Mayor Nutter

Hope ya'll had a great, sustainable Valentine's day week!  Here's the green news in Philly & around we just couldn't fit in this week: McDonald's Giving Pigs More Room - Nope, we're not talking about the customers.  The Golden Arch is stopping the no-room cages for pigs in favor of more room.  Although the exact alternative isn't provided, combined with Chipotle's ex-factory farm ad, fast food's trying to make baby steps in the right direction. We won't be running out for a Big Mac anytime soon,  but hope for continuous progress... (Click through for our other exciting links!)

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...

Good news for your recycling needs: The Philadelphia Streets Department & Mayor Michael Nutter announced you can now put carton containers (for milk, juice, soup, soy milk, broth, wine, etc) along with your single-stream recycling! Philadelphia Carton Recycling Rules The new “carton”...

Get ready to start your engine... Get your bikes ready! This Friday, May 20th is National Bike to Work Day (a highlight of May being Bike Month!). I encourage all you to get on board at America's #1 bike-commuting city (Philly, silly!) before the North-South Bike lanes begin in Philly next month! Events kick off at 8 AM on Friday - Join

I must admit, I do love the lilac rain boots I purchased while sick of wet jeans and shoes being drenched in the rain. However, what if a street soaked up water like a sponge instead? The 800 block of Percy St between Catherine & Christian became Philadelphia’s first porous Street to do just that! Made of permeable materials including porous asphalt and a layer of stones underneath, the street allows water to soak through the surface and eliminates storm-water runoff. This wasn’t just constructed to decrease rain boot sales - Philadelphia has a combined sewer system that includes

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!)

Introducing : Philadelphia Recycling Rewards Last week, Mayor Michael Nutter announced the Philadelphia Recycling Rewards program that will be citywide by July 2010. Philadelphia Recycling Rewards is a partnership between the Streets Department & RecycleBank that allows residents to earn points for discounts, full-value gift cards or charitable contributions at participating merchants and non-profits. Previous RecycleBank's partnerships have proven to increase recycling efforts & aid the local economy. According to Director of Sustainability Katherine Gajewski, this program is Philly's biggest Greenworks initiative to date in helping the City become the Greenest City in America. Philadelphia is now the largest City in the US to reward residents for recycling efforts. The program is anticipated to bring the City’s recycling diversion rate- the amount of recyclable materials that are diverted away from landfills—to record levels. $$ talks - Every ton of waste diverted from landfills saves the city about $65. City residents will be notified when Philadelphia Recycling Rewards will launch:

Exciting green advancements have been happening in Philadelphia. Greenworks Philadelphia has been unveiled! Many neighborhoods have started to increase sustainable initiatives from tree-planting efforts in Northern Liberties to increasing bike paths. Mayor Michael Nutter announced recently that he's going to make Philadelphia the Greenest city in America by 2015 - a very admirable goal. Greenworks Philadelphia is that plan formulated into a detailed document. "E" Goals in 5 areas - Energy, Environment, Equity, Economy and Engagement compile into over 100 initiatives for Philadelphia's well being. A sampling of the initiatives include:

Spring has been very busy for the Green community in Philly - Here are a couple of events in the next week: Want to help a local school win a Hybrid bus & become America's Greenest School? Our Lady of Sacred Heart (OLSH) has received a Green Power Award for a Gold LEED renovationof their school including solar panels on the roof, conserving water in bathrooms and planting native plants on the school site. Next, they're hoping to achieve the title of America's Greenest School. Vote online for Brianna, age 18, on America's Greenest School websiteuntil May 17th. Thirsty ?