A year ago, advocates of solar energy across Pennsylvania were flying high.
On an afternoon in late October, students from Sayre High School were
Even the most talented chefs began their food careers as eaters. Well
When local productions need a feather boa to add to a costume
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In 2022, the Pennsylvania State Board of Education adopted new environmental literacy and sustainability standards. This is surely important — that all students in Pennsylvania learn about how to protect the environment and live sustainably — but how do we get them to take that education to heart? All the nature lovers out there know
In June, the School District of Philadelphia’s long-running struggle to protect staff and students from asbestos in its aging buildings came to a head with federal criminal charges and an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to take care of the problem once and for all. The Justice Department alleges that the Philadelphia School District
Stephanie Kearney has taught middle school science for 20 years. She uses the outdoors as a classroom, even when what’s outside is a schoolyard and the blocks of rowhouses around Penn Alexander School in West Philadelphia. Grid talked with Kearney to learn what it takes to bring the natural sciences to life for urban students.
One warm October night at Temple University’s Liacouras Center, tall, tan rodeo athlete Au’Vion Horton burst out of a high wooden chute on the back of a one-ton bull. As the bull plunged, spun and kicked to throw off Horton, the hum of the crowd at the East Coast premiere of the 8 Seconds Rodeo
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Meet Craig Santoro, a bike commuter whose trek to work involves constantly dodging cars. From the vehicles parked in bike lanes to the vehicles whizzing by in driving lanes, the city’s streets are always keeping Craig on his toes. Cue the Philadelphia Parking Authority’s bike patrol. Follow Craig and the PPA as they bring us
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Bon Appétit! Pour yourself a glass and enjoy. Natural wineries in the Delaware Valley are producing reds and whites (and some oranges) from grapes grown nearby, rooting their wines — and their drinkers — in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey terroir. Cocoa doesn’t grow here quite yet, but it does in West Africa. Join a
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When visitors step into the Pray Tell Wines tasting room in a warehouse on a treeless street in Kensington, the first question they often ask is, “Where are the grapes?” It’s a fair question. In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where owner Tom Caruso ran Pray Tell for seven years before relocating to Philly in 2024, vineyards
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On Oct. 2, 2025, a swamp sparrow smacked into a glass door at the Independence Visitor Center and fell dead onto the entryway’s pavement. A volunteer window collision monitor with Bird Safe Philly found the bird and documented its demise. Volunteers found four dead or stunned birds that morning, with an additional 13 logged by
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As the holiday season approaches, college campus cafés are preparing for the influx of students ordering coffee and pastries to power them through final exams. But once the semester officially ends, what happens to the product that isn’t sold? That’s what Saxbys cafés across nine states tackled last academic year as they participated in the
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This article was originally published by the Conversation and has been updated to reflect recent legislative developments. As Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s $2 billion housing plan moves forward, heated debates continue about another set of municipal housing proposals that could transform Philadelphia tenants’ rights. In June 2025, Philadelphia’s City Council considered three housing bills, collectively
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Given the sweeping cuts to the tax credits that were part of the federal budget bill, and all the clean energy funding cancellations and rescissions by the Trump administration, you might assume that the solar industry would be down in the dumps and busily preparing to shut down. Indeed, some solar developers are preparing for
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Move over, Pat’s and Geno’s. Philadelphia’s sliced-and-diced meat-and-cheese concoction faces a more sustainable, animal-friendly competitor — the vegan cheesesteak. So, where’s the “beef”? Typically, it’s thinly sliced seitan. Made from wheat, seitan was developed in China about 1,500 years ago and enjoyed by vegetarian Buddhist monks. Today, seitan has gained popularity among vegans, who do
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Moving to a new home is a chore. Now imagine relocating an entire farm. That’s what the folks at Truelove Seeds did in March — for the third time in nine years — when they moved to a two-acre plot at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Roxborough. Owen Taylor, cofounder of the Philadelphia-based
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Modern and boxy, with a silver exterior and sharp, clean edges, it’s hard to believe that Kitchen Korners in Mayfair used to be a run-of-the-mill Northeast Philadelphia garage. What’s inside is just as surprising: a state-of-the-art kitchen facility, where local entrepreneurs, caterers, food packagers and other like-minded culinary purveyors can create their products safely and
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Just over 10 years ago, Kay Wood, now the cohost of the biweekly sustainability radio program “Planet Philadelphia,” was sinking into depression. An accomplished painter for 30 years, she suffered a herniated disc that badly affected her dominant arm. Her husband encouraged her to find new creative avenues. She did that by creating two graphic
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