On the morning of Friday, Oct. 23, environmental advocates from across the region gathered at St. Joseph’s University in West Philadelphia. It was a diverse crowd, including elected officials, college students, City workers and neighborhood block captains, but everyone present had one thing in common. “We all breathe the same air,” said Elizabeth Main, the
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It’s not often a vote can shape what a place looks like for generations. On Nov. 3, Delaware County voters get that chance — the opportunity to protect the water they drink, wildlife around them and the open spaces that make this county worth calling home. The Delaware County Water Quality, Natural Areas, and Wildlife
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The Sunday following Philadelphia’s apocalyptic microburst storm, the Garden Court gardeners gathered late in the day to honor our fallen fruit trees. They sat around the apple stump and shared stories of the shade the tree had offered on hot July days and the roost the branches had made for birds and squirrels. Of the
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Organizers with Philly Thrive and People’s Tech Project aren’t waiting for an artificial intelligence data center in the Bellwether District to be announced. In the deep freeze of February, the Point Breeze environmental justice advocacy group took to the sidewalks of Grays Ferry, knocking on 1,876 doors and speaking with nearly 500 people. The advocates
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Roughly half of the Swarthmore College field hockey team’s away games last season were played on “field hockey turf,” a water-based artificial turf standard for the sport. But because the college’s Clothier Field Stadium is “field turf” — which head coach Hannah Harris says varies widely from location to location and can affect player performance
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Every human produces a little more than 4.5 ounces of excrement per day. Multiplied by the 2.2 million customers of the Philadelphia Water Department’s wastewater system, the cumulative daily dump equals about 620,811 pounds, or about 310 tons. The story of biosolids (treated sewage sludge) starts with clean water in the toilet bowls of the
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At 86, Chestnut Hill resident Sandra Folzer regularly smashes running world records, but her pursuit of physical excellence is secondary to her environmental goal: to remove single-use plastics from racing. In 2024, Folzer, a breast cancer survivor, shaved an astonishing 30 minutes off the 12K record in the women’s masters 85-89 age category. The next
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Most birders have a “spark bird,” the species that ignited their passion for nature. Visual artist Deirdre Murphy, whose work blends scientific data with bird observations, has a “spark ornithologist.” Murphy credits John James Audubon, who revolutionized the field of ornithology with his detailed illustrations, as an early source of inspiration. “He’s my spark for
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State Rep. Chris Rabb, a five-term lawmaker for Pennsylvania’s 200th legislative district, is one of eight Democratic candidates running for the chance to take Congressman Dwight Evans’ vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives next year. Rabb has emerged as a progressive option in the lead-up to the Democratic primary in May, with positions
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It’s not easy to get to the Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School. The school sits on 17 acres at the northwest border of Philadelphia, a pocket of land not served by SEPTA, forcing the district to bus students to and from school. In exchange for the long ride, however, students learn in an expansive
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