“When you have children, it’s important that they listen to you, but it’s equally important that you listen to them.” These words of wisdom from former-Councilmember Blondell Reynolds Brown are what inspired her to listen a bit more closely one afternoon in 2008, when her middle school-aged daughter came home and told her what she
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For Christa Barfield, the entrance into agriculture was prompted by her exit from another industry. Before the success of FarmerJawn—Barfield’s ambitious and sprawling enterprise that includes farming at the historic Elkins Estate, running a CSA, being part of a development project in East Kensington, opening a garden shop in Germantown, selling herbal-infused teas and providing
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Before the chic boutiques and overpriced cafés arrive, the first sign of gentrification is often a slew of ubiquitous posters stapled to telephone poles reading, “We Buy Houses.” One is more than likely to find these illegally-placed advertisements in low-income parts of the city where desperation for fast cash can outweigh the benefit of long-term
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By Nic Esposito After the credits rolled on Adam McKay’s new film “Don’t Look Up.”, I lay in bed for the next two hours, heart and mind racing as I tried to process the film. It could have been an allegory for the pandemic, plastic pollution or a number of other global crises that scientists
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Ying Founder and CEO Karla Ballard loads the app. Photography by Drew Dennis. Swipe for Service By Nic Esposito Karla Ballard’s journey to founding the skill sharing platform Ying is a tale that traverses the country and beyond, from Germantown to Barbados, from Wilmington to the West Coast. Born and raised in Germantown, Ballard’s upbringing
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When you approach the storefronts at 52nd and Warren streets, just off Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia, you might notice the handcrafted facades of One Art Community Center’s Earthship-style building, which uses glass bottles and cans placed in cement to provide structure and light. In the center’s backyard, a group of students are working on
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It’s finally here. After a one-year delay, Philadelphia finally implemented the long awaited plastic bag ban on July 1. By July 31, all businesses were required to post signage informing their clients of the ban. This gave stores time to use up any remaining plastic bags left in stock. And by October 1, businesses will
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It’s hard to believe that only six months ago I wrote an article for Grid lamenting the incredible proliferation of single-use to-go containers due to take-out food during the pandemic and wishing some entrepreneur would come up with a system for reusable containers in restaurants. A lot has changed since then. Of course, many of
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In my February Grid commentary on the glut of single use takeout food containers during the pandemic, I expressed hope that local innovators and entrepreneurs would develop reusable container systems. I’m excited to report that my hopes have been answered—or at least they were for a moment On March 22, 2021 Philadelphia-area Indian food chain
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After a year delay, Philadelphia is set to formally implement the long awaited plastic bag ban on July 1. By July 31, all businesses will be required to post signage informing their clients of the plastic bag ban, which will officially go into effect on Oct. 1. Although plastic bag bans are gaining momentum across
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