It can be easy to get discouraged these days. Everywhere we look, there are signs of a struggling planet and, often, it’s difficult to see a clear path to an effectual response. 2022 may well eclipse recent years as the hottest on record. Rainfall has alternated between being absent or violent in Pennsylvania, one of
MoreThe skinny house will be built in an alley way | Image via smartplanet.comThe Skinny on Housing In Warsaw, resident Etgar Keret is getting ready to move into his new home. Instead of stocking up on plates, cups, and furniture, Keret isn’t making any pre-move preparations, because his house is only 40 feet long and 60 inches wide.
More“Talisman Terry’s Energy Adventure” Image via maddowblog.msnbc.msn.comFracking made headlines this week with features on NPR’s “This American Life” and the Colbert Report. Monday’s Colbert Report took a dig at a public relations tool created by natural gas drilling company Talisman Energy. The “Talisman Terry’s Energy Adventure” coloring book was published by Talisman to teach children
MoreGet your kids growing one book at a time | Image via TreehuggerBook Worms Five books to transform your kids from TV tranced consumers to budding young gardeners. Including the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Gardening with Children and Sharon Lovejoy’s Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots. Treehugger Career Change Although the unemployment is climbing dangerously close to
MoreOn Monday, the Bicycle Coalition sent out an Action Alert urging Philadelphia and New Jersey cyclists to send letters to their members of congress requesting that they restore bicycle and pedestrian funding programs in the recently proposed six-year Transportation Bill. According to BCGP, the new bill “sets transportation policy backwards decades” and is not suited
More7/12 Academy Explorers Camp The Academy of Natural Sciences is calling all children to join their Summer Camp! Each week has a theme and this week the children are diving into Big Foot, The Jersey Devil, and Nessie (Lochness Monster). It isn’t too late to sign your child up, and families have the option to register their children
MoreImage via fitnessgoop.comWater with a Side of BPA Switching from reusable plastic water bottles to metal ones may not be the best way to avoid getting bisphenol A (BPA) in your beverage. A new study shows that an epoxy-resin lining in some metal bottles leaches the chemical. The good news: most name brand bottles don’t
MoreThough pretty to look at and nicer to sniff, the iconic rose is, simply put, not a sustainable flower. While some organic options do exist, the species’ vulnerability to insect problems means growers often employ energy-intensive growing conditions and pesticides. Luckily, the fertile Delaware Valley offers many alternatives to keep nuptial blossoms green.
MoreImage via hbbuildinganddesign.comFairmount neighborhood resident Sharon Price Slusher has completed the ultimate home improvement project. Slusher’s Philadelphia row home (N. 27th Street) has received LEED Platinum certification from LEED for Homes, the highest rating of the LEED system. The home is the city’s first “rehab” home to be awarded this rating. Slusher’s home construction project
MoreOne of Queen Lane’s six bumpouts | Image via phillywatersheds.orgQueen Lane in East Falls now boasts the city’s first Stormwater bumpouts a.k.a. native grass, tree, and plant-filled extensions of the sidewalk designed to catch stormwater runoff from the street. The bumpouts are just one of the Water Department’s planned green stormwater infrastructure tools, which also
MoreJulie Bass’ garden could land her in the slammer | Image via TreeHugger Fugitive Gardening A woman in Oak Park, Michigan may face 93-days in jail for planting a vegetable garden in her front yard. According to the Oak Park City Planner, the yard breaks city code in that it strays from the community norm
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