THINK OUTSIDE THE BOTTLE PRESS CONFERENCE!

Call in sick! Take a vacation day! Do what you can, but come out and show your support for Think Outside The Bottle, the campaign aimed at eliminating bottled water from our National Parks.

This Wednesday, March 27 at 9:30 AM, meet us at the corner of 6th and Market Streets. This fun event, complete with tri-corner hats, banners and a giant postcard given to the National Parks Superintendent, is a great chance to showcase the public support that the campaign has gained for this initiative. Bring your friends and family; spread the word to your coworkers and neighbors; like us on Facebook, and help make Philadelphia the focal point for making our National Parks bottled water free. If you remember, a little show of support worked out pretty well for Philadelphia and the rest of the nation back in 1776!

Any questions, contact Caroline Wooten, Field Organizer for the Think Outside the Bottle Campaign by phone at 781 835 8185 or via email at caroline@greencorps.org

Zero Waste Forum Needs Your Ideas!

Jacques Sapriel of PhillyEcoCity.com will be visiting the South Philly Green Drinks to solicit your ideas about making Philadelphia a zero-waste city, and he needs YOUR help!

Jacques will attend Bridget Foy's on April 3rd and will be joined by Maurice Sampson, former Director of Solid Waste Recycling for Philadelphia and now consulting at Niche Recycling. They want to identify subjects for a facilitated forum they are organizing around Earth Day at McGillins' Ale House. Topics they are soliciting input on include the following:

Plastic Bag Ban  |  Styrofoam Ban  |  Plastic Bottle Ban  |  Deep Recycling  | Resource Repurposing  |  Citywide Composting  |  Citywide Trash Issues  |  Any  issues related to the road to zero waste

Come out and bring your best resources and ideas on how we can jumpstart both the forum and the move towards a waste-free city. Bring a friend to Bridget Foy's and be prepared to share; better yet, if you have information you'd like to present at the forum, contact Jacques at jsapriel@gmail.com or at info@phillyecocity.com

5K Run for Clean Air This Earth Day!

Over the past 32 years, the 5K Run for Clean Air has grown into Philadelphia’s largest Earth Day Celebration. Sponsored by the Clean Air Council, the Run has become a certified green event, added a 3K walk, a kids' fun run, and more. Located on the beautiful banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, the Run is a celebration of sustainability, clean air, and improvements in the region’s environmental health.

All proceeds from the 5K Run for Clean Air go back to supporting the Council’s programs. We would love to have you involved in the 2013 5K Run for Clean Air and join Clean Air Council in making it the largest and most exciting Run yet.

Please like the Run on Facebook  and Twitter. Any questions, contact Bobby Szafranski, Special Events Coordinator at 215-567-4004 ext 112 or at rszafranski@cleanair.org

Clean Air Council  | 135 S 19th Street | Suite 300 | Philadelphia, PA 19103
www.cleanair.org | Facebook: Clean Air Council | Twitter: twitter.com/cleanaircouncil

Philadelphia Orchard Project Goes Permaculture

Have you ever considered how can we use ecological design to create more resilient communities and regenerative landscapes? Luckily for you, The Philadelphia Orchard Projects is offering an Intro to Permaculture Workshop. Led by POP Director Phil Forsyth, this introductory class will cover the ethics and principles of permaculture design and examine their applications for home, yard, and city.

WHERE: Bartram's Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Blvd, Philadelphia 19143

WHEN: Saturday, March 23rd, 10:00am- 1pm

COST: $20 general public, $15 for POP partners

RSVP: Registration required at www.bartramsgarden.org/event/introduction-to-permaculture

The Return of GRID ALIVE!

Come out to this amazing local green variety show sponsored by Clean Currents. Meet the amazing folks behind Equal Dollars Community Currency Program (Bob Fishman and Deneene Brockington), talk preservation and sustainability with Hidden City Daily editors Nathaniel Popkin and Peter Woodall, pick up some free heirloom seeds from Philadelphia Seed Exchange (and bring your own, if you can!), and enjoy a very special performance by Sean Hoots (of Hoots and Hellmouth).

Thursday, March 7th | Doors open at 6 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m.
Trinity Memorial Church,  22nd & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia PA
Local food and drink provided by Rolling Barrel Events  | Tickets $5

Think Outside The Bottle Needs YOU!

Plastic water bottles; they're sold everywhere you go in Philly, and they're marketed as an essential element of a healthy lifestyle. But think again. A 1-liter bottle uses over 6.74 gallons of water in its production / transportation (and that's just shipping it to the U.S.!), consumes 1 liter of fossil fuel and emits 1.2 lb. of greenhouse gases. Plus, they're a recycling nightmare; only about 13% of the 29 BILLION bottles we consume are recycled. Approximately 2 million tons of water bottles a year end up in U.S. landfills. They take centuries to biodegrade, and if they are incinerated, toxic byproducts, such as chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals, are released into the atmosphere.

Enter Think Outside The Bottle. Their campaign to get Independence National Historical Park to go bottled water free has really taken off and is growing every day. In the past 2 months, they've signed on almost 1000 people in support of the campaign, received the endorsement of more than 20 business, civic, and academic leaders, and met with staff at the Philadelphia Inquirer to discuss this growing movement.

Want to learn more? Want to get involved? Join them at their weekly core meeting from 5-6 pm at the Green Line Café , 4239 Baltimore Ave. This will be the perfect place to learn more about the campaign and how to get plugged into our wonderful community. RSVP at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Vip6hv5npvuleeEFVPSCd7VhySoQ28ugKRDWSAbC9AA/viewform?sid=3dcec5200e41a32f&token=2Qg5IT0BAAA.ZMoIrX76ekOSGsNZ2CpOyg.CFITOMJoU4tAqddoA-HbjQ

If you can't join them at their meetings but want to get involved, contact Caroline Wooten, Philadelphia Field Organizer, at caroline@greencorps.org or call 781.835.8185

Say Yes to Beer, No To Plastic Bags!

Sick of collecting plastic bags wherever  you go? Like FREE drinks after work? Who knew how much the two concepts had in common!

Julie Hancher of Green Philly Blog will be hosting the Plastic Bag Reduction Happy Hour next Tuesday, February 19th from 6:00-9:00 PM at The Field House  at 1150 Filbert Street in Center City, Philadelphia. Plastic bags are absolutely devastating for the environment; they don't biodegrade in oceans or in landfills, they're tied to species loss and animal starvation, they consume oil for production and are fiendishly difficult and non-profitable to recycle. Yet up to 1 trillion plastic bags are used globally every year. Help us make plastic bags a thing of the past!

Don't let Philly lag behind San Francisco and Portland; help show your support for this pending legislation. Here do the free drinks come in? Simple! Come out and sign the petition and/or form letter to your favorite City Council Member, and you get a FREE drink. Julie has reserved the refurbished section of The Field House for you, and food bar games are available!

RSVP on Facebook, or just show up! (RSVP not necessary but preferred.) Please email Julie or Beth at greenphillyblog@gmail.com  for questions.