Philadelphia

Huge confession ... I'm getting trashy.

City Council voted against the plastic bag ban the Committee on the Environment passed last week. According to Philly.com, Councilman Frank DiCicco's bill was rejected by Council this morning in a 6-10 vote. Word is that

Good news - Philly is thisclose to banning an environmental catastrophe - in the form of plastic bags. Yesterday, Philly's City Council's Committee on the Environment voted unanimously to approve legislation banning plastic bags used in supermarkets, pharmacies and stores. The typical plastic bags must be replaced after July 1, 2011 with recyclable paper bags, compostable plastic bags or reusable bags. Part of the ban will also include

Another win for the Phillies boys and girls: Citizens Bank Park is #1 on PETA's Top 10 vegetarian friendly ball parks. Our home stadium was the first ballpark to offer veggie fare (and recently added more choices) on TOP of being one of the most green stadiums with their Red Goes Green Campaign. The Phillies stadium serves tasty veggie options like:

What a great way to show your Phillies support & eco-love at the same time! Buy it here:

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:

I love mascots. The Phillies Phanatic is the best entertainment for baseball, the Nittany Lion did the complete Napoleon Dynamite dance in between quarters at Penn State... and even Swoop is entertaining to watch. My least favorite mascot? Polar bears. Cute, white Coca Cola symbols may have been what came to mind when you thought about polar bears ten years ago. Now, most people associate polar bears as the "mascot" of global warming. Even Coke is promoting a fund to save these animals instead of using them as "marketing material." Environmental action groups constantly send out emails requesting funds to 'save the polar bears' featuring pictures of these beautiful animals dying from ice melting around them.

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 ?

My favorite radio station, WXPN 88.5 is featuring a segment on Sustainability. They launched the piece for Earth Day, and it’ll run for a few weeks.