Daniel Thut, co-owner of West Philly’s Green Line Cafés, first heard about the benefits of LED lighting three years ago. He started experimenting with the lights, but found them too bright for a laid-back café. Now, with the help of PekaSys, a sustainable technology company, Thut is giving LEDs another try.
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#1 - Betty's Tasty Buttons - Betty’s Speakeasy offers their Tasty Buttons in a variety of seasonal flavors, including white chocolate eggnog and dark chocolate with cranberries and orange zest. Crafted using local cream and local goats’ milk, the bite-sized pieces of fudge are packaged in locally-made boxes.
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I’ve been known to laud Hanukah as the original green holiday—no decorations, no elaborate meat-based meals and an origin story in which one day’s worth of fuel burns for eight. And, adding to my smugness, my family was never big on gifts; dad gave us a little bit of cash (or gelt) and my mom
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I come from people who believe that pickles are integral to a good sandwich, that dinner should be eaten around a table and that all the very best gifts are edible. In fact, one of my earliest memories includes reaching up to slip a cooling cookie off the kitchen counter, baked by my dad for
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In February, I joined the band Hoots and Hellmouth at the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture’s (PASA) annual conference. More than once, I was asked if I was the group’s new bass player, or maybe their roadie. In fact, I’m the band’s farmer. It’s not a common title, but, when you work with a band
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Last winter, after helping our neighbors shovel out of a blizzard, we were rewarded with a lovely pineapple. It got me thinking: “How do these things work?” Unfortunately, it remains a bit of a mystery, as last year’s attempts at pineapple propagation failed, and ditto the efforts to start an avocado tree.
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If, like me, you routinely lust after the beautiful bicycles populating our fair city, then chances are you’ve probably coveted one of Stephen Bilenky’s custom creations. My first encounter occurred last spring on a ride with Curtis Anthony, owner of Via Bicycles. We were taking a rest under the cherry blossoms along MLK Drive when
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During the holidays, “It’s the thought that counts” is a sentiment lost on the McLaughlin clan. We’re an Irish family with five siblings and many more nieces and nephews, so the gift-giving gets competitive—it’s the MMA Championship of generosity. We’re always attempting to outdo each other, overlooking our debt/income ratio for the satisfaction of stupefying each other
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The birth of slow food is an inspiring story. In March 1986, McDonald’s opened its first location in Italy, near the Spanish Steps in Rome. The Steps were built in 1725, the neighborhood was home to John Keats in the 19th century and, not too long ago, Bob Dylan wrote a song about them.
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