In July 2020, after spending several months of the pandemic wondering whether
Glass is 100% recyclable: it can be melted over and over again
Whether it’s the shame of encountering trash dumped in your neighborhood, the
In a city with a long history of woeful recycling rates, Dyvert
The Rounds launched in Philadelphia in 2019 with a very simple mission
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I would be lying if I said I’d never snuck in anywhere I wasn’t supposed to. I have gone herping (recreationally searching for reptiles and amphibians) all over Philadelphia, and more than once I have taken a look at a “No Trespassing” sign, glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching and pressed
In 2011, an enraged 12-year-old stormed into the office at a charter school and marched up to Edwena Lanier, the office manager at the time and founder and leader of Girls Talk, a forum for girls aged 10 to 19. “She was furious because she’d gotten a D on an English paper,” says Lanier, 38,
Three Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) trash skimming boats ply the waters of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, floating goalkeepers trying to prevent plastic debris from reaching the ocean. The current circulating around the North Atlantic leaves a quiet section of ocean in the middle called a gyre. A patch of plastic garbage hundreds of miles
After tragedy struck Rajus Korde’s family in 2018, he had two revelations. The first was to find more meaning and purpose in his career. The second was that his family’s food was both an expression of love in times of joy and grief. “Food played this role, particularly around joy and celebration, for the majority
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Watch how organizations like Fabscrap and All Together Now PA are supporting sustainable clothing designers like Lobo Mau increasing textile recycling to build a circular textile industry in Philadelphia. Read the full cover story here. Grid and Fabscrap are also hosting a live panel discussion on the cover story on Jan 19th, register here.
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When Manny Jose and Devon McCardell met in 2010, they discovered two things in common: both were grappling with anxiety and neither was finding relief in conventional treatments (e.g., SSRIs). Over the next decade, the friends kept in touch, doing their own separate research on the therapeutic effects of cannabidiol — or CBD, as it’s
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In 2005, Bill Golderer, then pastor of the Presbyterian church at 315 S. Broad Street, ripped the pews out of the sanctuary to create a big dining room bathed in light from stained glass windows. That move helped thrust the historic limestone church, now Broad Street Ministry (BSM), toward radical, inclusive hospitality. Today, BSM offers,
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In 2018 I wrote a zine called “Don’t Deny It, You Need a Self Help Manual on How to Be Clean.” I wrote it as a cheeky way to establish some ground rules or an understanding of domestic behaviors with any new cleaning clients. I also started to send it out to magazines and radio
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Grid spoke in October with Samantha Wittchen, director of programs and operations at Circular Philadelphia, which she cofounded (with Grid’s Nic Esposito) in June 2021. Circular Philadelphia aims to drive the growth of a thriving circular economy in Greater Philadelphia through advocacy, education, infrastructure development and collaboration. The following interview has been edited for length
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It was almost 15 years ago that Van Jones wrote his book “The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems,” and not quite four years ago that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ed Markey introduced the outline for the Green New Deal. The green economy was the holy grail, but now in
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On October 2 a large pile of tires was dumped below the Whitaker Avenue Bridge in Tacony Creek Park. One tire lodged in a forked trunk of a tree growing below the bridge. Two others had hooked a branch of another tree and remained suspended about 15 feet up in the air. A tire dropped
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On a frigid January morning I made a pilgrimage to the grave of Alexander Wilson, the so-called “Father of American Ornithology,” at the Gloria Dei Church cemetery at Christian Street and Columbus Boulevard in South Philadelphia. I didn’t know exactly where it was, but the old cemetery is small, and in about five minutes I
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If Noah Raven, founder of Monarch Defenders, dashes from plant to plant in his pollinator-friendly garden with the kinetic energy of a 12-year-old, there’s good reason: he is one. Raven’s Monarch Defenders website rivals that of any big-budget nonprofit. Complete with a mission statement, educational facts, resource citations, ways to take action and an interactive
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After nine years working for a nonprofit organization, 41-year-old Erin Mattson was earning more seniority, more responsibility and more money than she ever thought possible. But she also experienced stress and anxiety levels that led to serious health problems. Her partner, Elissa Viscelli, 36, convinced her to quit her job because, far more than a
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