Environment & Outdoors
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Record Drought Poses Significant Threat to Philadelphia Region’s Trees
The record drought in the Philadelphia region is posing a significant threat to the health of local trees already off schedule with their leaf drop, writes Justin Udo for KYW Newsradio. “The way things have been going, trees have been holding their leaves a lot longer into the season, so seeing them drop in October…
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West Chester Master Gardener Helps Collect Samples for Pennsylvania Bee Monitoring Program
Peg Friese, an environmental educator in Chester County and a master gardener, has helped collect over 25,000 specimens for the Pennsylvania Bee Monitoring Program in the last three years, writes Ashley Stimpson for The Washington Post. Twenty master gardeners from across the state collect bees from parks, forest clearings, and their own backyards, among many…
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See What Level of Risk Climate Change Poses to Philadelphia Homeowners
Climate change poses a major risk to homeowners across the country, both in terms of safety and home value, with Philadelphia being among the areas with overall high climate risk, write Michael J. Coren, Naema Ahmed, and Kevin Crowe for The Washington Post. A new analysis by AlphaGeo, a climate modeling group, found that Philadelphia…
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German Society of Pennsylvania Ditches Natural Gas, Looks Underground for Source of Heat
The German Society of Pennsylvania, an 1829 Victorian building located near the corner of 6th and Spring Garden streets in Philadelphia, has completely eliminated its use of natural gas by adding a closed loop geothermal energy system, writes Susan Phillips for WHYY. “We had a steam heating system for parts of the building,” said Tony…
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Philadelphia Gets $1.3 Million Federal Grant to Make Homes, Schools More Energy Efficient
Philadelphia was recently awarded a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to help make city homes and schools more energy efficient, writes Sophia Schmidt for WHYY. In addition, the City is planning to use the new funding to expand education around home energy efficiency, formulate a plan to grow the clean energy…
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Chestnut Hill Could Be Getting a Conservation District
An effort is currently underway to create a neighborhood conservation district around East Mermaid Lane in Chestnut Hill that is likely to be passed by City Council in June, writes Jake Blumgart for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The bill would result in a zoning overlay that would govern all new construction and remodeling in that part…
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University of Pennsylvania Receives $10 Million Gift to Boost Climate and Sustainability Initiatives
The University of Pennsylvania recently received a $10 million donation that will help the university advance its climate and sustainability initiatives, writes Ryan Mulligan for the Philadelphia Business Journal. Penn received the gift from 1995 graduate Alp Ercil, founder and chief investment officer of hedge fund, Asia Research and Capital Management. With the newfound funding,…
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Viral TikTok Hack Shows Easy Water Bottle Trick to Eliminate Spotted Lanternflies
A TikTok video that has gone viral provides a natural way to kill spotted lanternflies using only an empty water bottle, writes Danielle Letenyei for Green Matters. A year ago, TikTok creator @greenleafa posted a video on how she killed many lanternflies with a simple method. At the start of the video, she displayed a…
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Drexel University Students and Their Professor Are Tackling Textile Waste
A Drexel University professor and her students are working together to tackle textile waste, writes Emily Neil for WHYY. Rachel Higgins, professor of Design and Merchandising and co-founder of Pennsylvania Fibershed, said that her group is starting local to address “a huge clothing waste problem” around the globe. Last week, student volunteers sorted through bins…
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Landfill Moves Designed to Reduce Waste, Trash Incineration in Delaware County
Within three years, more than a quarter million tons of trash from Delaware County will find its way to a Berks County landfill in an effort to reduce Chester trash incineration at the ReWorld, formerly Covanta, waste to steam plant, writes Kathleen E. Carey for the Daily Times. Right now, about 40,000 tons of Delaware…
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Philadelphia Awarded $2M by EPA to Clean Up Brownfield, Connect Two Stretches of Schuylkill River Trail
A brownfield in Philadelphia is among more than 200 sites nationwide that will be receiving cleanup and redevelopment funding thanks to the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, writes Kyle Bagenstose for the Delaware Currents. “Hundreds of thousands of these potentially dangerous sites across the country just sit idly by, jeopardizing the health and the economic security…
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Philly-area Liberty Coca-Cola Invests $3.5M to Replace Plastic Carriers With Recyclable Paperboard
Liberty Coca-Cola, which has a soda production and distribution facility in Philadelphia, is replacing the plastic ring carriers around its bottles with paperboard ones, writes Ariana Perez-Castells for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The company previous did the same with its cans in 2022. The switch is the latest this and other companies in the beverage industry…
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Celebrating 100 Years of Protecting the Wissahickon
For a hundred years, Friends of the Wissahickon have been hard at work safeguarding the creek first from pollution, and now from climate change, writes Allison Beck for Billy Penn at WHYY. Volunteers are often busy collecting rusted car parts and filling bags with garbage gathered from the brush along the creek. Sometimes they run…
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A Roxborough Charter School Earns ‘Green Ribbon’ For Environmental Stewardship Work
Students at Green Woods Charter School in Roxborough are learning how to reduce the impacts of climate change and turn food waste into compost. Their efforts have been recognized as they have earned a “green ribbon” in the process, writes Zoë Read for WHYY. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes schools that save energy, have…
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How the Philadelphia Orchard Project is Helping Philly’s Urban Farms Adapt to Climate Change
Philadelphia nonprofit, the Philadelphia Orchard Project, is working to prepare the city’s orchards for climate change, writes Michaela Althouse for PhillyVoice. It recently added two new high tunnels – unheated greenhouses – in The Woodlands Cemetery in West Philadelphia to help protect plants from severe weather and extend the growing season. The high tunnels are…
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Reading Terminal Market Launches Five-Month Composting Pilot Program
Last month, Reading Terminal Market partnered with Main Line pickup service, Mother Compost, on a new pilot program that has already started to pay dividends, writes Kristin Hunt for PhillyVoice. With just over a month of launching the program, Reading Terminal Market has already returned 30 tons of fruit peels, eggshells, and coffee grounds to…
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Philly Metro Is Safe from Rare Cicada Co-emergence
While several states are currently bracing for a potential cicada invasion in the following few months, the Philadelphia area is in the clear for now, writes Mike D’Onofrio for Axios. This spring, two specific broods of droning cicadas will emerge simultaneously from the ground. This has not happened in over two centuries, or since Thomas…
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Penn Medicine Joins Federal Climate Change Initiative, Plans to Cut Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Half by 2030
Penn Medicine recently joined a federal climate change initiative and plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030, writes Sarah Gantz for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Penn joined over 130 healthcare organizations that have signed on to the Health Sector Climate Pledge since the voluntary commitment was created by the White House…
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