Whole Foods

As a sustainably conscious gal, shopping for almost anything has become a struggle. Whether searching for food, beauty products or even a water bottle, consumers have the burden of sorting dangerous chemicals from the pure groceries of yesterday. There is hope....

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia (BCGP), the folks who bring us programs like Women Bike PHL and the Circuit Trail Network, continue to make an impact to help us have such an awesome  biking city. The Whole Foods on 10th &South Street is hosting a 5% day, where 5% of their proceeds tomorrow, July 2nd, are donated to the Bicycle Coalition. All you need to do is

I thought a professor lied when he said the only way he survived graduate school without falling into debt was by eating canned beans for every meal. Yet 5 months into grad school, I can see where desperation hit. While beans are a healthy, vegetarian protein, I was not so devoid of hope. It has to be possible as a student to eat at Whole Foods on a budget, right? Testing and proving this theory brought me into foreign territory, one teeming with hormone-free meat and overpriced produce. The foreign lands of Whole Foods. My mission: To claw my way out with a bill less than or equal to $54.90, which is the U.S Department of Agriculture’s low-cost one-week food plan for a 19-50 aged man. Known Success Rate: Unreported, but there have been many a credit card casualty. Wildlife to Avoid: Twenty-something year-old vegans. Although a pleasure to view in their natural habitat, this species is hungry and their movements can be unpredictable. Important Note: Nutritional health is a subject in which everyone has an opinion, and this writer is not an expert but a survivor in this task. Find out if I survived, after the jump.

Stereotypical to all things 'green', here's the hot flash news announcement of Wednesday: Whole Foods is having a huge Kale Sale in honor of National Kale Day today. 5 for $5, from 4 - 8 PM. Since we have 2 right in town, here are the tweets to confirm:

Tired of flimsy plastic bags of beans, rice & quinoa in your cupboard? But how can you make your trip even greener?

It's that time again! As much as we all don't want to say sayonara to summer the school season is upon us. Back to school time brings a myriad of emotions - excitement, anxiety, relief (helloooo, parents) and for the childless worker bees among us - a bit of nostalgia. Beyond the new clothes, fresh notebooks and binders - parents and students have to think about what to pack for lunch each school day. Of course, most schools offer cafeteria options, but let's face it they can be pretty nasty and more expensive than bagged lunches. Click through for some ideas to make lunches a little greener.

Confession: When I chose to "go local" for 40 days, I didn't really prepare. My first email from a friend addressed the biggest hurdle:  "Sounds quite intense my friend... What if you wanna go out and get a drink? you're going to 40 days of local brews. "   (But to calm your beer belly fears, there's typically at least 1 or 2 varieties of local wine in Philly liquor stores.) Since I've started my challenge, I'm determined to find products produced within a 75- mile radius. Some may fear there's not a lot of brand choices locally produced,(find out if the fear is a legit one, after the jump!)

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!)

Starting now, I decided to implement a new column on Green Philly Blog called "Where the Hell Do I Recycle That Wednesdays?!? (in Philly.)" (I considered How the F*@! but realized we should keep this somewhat family-friendly.) Lately, I've been going through a cleaning frenzy in my apartment trying to get rid of crap. But as I was going through my ultimate cleanse, I realized a lot of items aren't as easy to find a new home for - especially when avoiding the garbage. Avoid the landfill with our new column. Need to figure out how to recycle something? (Find out how our new column will work, where to submit your recycling questions AND where to recycle battery chargers after the jump!)