There’s a new renewable energy source in town and it’s coming from a surprising place: our sewage. In April, NovaThermal Energy, a Philadelphia-based company, installed a wastewater geothermal system at the Philadelphia Water Department’s Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant. This is the first facility in the country to have a system of this kind.
MoreThe Latest
Image via takebackvacantland.orgLast month, we wrote about Pennsylvania’s land bank bill and Philadelphia’s own efforts to bring the “bank” to our city. Good news! The City recently acquired the “front door” to their land bank. After a year and a half, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority has launched new processes in acquiring property and maintaining vacant
More1 min read
story by Liz Pacheco | photo by Neal SantosTo increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables in Philadelphia neighborhoods, a farmers market is often the ideal solution. But for parts of West Philadelphia, the model proved inefficient.
“[It] didn’t really work for us,” says Ryan Kuck, a former farmer at Greensgrow Farms
More1 min read
You’ve heard of rooftop agriculture, but what about basement farming? The Partnership CDC, a 17-year-old community development organization, is raising peppers, collard greens, tomatoes and tilapia, all in the basement and first floor of their building on 60th Street. By using an aquaponics system, where fish are raised and produce grown
More1 min read
story by Samantha WittchenInnovation” might not be the first word Philadelphians associate with SEPTA—two tokens sold in a plastic bag that says “Go Green” seems, um, not innovative—but that reputation deserves to change. SEPTA is piloting a cutting-edge regenerative braking project that saves energy and money, and positions Philadelphia as a
More2 mins read
Steps away from the Temple University Train Station is another example of how green building can be affordable. Paseo Verde, or “green way,” is a new, sustainable mixed-use rental housing development spearheaded by the Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (APM) and Jonathan Rose Companies. APM has already built eco-friendly, single-family homes
More1 min read
story by Samantha WittchenFACT: It takes approximately 5,000 pairs of sneakers to create an elementary school playground surface.
PROBLEM: The average lifespan for sneakers is 500 miles. For most people, that means replacing their sneakers every six months to a year, which results in somewhere between 300 and 600 million pairs of sneakers
More1 min read
story by Missy SteinbergWhen Kelli Caldwell heard members of local design and dye house BlueRedYellow speak last summer about the dangers of synthetic dyes, she decided to take action. “It’s all about being aware that your clothing can be just as toxic as the air you breathe,” says Caldwell, a project
More1 min read
photo by Barry HalkinAs if the LEED Platinum certification and state-of-the-art design weren’t enough to be proud of, the Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts has a new accolade to add to their list.
More1 min read
story by Char VandermeerI once took great pleasure in planning my flowering container garden. My imagination brimmed with bright annuals as I sketched plans and gathered supplies. I spent countless hours paging through seed catalogs, agonizing over varieties and colors, flowering times, watering requirements, height, greenery, grasses, vines and heaven knows
More2 mins read