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Celebrate Bike to Work Week by Bicycling down the Parkway with Mayor Nutter
This Friday is Bike to Work Day For the 5th consecutive year, Mayor Michael Nutter is riding a bike to work. We’ll ride from Lloyd Hall to Love Park, and celebrate the most…
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The Zero Carbon Neighborhood
This article was first published by Lynn Olanoff in the Bethlehem Express Time. You can read the unedited article here. I found that this is an interesting article to highlight for at least…
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The Emerald Street Earthship Greenhouse
In the fall of 2011, Nic Esposito sent out an email to the Philadelphia Urban Farming Communityannouncing his project to build an Earthship greenhouse at the Emerald Street Urban Farm and calling for…
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Walking the Green Talk: Suggestion #1
INSPIRATION: The Talmud suggests it is not incumbent upon us to complete God’s work, nor are we free to desist from it. Native American wisdom teaches us to think along timelines of seven…
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Solar Hot Water + Electric or Oil supplemental water heater? Which one is more efficient?
More people are switching to Solar Water Heaters. After all, solar hot water heaters are old and proven technology. Everyone living in Israel has been using those for the past sixty some years,…
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The Secret Lives of Clothes
Philadelphia used to be one of the leading Textile and Clothing manufacturing cities in the US. Today, what is left of that textile past is a large number of empty plants in North…
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Nic Esposito’s new initiative: “The New Growth Project”
In September of 2011, Nic announced through his blog ”PhillyRooted” that he would not continue to manage the Walnut Hill Farm that he worked hard to create in the 2009 – 2010 growing…
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The Fracking Song: “My Water is on Fire tonight”
My Water is on Fire Tonight Sources used for this article: ProPublica and NYU release music-video “explainer” with investigative series. ProPublica investigation on Fracking ProPublica and New York University’s Studio 20 have taken…
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Can Philly be the Greenest City of the Union without PA being the Greenest State of the Union?
Michael Nutter has stated multiple times that his goal is to make Philadelphia the greenest city in the country. Actually, the website of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability says that much on its homepage….
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Share More. Consume Less. Save Money.
We are a society built on consumption. We are told that we need to buy new things and have (at least) one of everything to “Keep up with the Jone’s.” But, why should…
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Local, Organic: the Dark and the Light
“To be a centrist when it comes to food is, unfortunately, to be a radical,” writes James McWilliams in his recent book Just Food: Where Locavores Get it Wrong and How We Can…
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Occupy Philly Eviction from Dilworth Plaza: what really happened.
Within a days from each other, city governments across the country have taken steps to evict their local Occupy movement from their encampment. NY, LA, Philadelphia took similar steps. Although the reasons might…
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Fracking in the Delaware Basin. That is the water we drink.
Update: The Delaware River Basin Commission has cancelled (or indefinitely postponed) their public meeting, planned for Monday morning November 21st. The public outcry and Governor Markel of Delaware’s announcement on Thursday Nov 17th that he would vote against allowing…
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The Philadelphia Marathon goes “Green”
This weekend (Nov 18 to 20th) is the 18th annual the Philadelphia Marathon. As this major event is reaching the age of its legal majority, organizers are announcing a series of initiatives to…
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The link between “Occupy Philly” and Sustainability
By now, you probably know about the “Occupy Wall Street” movement which is spreading around the country. A group of people started “Occupy Philly” which gathered a solid 1,000 participants to a…
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The 2011 Philly Naked Bike Ride – Part 2 of 2: The Riders’ view point.
In her article, contributor and blogger Claudia Gehtu covered the 2011 Philly Naked Bike Ride from the point of view of the spectators who lined up the course of the PNBR. I thought…
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Green toys from Stokes Solar stir eco-excitement
Forget batteries. John Stokes is changing the way parents and children curve their perspective on playtime in Southeastern Pennsylvania one little toy at a time through solar, water and eventually wind-powered educational entertainment….
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Aaron Guman: All roads lead to Permaculture
For years, I have dabbled in gardening and composting. My interest was more in fruits (tomatoes, cherries, plumbs, etc..) than in growing vegetables. For me gardening has been more of an experiment in…
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The 2011 Philly Naked Bike Ride – Part 1 of 2: Philadelphians embrace Individuality, Community and another reason to go Green.
For the 3rd edition of the Philly Naked Bike Ride, I decided to cover the event from two points of view: the crowd’s and the riders’. Claudia Ghetu accepted the assignment to write…
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The Shale Gas Outrage Rally in pictures
I thought you would enjoy a few images of yesterday’s Shale Gas Outrage Rally that took place in Philadelphia. The featured picture for this article was taken by JJ Tiziou and all the…
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Alternative energy at Green Alchemy Farm
With an impassioned sense of responsibility for living within means that cater well to the earth, Richmond Township resident Samuel Yoder whipped in existence the alternative and sustainable energy operation, which has taken…
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Eco-Packed Events in Philly this Fall
Whenever I see Philadelphia represented poorly in the national media, I try to remember how awesome our city is at sustainability. And now that we’ve all survived scorching heat, an earthquake, and a…
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Discover how transportation impacts the affordability and sustainability of where you live?
When I think about moving to a different city or even just to a different neighborhood in Philadelphia, my first thought is to check the cost of housing. Most people know or guess…
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SEPTA and Sustainability: the Sublime and the Perplexing.
Since I have intermittent use of a car, I typically ride my bicycle everywhere I can. With the unstable spring weather, the question which arises is how to get back home when it…
The 2011 Philly Naked Bike Ride is this Sunday Sept 4th.
“Ride naked: shed the excess Stand up for bikes Stand up for the environment Stand up naked on your bike” The starting location of this year’s Naked Bike Ride is MLK Drive (a.k.a.:…
A new model of Community Supported Agriculture
While vacationing in the Finger Lakes Region, I discovered what could be a new direction in the Community Supported Agriculture movement. What is “Community Supported Agriculture”? According to the Wikipedia definition, “Community Supported Agriculture” is a…
Discover how transportation impacts the affordability and sustainability of where you live?
When I think about moving to a different city or even just to a different neighborhood in Philadelphia, my first thought is to check the cost of housing. Most people know or guess…
Make Philadelphia a Greener City through stormwater management
This “greenified” image of the downtown Philadelphia gives you an idea of what a significant increase in green space could look like along the Vine Street Expressway corridor. Today, July 20, the Philadelphia…
The Drexel University SmartHouse
I heard of the Drexel Smart House a while back while working on a series of five articles on the Drexel University Environmental Sustainability Learning Community. Ever since I wanted to find out…
Philadelphia Greenest City… Really???
A couple of organizations have recently published a Green City Ranking: The “Green City Index” was published by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The blog Triple Pundit published a list of the top 10…
PhillyEcoCity Formatting Options
This post will show you all of the formatting options you have at your discretion when writing article posts! To write a new post, make sure you are logged in, and then from…
Dog crap – Do you want it with a bow??
If you hike the trails of Wishahickon Valley Park or even just walk a bit on Forbidden Drive, you may have noticed this delightfully tied little package delicately deposited on the edge of…
Home Energy Workshop – A Skillshare hosted by Transition Philadelphia
I will be facilitating a Workshop on Home Energy Efficiency Come learn about the Transition Movement and Transition Philadelphia. Learn about making your home more energy efficient Share your experience with Home Energy…
Sustainable Living and Rain Barrels
So, we built raised beds, planted greens, fenced the whole thing so that the local groundhog leaves our plants alone. And miracle, as you can see, the plants are actually growing. Last year…
May 15, 2012
PhillyEcoCity — Thank you for the suggestion of offering a cold bottle of water along with a bag of recovered rubber bands...
May 12, 2012
Kate — Hello, As a mail clerk I feel i have to weigh in, in my office rubber bands are more often...
April 2, 2012
Nova Harris — Provenance Architecturals, located in Northern Liberties, is also a good resource for reclaimed building materials & lumber, salvaged architectural elements,...
April 1, 2012
Jacques — Great, well informed article.
I particularly appreciate the personal tone that you take in your article which gives it a more...
March 28, 2012
Andrew — Great article, Nic. I've always held the view that property owners shouldnt be able to simply sit on land for...