Glass is 100% recyclable: it can be melted over and over again to form new glass products without any loss in quality. Most of it is not recycled, however, despite the fact that the planet is running out of the sand necessary to make glass and other products. The opportunity for glass recycling, therefore, is
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Alisa Shargorodsky, the founder of ECHO Systems, hears it time and time again when she tells someone she works in the waste industry: “Oh, are you guys into recycling?” They’re not. “We’re not here to advocate for recycling,” she’ll say. “We are building infrastructure for radical reuse.” ECHO Systems envisions a world where food service
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This 16-ounce jar holds all the waste produced on the set of “Citywide.” Photography Courtesy Fishtown Films. A 16-ounce mason jar filled with trash feels like a trophy to Emily Gallagher and Austin Elston, cofounders of Fishtown Films. It was the designated place for all waste produced during the creation of their first feature-length film, “Citywide.”
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Living a sustainable lifestyle can be a daunting undertaking, especially if you don’t know where to begin. Welcome to Philly Low-Waste Living. I’m Emily Rodia, the founder of Good Buy Supply—Philly’s one-stop-shop for sustainable home goods. We specialize in all areas of the home from kitchen, bathroom to laundry but I can also help you
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In 2013 the School District of Philadelphia closed 23 schools, including a massive gray stone building on South Ninth Street, the Edward W. Bok Technical High School. In an unexpected twist, the development and design firm Scout bought it for $1.75 million and has been gradually repurposing it into a sanctuary for creatives since July
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Mulch, compost and wood chips are piled high on the concrete grounds of the Fairmount Park Organic Recycling Center in West Fairmount Park. On a typical day at the center, city residents fill out the sign-in sheet and waiver form and collect whatever organic materials they need from the scattered piles with shovels and buckets
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Full disclosure: I am a business partner in Bennett Compost and have been for over 10 years. Like the guy who claimed he liked his electric shaver so much that he bought the company, so too was I drawn to this business from the get-go. It was just an irresistible idea. Tim Bennett, ever smiling
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Each of us is a maker. Whether you’re making connections, curating your style or physically making products, we all need that place to express our creativity. NextFab proudly helps support small, local handmade businesses by providing a shared community of professional resources, tools and support to go from making to selling, and from selling to
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In a former municipal building on Rising Sun Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia, cycling enthusiast Rudi Saldia is doing something he never imagined: working at a desk. It was a long and winding road—well, often a straight road on a grid—that led him to Bennett Compost’s Lawncrest headquarters. Before the days of DoorDash and Grubhub, he
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Living a sustainable lifestyle can be a daunting undertaking, especially if you don’t know where to begin. Welcome to the first edition of Philly Low-Waste Living. I’m Emily Rodia, the founder of Good Buy Supply—Philly’s one-stop-shop for sustainable home goods. We specialize in all areas of the home from kitchen, bathroom to laundry but
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In the lower underbellies of BOK, a 340,000 square-foot co-maker space in South Philly, there is a labyrinth of glass—walls of emerald greens and blues, and shelf after shelf of clear jars, beer and soda bottles. The glass is all empty, pre-used, awaiting its new future wherein Bottle Underground, the one and only glass collection
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