Emerald ash borer beetles target ash trees, like this one at Fairmount Park’s Smith Playground. | Photo by Christian Hunold
Tiny green beetles are coming to kill our ash trees
You might expect something as scary as the emerald ash borer to be much larger than it is. The shiny green beetles from East Asia top out
Illustration by NARRATOR
Wissahickon's litter problem prompts man to collect it for a year, turning it into a powerful art project
Since moving to Philadelphia from my small Central Pennsylvania hometown in 2000, the single biggest gripe I’ve had with the city is its litter problem. Many anti-litter programs have come and gone—and even exist today—and still,
2 mins read
Slow-cooked carnitas, scented with smoky cumin, cinnamon and orange, make an easy meal to share with friends. | Photo by Emily Teel
It's still winter, but let carnitas warm you up
Ah, spring. The promise of sunshine, blooming trees, crunchy new vegetables and the meals that taste the way spring can make us feel: bright, fresh and
3 mins read
Illustrations by Kathleen White
Is a proposed petrochemical hub a devil’s bargain? The CEO Council for Growth says it is an opportunity for economic revitalization, while organized opposition throughout the city says it will drag us into our past. Must we choose between prosperity and pollution?
Philadelphia’s role as a vibrant manufacturing center
11 mins read
Protesters from the Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) demonstrate in Sarasota, Florida—one of 31 U.S. locations—during Flood PNC Day of Action on Dec. 6. | Photo courtesy EQAT
Five ways to make your activism more strategic
Thirteen years ago, at an anti-war rally where a small group of protestors gave speeches to each other in a park,
2 mins read
When he’s not working with the Fairmount Civic Association, Sam Holloschutz picks up trash at the wooded area near his apartment. | Photo by Stephen Dyer
A popular TV show awakens an environmentalist in Fairmount
Sam Holloschutz credits an unlikely source of inspiration for his devotion to sustainability: the TV show Lost. “Just seeing how beautiful Hawaii
2 mins read
Illustration by Kirsten Harper
When I got serious about growing our own food four years ago, I had no idea how much it would affect how my wife and I lived and managed our lives and our home. We had already made a conscious decision to shop, cook, and eat as locally and seasonally as possible.
2 mins read
Warm up the kitchen without cranking the thermostat by making roasted sablefish, escarole and avocado salad and roasted pineapple and coconut sundae | Photo by Emily Teel
Although you can’t will spring to arrive sooner, you can turn on the oven. Not only does it warm up the kitchen without cranking the thermostat, it’s also the
2 mins read
Rachel Rosenfeld, a citizen scientist, measures phosphate levels for Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association’s Creek Watch program near Valley Green Inn in Fairmount Park. | Photo by Christian Hunold
Volunteers wade in to monitor the Wissahickon
Rachel Rosenfeld crunched her way through the ice near the shore to get to where she could drop her thermometer
2 mins read
Community members work on what will be Philadelphia’s first Earthship.
In West Philadelphia, organizers use tires and earth to create an ambitious and energy-passive home
At a glance, the open-air lot at the corner of 41st and Lancaster appears to be littered with garbage—tires piled up in the northwest corner, mounds of dirt and cement mixed
2 mins read