volunteer

Want to make a difference in your neighborhood? Organizing a cleanup doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Remember that amazing Fairmount neighborhood cleanup earlier in the Fall? Although the weather outside isn’t ideal to pick up trash, it’s the...

What's the point of volunteering unless you get something out of it? (Just kidding.) But seriously, this cleanup gives back to you. Fairmount Fall Cleanup 2014 Find out how to join the Fairmount Civic Association after the jump!

Happy Friday, readers! We’ve made it to the weekend! Not sure what to do? Whether you want to relax with a yoga session, enjoy local Jazz music, and lend a hand outside, there are plenty of events to add to your plans! We’ve rounded up a few of Philly’s best weekend events for you:

The 7th annual Philly Spring Cleanup Day was on Saturday, April 5th. Over 14,000 volunteers helped pick up 970,900 lbs of trash and 29,940 lbs of recycled materials. Pretty awesome, right Philly? GPB has been hosting a park cleanup at the 8th & Poplar fields for the past 3 years, when anywhere from 7-25 volunteers arrive to pick up trash, dispose of empty 40's, and ultimately better our community. While the volunteers that show up are great, I've noticed the majority of faces helping out are community groups, sustainability professionals and personal friends. Read on for my observations, after the jump!

Do you feel a shopping hangover between Black Friday and Small Business Saturday? Did you protest all the consumerism of the Holiday season, forfeiting Cyber Monday? There's another day on the horizon aimed to do better for the world. Giving Tuesday, or #GivingTuesday (in 2013 talk) is a day to "give" to nonprofits, designated as the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. According to the official website, it asks for partners to create and commit to a project on #GivingTuesday and spread the word. Here's 6 Ways to Give Back On Giving Tuesday:

With local outposts in the Philadelphia area, TD Bank is helping to improve our quality of life with trees. TD Bank’s missions include TD Tree Days and Green Streets, increasing urban forests and green spaces. TD Tree Days Partnering with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the US, they’ve protected 1846 acres (1420 football fields!) of trees and helped with tree planting. Launched in 2010, Tree Days will plant over 45,000 trees with volunteers in over 165 communities. You can volunteer during the TD Tree Days too. Find out more about TD bank's sustainability efforts, after the jump!

The Streets Department once again held the Philly Spring Cleanup Day this past April. I must admit, I wasn't as enthused as I was last year. The sixth annual city-wide collaboration returned to our previous hosting site at 8th & Poplar, and we had a few hiccups along the way: a few less participants as last year, a technical glitch that missed our site at the pickup center, and a forgotten printed form. Our cleanup team worked from 9 to 2, picking up everything from used water bottles to sweeping cigarette butts in the masses. One of our volunteers, the lovely Jessica, even joked that the Hurricanes 40s must have been pretty good since there were so many bottles laying around the field... Find out the benefits of cleaning Up Philly (year-round), after the jump...

Looking to get some volunteer hours in this summer? Want to meet locavore lovers and those who love to eat?  Farm to City has a volunteer opportunity we are sharing below: Farm to City is looking for energetic and passionate volunteers to staff an information table at our biggest market, the Saturday Rittenhouse Farmers’ Market. Volunteers will provide information and resources on vendors, community activities, and Farm to City programs including:

3,771 is not the number of murals in Philly or the amount of visitors that Reading Terminal gets a day. It’s the number of plastic bottles that apparel brand United By Blue pulled from the Schuylkill River during our 2012 summer cleanups at Bartram’s Garden. If those same bottles were stacked end to end, they’d tower over the Comcast Center, or Philadelphia's tallest skyscraper. So who is United By Blue? A group of caped crusaders ridding our rivers of litter in the dead of night? Not quite. United By Blue is an organic apparel brand that removes a pound of trash from oceans and waterways for every product sold. Translated? If you buy the softest, organic shirt you’ll ever feel, we roll up our sleeves. You buy an organic, waxed canvas bag for your next adventure; we’re out on the water. (Find out more about how you can help, after the jump!)