Illustration by Mike L. Perry Hell on Earth interview by Heather Shayne Blakeslee In “Blood and Earth: Modern Slavery, Ecocide and the Secret to Saving the World” abolitionist Kevin Bales uncovers the fact that, absent the rule of law, the environment is devastated and slavery flourishes. Many slaves are tricked into thinking they are getting
MoreIllustration by Wyatt Glennon Betting the Farm by Amy Laura Cahn Philadelphia needs to act quickly if it does not want to lose its community gardens. We can’t do it without leadership from the Kenney administration. On March 20, a Philadelphia Inquirer headline read “Growing Pains for Gardeners: South Kensington plots may be lost amid
MorePhoto by Jillian Guyette Spears Over Chips by Emily Kovach Big decisions are part of launching anycompany. When Brine Street Picklery was forming, its five co-founders had a particularly pressing dilemma on hand: spear or chip? “It’s the age-old pickle question,” founder PJ Hopkins laughs. “I was outvoted for spears four to one.” The seeds
MorePhoto by Margo Reed Lady and Mr. Marmalade by Emily Kovach Every two or three weeks, Jennifer and Steve Horton play hooky from their 9-to-5 jobs in marketing and economic development, respectively, and spend the whole day transforming local produce and sugar into hundreds of jars of jam and preserves in the Greensgrow Community Kitchen.
MoreFrom Russia, With Love by Emily Kovach For a kid growing up in Soviet Russia in the 1980s, treats were nearly impossible to come by. “We didn’t have soda or desserts,” says Olga Sorzano, owner of Baba’s Brew. “But my great-grandmother brewed kombucha and always had it in the house. This was really fun for
MorePhoto by Christopher Leaman Get Growing by Matt Bevilacqua At the corner of Henry and West Hunting Park avenues in North Philadelphia, hidden behind an old warehouse building, sit several steaming piles of household waste. A faint earthy smell hangs in the air, but all the apple cores, coffee grounds and eggshells in sight will
MoreFracking Lawsuit Rules in Families’ FavorCabot Oil & Gas will have to pay more than $4.2 million to two Dimock Township couples after six jurors in federal court deemed that fracking operations contaminated the groundwater of their central Pennsylvania homes. According to an NPR StateImpact report, the company has already acquired more than 130 drilling
MoreIllustration by Kathleen White 1. Explore Fairmount ParkThere are beautiful spring ephemerals like rue anemone, bloodroot and twinleaf to be found, so get yourself a guidebook and take the family for a wildflower walk. 2. Reprogram your thermostatYou might not need your heating system at all anymore, but at the very least make the switch
MoreAwakening by Heather Shayne Blakeslee Out in the woods of Fairmount Park and across the eastern woodlands, spring ephemerals, those short-lived native flowers—twinleaf and columbine, bloodroot and trout lily—have been blooming. They come up on their own to announce the coming of spring to the few souls who might seek them out, and then go
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Are you a bike-riding, garden-growing, veggie-composting, design enthusiast who has a passion for print? Red Flag Media, a growing independent magazine publisher based in Philadelphia, PA, seeks a talented and versatile designer who will create page layouts for Grid, RFM’s award-winning, monthly sustainability magazine. The designer will also create a range of marketing materials,
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