From April 29 to May 2 Philadelphia will take part in the City Nature Challenge, an international urban bioblitz in which hundreds of cities around the globe will try to get as many people making as many observations of as many species as possible. Anyone using the citizen science platform iNaturalist to observe plants, animals,
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The Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia held its sixth annual Excellence in Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Awards on Thursday, April 21 at FringeArts and La Peg. Green stormwater infrastructure uses vegetation to soak up rain so that runoff doesn’t overwhelm combined stormwater/sewer systems such as Philadelphia’s, forcing sewage overflows into waterways. For more than
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Revolution Recovery was founded in 2004, borne out of cofounder Avi Golen’s shock while cleaning out construction sites and witnessing the mass amounts of drywall that contractors were throwing away. He contacted his college friend Jon Wybar and pitched him the idea to find recycling markets for these materials. Since then, Revolution Recovery has added
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When a fire truck shrieked past mere feet away from Jay Basch at two years old, his mother noticed he didn’t react. He kept looking at a store’s window display. Jay’s parents soon had him tested at the Shriners Children’s Hospital. “The doctor told them, ‘Your son is healthy in every way, except he can’t
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In 2015 Mount Airy-based real estate developer Ken Weinstein decided it was time to share his success and expertise with aspiring developers. He created Jumpstart Germantown, where participants can learn from experienced developers in training programs and mentorships, as well as access a loan program that can help them purchase and renovate properties. While Weinstein
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The Canadian high arctic is a great place to raise a family—if you’re a bird like the red knot. Bugs are everywhere, and the summer sun stays up pretty much all day, which means you can eat nonstop. Thanks to the long and brutal winter, there isn’t much competition from other sorts of insect-eating animals
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To Greg Trainor, executive director of Philly Reclaim, deconstruction is a no-brainer. An environmentally-friendlier alternative to demolition, deconstruction diverts building materials from the landfill and enables, through reuse, preservation of the embodied energy therein. And because systematically dismantling a building is more labor-intensive than leveling it with an excavator or a wrecking ball, deconstruction promises
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The nickname “B” has followed Yasmeen Brown around most of her life. She also happens to be a bug enthusiast, with a deep appreciation for bees especially. “I’m obsessed with insects that do things,” she says. “Insects that pollinate, insects that dig, ladybugs, bees … ” She always dreamt of starting a brand that uses
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Philadelphia’s built environment is responsible for about 70% of its carbon footprint, making it a key sector to tackle in order to meet climate goals. Building new, efficient buildings is part of the solution, but experts say there’s a practical need to work with buildings that already exist, a large percentage of which are individual
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The City of Philadelphia is not serious about climate change. Yet many people who work for the city are incredibly serious about it. They are dedicated, talented and passionate civil servants. Leadership, on the other hand, is lacking. The result is a mishmash of positive programs trying to methodically tackle the challenges we face colliding
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