Philly

We celebrate our "Earth Day" every day, but today gives us an opportunity to reflect on what Earth Day means to those around our city. Philadelphia has thousands of amazing individuals working to help us achieve cleaner air, water, transit and healthier food options. In honor of this green holiday, we asked a few local individuals what Earth Day means to them:

Philly Farm & Food Fest is coming to the Convention Center today with hundreds of local farmers, food vendors & artisans. Although thousands in our region will gain new insights and discover new tastes, they're not the only ones who will benefit. Marilyn Anthony is Eastern Regional Director for the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA), a member-based nonprofit organization. We talked to Marilyn about how Philly Farm & Food Fest benefits PASA, Fair Food and the local community of local growers, producers & consumers: (Find out more in my Examiner article.)

Philadelphia is participating in walk to work day! Get your legs moving, feel healthy and perhaps score some free stuff too. We understand it may not be plausible to walk your entire commute. If you're a road warrior commuting from the city to NJ and Philadelphia suburbs or vice versa - 95 and 76 aren't exactly stroll-friendly. Don't despair - you just need to  walk 15 minutes of your commute to receive 25% off of 5K Run for Clean Air registration and 10% off loaves of bread at Metropolitan bakery, along with other great deals. You'll just need your...

Who's ready to Keep Up the Sweep Up again? The Streets Department's 6th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup Day will be return on Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 9 AM - 2 PM. 2012 efforts achieved over 350 projects, 12,000 volunteers and 1 million pounds of trash. Can we try to top it for 2013? We're happy to return to our hosting site of 2012, which is 8th & Poplar in Northern Liberties. We're co-hosting with (Find out the details and how to join, after the jump!)

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!)

Mayor Nutter shocked environmentalists in Philadelphia today when he announced that he was lowering his ambition for sustainability in our city. Rather than aiming to be the greenest city in the USA in Greenworks Philadelphia plans, Nutter wants to hit less sustainable goals in lieu of reaching the top 10. As he mentioned today in a press conference: "Just like the rest of Philadelphia and especially our sports team - the Eagles, Sixers, Flyers and Phillies, we don't need to be the best to prove our dedication. We can settle for almost reaching the best without claiming the number one spot. We're not even the fattest city anymore! Not the healthiest, most attractive, nor a travel destination. Why should our greening efforts be any different?" The Greenworks plan is knocking down its 15 sustainability targets to a solid 10 and discouraging compositing where it costs too much. Find out more about this cut-back green plan, after the jump!

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia’s female sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women’s History Month. We're wrapping up the week with Sandy Bauers of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sandy is the Inquirer's Environment Reporter; She covers the city's environmental news on her blog and column GreenSpace. She's worked as an editor and reporter at the Inquirer for more than 20 years. Sandy lives the green life in northern Chester County with her husband, cats and pet chickens.  I've been reading Sandy's work for years, and was delighted for the opportunity to pick her brain a bit.  Click through to get Sandy's thoughts on Philly's greatest environmental accomplishments and more!

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia’s women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women’s History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some are a little more under the radar. Today, we head over to Chestnut Hill College to talk with two religious women. Growing up Catholic, I didn't hear much about 'sustainability' or treasuring our Earth in Church lectures. But is God green? It was quite interesting to sit down with two sisters about their views on how sustainability and religion fit together. Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark was a GPB guest blogger, is Director of the Sisters of Saint Joseph Earth Center, and Special Assistant to the President of Chestnut Hill for Sustainability. Sister Miriam MacGillis is founder of Genesis farm, an organic earth literacy center in New Jersey.

This week Green Philly Blog is interviewing some of Philadelphia’s women sustainability leaders in honor of closing out March as International Women’s History Month. Some of the women are well-known in our city, and some are a little more under the radar. Our interview for today is with Executive Director of Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed, Julie Slavet! A Boston native, Julie Slavet has been involved in the sustainability scene for over 30 years. Designing her own undergraduate degree in environmental studies (since it didn't exist yet) at Smith College, she proceeded to get an energy independence internship with the National League of Cities and receive her grad degree at UMass. She's worked in a variety of places including work on local, sustainable initiatives in Washington and local governments in Massachusetts. Not one to settle for par, she left a Dallas Texas Suburban hell to raise her family in the more walkable Philadelphia community, Jenkintown. After working various local communication positions and learning about sustainable initiatives in Philly, she landed her role at the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed. Let's get to our interview with (the other) Julie!