It has been five years since the pandemic disrupted Philadelphia’s recycling program, leading to service delays that stretched on for weeks and consigning the contents of so many blue bins into trash trucks headed for the landfill. “That was the first huge blow for an already beleaguered system,” says Nic Esposito, former director of the
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Altering one’s lifestyle to limit waste is by no means an easy life practice, according to Ron Whyte. Whyte, project coordinator of the Mural Arts Philadelphia program Trash Academy, says the difficulty comes from an oversaturation of consumer culture. “We live in a system of extraction, production and consumption, and waste comes at the end
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Before Melissa Torre brainstorms new scents and ingredients for skin care products, she thinks about food. Prior to founding Vellum St. Soap Company, in 2016, Torre spent about five years running her bakery, Cookie Confidential, as well as 10 years managing Tattooed Mom, on South Street. She credits her experience as a chef with sparking
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In the weeks and months leading up to any election, campaign signs begin to crowd lawns, medians, and planters, and all roads can seem like battleground interstates. The 2020 elections were no different in Philadelphia, with rival campaigns for Senate and House seats, PA Attorney General, PA Auditor General, and State Treasurer adding to the
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I left my position as Zero Waste and Litter Director with much unfinished business. But the most regrettable was the incomplete transition of the Cabinet’s focus on Zero Waste to a more expansive vision of a circular economy in Philadelphia. Don’t get me wrong, a Zero Waste goal was an important first step. Although Zero
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Looking to dispose of old cell phones that live in a drawer and collect dust? How about piles of outfits that no longer fit? The City of Philadelphia’s new partnership with Retrievr lets you do just that, all while abiding by social-distancing guidelines. Retrievr is a pickup service that allows residents to safely and responsibly
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Our recycling system is broken. It was broken before Covid-19 and China’s recycling ban, and the cracks are now beginning to give way to what I hope will be a complete rethinking of what it means to “recycle” as we know it. If you’ve read my columns on gridphilly.com, this intro may sound familiar because
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“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” –F. Scott FitzgeraldI believe in the eureka moment: the experience of discovering something about the world or yourself that changes everything. This magazine has sought out those stories
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There are few tasks I will dodge more willingly than cleaning out an empty peanut butter jar. It’s tedious and yucky, and I don’t want to do it. Yet when it’s time (or maybe a day or two later) I grab a butter knife and sponge, and scrub the bottom and the sides of the
MoreThe Challenge: Those cheap Walmart pots and pans you bought just out of college are reaching the end of their usefulness, but there’s a good chance they’re made out of aluminum or stainless steel, which are both recyclable. You can’t put them in the blue bin at the curb, but, according to the Institute of
MoreA veteran Philly furniture maker finds new inspirationby Lee Stabert
I interview Jack Larimore from an unfinished bench in his studio. Reclaimed wood timbers lay on an angle—dominos mid-fall—braced by a small round ball. The top is sanded, but still rustic. As he speaks, I can’t help but run my finger along the grain of the