For every bar purchased, Hand in Hand says it donates a bar of soap and provides a month of clean water to children in need.Vegan soap-making companies in Philadelphia offer natural products for the environmentally conscious
For many soap makers, there is concern over using palm oil in their products. The vegetable oil is linked
Illustration by Mike L. Perry
by Natasha Alvarez
My love affair with tiny houses started when I was tiny myself. Delighted by all things small, I spent hours playing with my dollhouse as a achild, imagining whole lives for the Lilliputian family that lived inside. How wonderful it would be, I thought, if I could just shrink myself
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by Mary Van Ogtrop
Illustration by Julia Tran
Want to enjoy your commute? Try walking.
At 7 a.m., my clock radio powers on to the sound of WXPN. “It’s a cold morning in Philadelphia,” the announcer says, a little mournfully, “with a low of 23.”
My eyes flashed open and I hopped up. Over 20 degrees: better get walking.
2 mins read
Illustration by Faye Rogers.Gardening can be rife with emotional highs and lows. For the novice gardener, the hopes held by a trove of seedlings can be dashed by watching the tiny plants wither and fade, despite one’s best attempts. More seasoned gardeners may bask in the glow of pride, having achieved success with planting, potting
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Enviama Spa owner Penny Ordway turned her passion for promoting human wellness and eco-living into the city’s first green spaPenny Ordway faced a dilemma: She was passionate about her human wellness work, but the spa where she was employed regularly used processes and products she found questionable. She wanted to be a good employee, but
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Firehouse Bicycles, which is co-owned by Monica Pasquinelli, above, and Sam Davis, primarily sells refurbished bikes—keeping them out of landfills.Every neighborhood deserves a great bike shop—one with grimy, committed mechanics, affordable new and used bikes, and fast service. Firehouse Bicycles, at 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue, has been West Philly’s bike shop since 2001. Monica
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Buying local food can be challenging in the winter. Maybe you missed the sign-up window for a winter CSA, and farmers markets have packed up until spring. But since 2001, Farm to City’s Winter Harvest buying club has been helping to bridge the gap.
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When Carly Dougherty was enrolled in a culinary program in Berkeley, California, she spent a lot of time hustling in a hot commercial kitchen. When she complained to a few chef colleagues that her natural deodorant couldn’t stand up to her newfound stinkiness, they let her in on a secret: they made their own deodorants
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Grand opening of the Dirt Factory, June, 2012Each month, the average household in Philadelphia puts more than 200 pounds of trash out for curbside pickup — much of it food waste. Thanks to an innovative food recycling program, residents of University City are working to reduce that amount.
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If record-setting heat waves and thousand-year floods aren’t enough visual proof of global warming, maybe art will help. The Franklin Institute, in collaboration with local partners, is using artful signage to spread the word about climate change — and what Philadelphia neighborhoods are doing to minimize its impact.
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