sustainability

Ever wonder how your caffeine craving stacks up against your carbon footprint? Fear not eco-conscious coffee lovers, Philly has a number of coffeehouses and roasters who are local and sustainably-minded too! Here’s a quick list of Philly’s conscious java spots for you.

Is the Hawk going green? As Julia Knable mentioned in our previous green degrees post, sustainability options in Philadelphia are becoming extremely popular and useful. Temple, Villanova, UPenn, and Drexel all have programs to encourage students to green their degree. Read on to find out about St. Joseph's University Sustainability Minor.

Staying up to date on sustainability can be a job within itself. But understanding the logic behind the ‘green’ arguments? It can be overwhelming. Summertime means lots of time on planes, trains and carpooling automobiles... or lazy hours in the cabin or beach chair... which is the perfect time to nestle up with some green reads. Here are 6 of my favorite green books:

AKA the post about why I'm majoring in environmental science...  “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” E.O. Wilson once said the above quote, which was one of the first I heard in my environmental science class. Although I understood that humans have been negatively impacting nature and environment, I didn’t realize the magnitude of the effects. Climate change and global warming have been increasingly covered topics, but why? These questions are why I decided to study environmental science. I was interested in how living organisms, especially humans, interact with their nonliving environment. Plus, humans do more than just contribute to global warming - we cause a lot of damage. Here’s 3 ways we're destructing the Earth:

Happy weekend! Here's a few quotes on sustainability and being green to lighten up your Friday. (Or, you know ... just get you thinking about the state of the planet.) There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.  ~Robert Lynd, The Blue Lion and Other Essays Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,  For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain. America, America, man sheds his waste on thee, And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea. ~George Carlin “People 'over-produce' pollution because they are not paying for the costs of dealing with it.”   Ha-Joon Chang, 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

Riding SEPTA isn't just good for sustainability, our public transit system is  learning to save dollars too, according to Plan Philly! SEPTA is in its third year of its formal sustainability program. All of the initiatives are trying to add environmental, social and economic value.  But, SEPTA is finding that sustainability is an easy way to save money too! Last year, they tried creating energy in creative ways, including  braking trains (captured & reused at power stations) and turned unused real estate into a self-sustaining urban farm. Here are some examples of how dollar bills were accumulating in SEPTA's pockets:

Well helloooo 2013! As a new year is upon us and we're bombarded with ideas on how to be our best, thinnest, richest, smartest self ever we have some ideas to throw in the mix. Of course these resolutions are good for the planet, but the bonus is there also good for your wallet (and don't involve a gym membership or chalky protein shakes.) After all, who isn't looking to save a few bucks as those holiday credit card bills roll in? Click through for green resolutions!

Although I have the beloved nicknames of “hippie”, “recycle nazi” and a few others, I tend to be proud with my green choices. But I still keep a few of my green habits on the DL. Why? Mostly because I try to maintain a low profile and not be the 'angry green' girl. Or the weird girl with the green habits. Ready for my reveal of bizarre habits?

Many critics (including us) questioned why climate change wasn't mentioned during the Presidential Debates. Mitt Romney even used climate change as a punchline. But could we be seeing Climate Change forced in front of our eyes right before a monumental election? Hurricane Sandy isn't just half as big as Texas - She's set to be an unprecedented storm of our lifetime. Scientists predicted that global warming would intensify North Atlantic hurricanes, but Frankenstorm (Find out more about Hurricane Sandy and Climate Change, after the jump!)