in the production process.) This recyclable dishware movement came about in part from an Environmental Task Force at the College comprised of students, staff and faculty, promoting responsible eco-friendly practices at the College through educational programs and sustainable building initiatives. Since 2007, Moore has implemented other eco-friendly measures, including:

Chester County Bamboo believes that "bamboo is an integral piece of the sustainable puzzle." The more one learns about Bamboo the clearer this philosophy becomes. Bamboo actually generates 35% more oxygen into the atmosphere than an equivalent stand of trees. This super plant can be harvested 3-5 years after being planted. An oak, maple or cherry tree require 30-50 years before they can be harvested. John Kohler spent numerous years in the corporate world before launching Chester County Bamboo - a sustainable business he's truly passionate about.Chester County Bamboo is the first in the Philadelphia area to specialize in bamboo and one of the first in the country to offer full service bamboo management and removal. Their bamboo products include

This early spring weather has lots of green Events in Philly coming up! See all the exciting happenings in Philadelphia in the next month:

The Skinny Bitch herself came to Philly to talk about the "V" word. Kim Barnouin, author of Skinny Bitch, discussed Veganism and her popular best-seller last evening at the Free Library of Philadelphia. She brought up some interesting topics including: the often controversial tone of Skinny Bitch (She & co-author Rory talk like that in 'real life'. Plus, America's in a food crisis: we need "Tough Love", not babying); the increased awareness of Veganism (the book came out 4 years ago and we're now seeing veganism popularized by Kind Diet and more); organic foods and protein to name a few. Kim also brought up the environmental impact of animal-based food. The carbon footprint is huge: