Growing up, Maddy Hirsch wanted two things: to make useful things with her hands and to own her own business. Guided by those goals, she enrolled in Temple University’s entrepreneurial studies program, only to feel disillusioned with what she saw as its narrow focus on traditional and tech startups. She transferred to the Tyler School
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When people walk into SHIFT Sustainable Goods + Services, after the aroma of eucalyptus welcomes them in, they might find themselves looking at the chalkboard and wall of glass jars, feeling like they’ve stepped into a general store from a previous century. But at SHIFT, rather than creating nostalgia, reducing waste and protecting the earth
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Shortly before my 24th birthday, I decided to replace my iPhone with a flip phone. I have abstractly considered making the change on numerous occasions, tired of the Internet following me around everywhere I go, always on the verge of being mindlessly lured to it. During the short portion of my life when the Internet
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Who rides in Philly? There’s the stereotype: the white, male, hip, young, upwardly mobile cyclist. And then there’s the much more diverse reality: the immigrant e-bike delivery riders, the scooterists, the skateboarders, the kids pedaling their way to school. “We Ride in Philly” is a project, in conjunction with the grassroots bike advocacy organization Philly
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You know the story about George Washington and his confession to his father about chopping down a cherry tree? Historians agree that it’s a myth, or if you are feeling less charitable, a lie. The story was not introduced until 1806 in the fifth edition of a Washington biography by Mason Locke Weems, a minister
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The Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia’s largest parks-focused nonprofit, has tread perilous ground over the past several years as it leads one of the largest open space transformations in the city’s recent history: a $250 million overhaul of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Park in South Philadelphia. The conservancy has caught flak from some community and advocacy
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Emily Grossman and Alyssa Bonventure, co-owners of All Aboard Candy, opened their Rittenhouse Square store last June with a clear mission. “If you’re an adult, we want you to feel like a kid again,” says Bonventure. “And if you’re a kid, we want to introduce you to the joy of feeling like a kid in
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Mazel tov to Grid on issue #200, quite a feat for print journalism! Thanks for inviting me to update my article on frugal living from the magazine’s inaugural issue. Frugality is often associated with stinginess, not surprising in our hyperconsumerist culture. For me, with my longtime focus on greener living, being frugal is about efficient
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Delaware Riverkeeper Maya K. van Rossum always knew 45 feet was a stopping point on the way down to 50. As head of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, she led a three-decade battle against the Port of Philadelphia’s plan to deepen the Delaware River’s main shipping channel. Despite environmental concerns and a lengthy lawsuit, the project
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Philadelphia’s weather is downright tropical in the summer, but that can be hard to remember in January as residents crank up the heat and dread the monthly heating bills. PECO’s residential heating rate takes out some of the sting for households that heat with electric power. PECO’s “RH” rate, as they label it, “is designed
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