Sustainability : In The News

Chemical and Engineering News Magazine reports on the U.S. kickoff of the International Year of Chemistry in Philadelphia, hosted by The Chemical Heritage Foundation in Old City.

About 300 intrepid souls braved Philadelphia's ice and cold on Feb. 1 to celebrate the U.S. kickoff of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC). The gathering, which took place just five days after the inaugural world celebration in Paris, featured a panel of industry and academic leaders in a discussion of how chemistry can help solve pressing social and economic problems.

Daniel G. Nocera, professor of chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, led a panel discussion, which centered on energy, human health, food, and water. Speakers included DuPont CEO Ellen J. Kullman, Dow CEO Andrew N. Liveris, former National Science Foundation director Rita R. Colwell, Vertex Pharmaceuticals founder Joshua S. Boger, and Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology Director Janet G. Hering.

Original Source: Chemical and Engineering News
Read more here.

Rapidly ascending Viridity Energy last week drew a series B investment of $14 million from Braemar Energy Ventures and Intel Capital, reports GreenTech.

Founded in 2008, Viridity Energy offers "distributed demand management software, systems and services," that can turn very energy-consuming businesses into producers and sellers of power back to the grid. Viridity's technology can also help companies get paid to control and reduce their energy consumption.

Viridity Energy's chief executive and president Audrey Zibelman said on Tuesday:

"We're moving from an (energy) industry dominated by large-scale generation where customers are passive to one where customers are active in what they consume, and what they produce. First, there were personal computers. Now we're going to personal energy."

Original source: GreenTech
Read the full story here.

The Courier Post gets in-depth on $5.8 million in federal grant money to fix roads and add bike paths in Camden, which we reported on in September (http://www.flyingkitemedia.com/features/bicyclephilly0928.aspx).

"As a part of the Camden greenway, this active transportation network basically started in Camden and its focus is improving pedestrian and bicycle access," said Jake Gordon, counsel for Cooper's Ferry Development Association, which helped write the grant. "This is one project but three corridors."

The money from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant is planned to repave and add bike lanes and sidewalks to Pearl Street, which runs adjacent to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge; Martin Luther King Boulevard between the waterfront and North 5th Street; and parts of Pine Street east of the Interstate 676 overpass.

The improved bike paths will connect Camden to the rest of the county as well as Philadelphia, said John Boyle, research director for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

Original source: Courier-Post
Read the full story here.

The Natural Resources Defense Council blog applauds and captures the spirit of Philadelphia's plan to convert vacant lots and asphalt yards into small neighborhood parks throughout the city.

According to the executive summary, more than half of Philadelphia's residents currently do not have access to a park within convenient walking distance. But there are 558 acres of publicly owned, vacant land located in underserved neighborhoods, and a larger inventory citywide of over 1,000 acres of publicly owned vacant land, over 1,000 additional acres of schoolyards that could be multi-purposed, and over 3,000 acres of additional vacant land currently in private ownership, identified in the map below left as "opportunity areas." The map on the right shows proposed new trails, bike lanes, and "creek walks" in the city.

Original source: Natural Resources Defense Council
Read the full story here.

While developers don't appear willing to put all their chips on a plan that would save the historic S.S. United States by making it a casino along the Delaware River, the ship's rehabilitation continues to garner attention, reports The New York Times.

A group that has been raising money to restore the 58-year-old ship had considered moving it from Philadelphia to Manhattan and converting it into a hotel and tourist attraction. But on Monday, the group proposed making the ship part of a plan to open a casino complex along the Delaware River.

The first casino in Philadelphia opened in September, but no progress has been made on a waterfront site where another casino was supposed to be developed. The ship, affectionately known as the "Big U," has been tied to a pier near that site for years, while the members of the S.S. United States Conservancy sought a way to pay for its rehabilitation.

The ship, which at 990 feet is longer than the Titanic was, made 400 ocean crossings before it was retired. It was saved from the scrapyard this year when a Philadelphia philanthropist, Gerry Lenfest, donated $5.8 million. The conservancy used that money to buy the ship from Norwegian Cruise Lines, which had decided to sell it for scrap, and to keep it afloat long enough to devise a big idea for reviving the Big U.

Original source: The New York Times
Read the full story here.

Philly theater guru Thaddeus Phillips brings Nikola Tesla to life in one-man show called Capsule 33, meant to spark ideas about sustainability, reports The (Colorado Springs) Gazette.

Few performers on the international theater circuit light up with the kind of alternative current that Phillips does. The '94 Colorado College graduate approaches each theatrical challenge like an off-center inventor.

Take "Capsule 33," a one-man show (created with his wife, Tatiana Mallarino) about a Serbian astrophysicist who becomes the last holdout in an odd Tokyo tower targeted for demolition. The play is about sustainability and the things, people and ideas we throw away.

"The whole show's sustainable," Phillips, 38, says with a mad glint in his eye, stalking around his set wearing a towel, a pipe wedged in his mouth. "We don't plug into the power grid at all. Everything is powered on those two little generators."

Original source: The (Colorado Springs) Gazette
Read the full story here.

Temple University junior engineering student Hasan Malik, founder of Northeast Tree Tenders, is helping restore tree cover in his native Northeast Philadelphia, reports Temple University News.

Once every spring and fall, Malik and his loyal crew of trained volunteers--including a core group of fellow Temple students--dig holes (removing concrete, if necessary) and plant trees along streets and in yards at the request of homeowners throughout Northeast Philadelphia. The group's first planting was 23 trees. Now, groups of about 60 volunteers plant 50 to 70 trees at a time. Since 2007, the group has planted a total of 270 trees, offering hope for a greener, shadier and healthier future in the Northeast.

"There's too much concrete and not enough greenery in the city," Malik said. "Rather than complain about it, let's do something about it."

Why plant trees? Malik cites increased property values, reduced incidence of asthma and childhood obesity among residents, shelter from the sun and wind, a reduction of greenhouse gases, more homes for wildlife and the absorption of storm water runoff.

Original source: Temple University News
Read the full story here.

Sixteen year-old Azeem Hill, part of the after-school team that beat out top competitors for the Automotive X-Prize by building a sporty hybrid car that can get 100 mpg in the city, is profiled by Treehugger at annual big-idea conference Poptech.

They entered the car in the Automotive X-Prize, and beat out numerous top competitors--MIT and multimillion dollar tech firms among them. Hill and Hauger brought the car to this year's Poptech, and I caught up with them to get the story.

And yes, he and his classmates had to learn everything that goes into making a hybrid car--from the relevant physics to the design applications to the under-the-hood mechanics. How else could they build this. Azeem's instructor, Simon Hauger, created the after-school hands-on hybrid car program 13 years ago, and decided a couple years ago to aim for the X Prize.

Original source: Treehugger
Read the full story here.

The two year-old Bike Pottstown bike-sharing program is examined as a smarter transportation case study by FavStocks.

The Bike Pottstown bike sharing program was launched in June of 2008 with 30 beach cruiser bikes all painted yellow and accompanied by a lock and a basket. Managed by Preservation Pottstown, a local non-profit organization within the borough, the program operates six days a week out of Tri-County Bicycles, a local independently owned bike shop. Anyone with a valid ID can rent the bikes and ride anywhere in the Pottstown until the end of the day. The bikes are free of charge and by December 2009 had been shared over 2,000 times.

"Bike Pottstown is a community bike-share program," said Tom Carroll, president of Preservation Pottstown. "By having it operate out of this location, and eventually out of others as well, it brings the program to more people in the community, and, hopefully, will bring more community support to the program."

Original source: FavStocks
Read the full story here.

The travel section at Ireland's Herald.ie is high on Philadelphia for a variety of reasons, imploring the Irish to visit for our safe downtown, good eats and arts and culture.

It's puzzling why Philly isn't on most Irish people's radar. It's more historic than Boston, as Irish as Chicago, 30pc cheaper to live in than New York and has a food culture to match San Francisco.

The city centre proper, (known as Center City) is thriving, unlike many US urban areas. Sections of 15th Street are hubs of restaurants and nightlife, while the area's aptly titled Avenue of the Arts is the local equivalent of London's West End or New York's Broadway theatre districts. The best bit? It feels perfectly safe to walk around, by day or night (don't try this at home, kids).

Original source: Herald.ie
Read the full story here.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch travel section mentions booing Santa Claus but quickly moves on, digging deeper than most national media last week to reveal the insider's view of Philadelphia.

Once you get beyond the fighting fa�ade, Philadelphia is a city of tiny secret gardens, a diverse art and theater scene, a crazy diverse food/pub scene and a thousand walkable historical monuments and museums. Also, it's cheap as can be. You've got to work to spend $15 on a martini.

I moved here six years ago from St. Louis. The things I loved about St. Louis are the same things I love about Philadelphia--people are friendly, the streets have the same names (you copycats!) and there's no need to go to any chain restaurant ever.

Original source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Read the full story here.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on two online news publications that have launched recently, including yours truly.

As the market for news fragments, new models for journalism are emerging. Two of those experiments, Flying Kite and Patch, launched in Philadelphia last month.

"This is a fresh way to get fresh content about all the innovative things happening in our city," said Danielle Cohn, (Philadelphia Convention and Visitors) bureau spokeswoman.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Read the full story here.

Environmental publication Grist takes a look at Philly's urban farming scene, including the historic Manatawna Farm and Glenwood Green Acres.

The city is also host to two multi-acre farms, one at the Schuylkill Center, a nature preserve that operates a farm stand and a CSA in a surprisingly verdant area in the northwest part of the city. The other is managed by the member-owned Weavers Way Co-op grocery stores (more on that below, and full disclosure -- I'm a Weavers Way member, and the co-op hosts my Beyond Green blog).

Mayor Michael Nutter has issued a series of food-focused proposals and initiatives, including creating a food policy council and releasing the Philadelphia Food Charter, which puts ag front and center. Even the city's "Greenworks" initiative, designed to turn Philly into "the greenest city in America," sets the goal of increasing commercial agriculture within city limits.

Original source: Grist
Read the full story here.

Led by Drexel University students and faculty advisors, the Drexel Smart House is pushing the envelope when it comes to sustainably improving the quality of life in urban residences, reports Forbes.

The group has received several EPA grants in support of its work (an impressive feat for a student organization) as well as other funding from the university and community groups. Seven of the students have already received LEED AP certification through their work in the student group.

Other similar projects exist in a handful of schools across the country; however, this project is unique in that it is a rebuild of a house in an urban environment.

Source: Forbes
Read the full story here.

A group of Temple University students dubbed the Philadelphia Urban Creators are taking lessons from rebuilding New Orleans and applying them to their work, which includes establishing community gardens, reports Temple News.

Our School at Blair Grocery and Epstein's Philadelphia Urban Creators were both recently featured in a Time magazine article about urban farming in the Lower 9th Ward. Together, the groups represent some good to be found in the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, five years after the storm ripped through New Orleans.

The Philadelphia Urban Creators are focusing on creating a youth-led movement that will teach people how to help themselves.

Source: Temple News
Read the full story here.