Environment and Green – Page 18

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath

Posted on October 30, 2012October 30, 2012 by admin

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Hurricane Sandy proved to be one of the most severe natural disasters the region has ever seen. Thirty-nine people were killed (mostly from trees.) There were a record number of responses to 911 calls in Philadelphia at more than 1,300.

Ocean City, Atlantic City and other shore communities were devastated. The beaches are on the streets and portions of the boardwalk in the ocean.

Overall estimates of damage are greater than 20 billion dollars, thought the cost of the Wall Street closure will take time to evaluate. It is the first time since 1888 the exchange has been closed for more than one day.

Ocean Avenue in Avalon, NJ [photo by Severe NJ Weather]

Occupy Philly Daily Happenings

Posted on October 27, 2012 by admin

Sunday Oct 28th
1:00pm The People’s Protest Against the Fraternal Order of Police! – 1336 Spring Garden St
2:00pm PHARE/Wells Fargo working group – 1706 Race St.
2:00pm SAVE YOUR POST OFFICE & YOUR JOB – SOLIDARITY RALLY & MARCH – Baltimore Main Post Office 900 E. Fayette Street Baltimore, MD
2:00pm Strike Debt Planning Meeting – Wooden Shoe Books – 704 South St
5:00pm Long Term Organizing MDU working group – Ethical Humanist Society, Rittenhouse Square
7:00pm Loving This Planet: An Evening with Dr. Helen Caldicott – Ethical Socety – 1906 S Rittenhouse Square

Arch Street United Methodist Church is starting their overnight mission in November. There is a microwave, and lots of clothes and other things in Room C downstairs. They need to empty that room to store cots, etc. for the mission. These items are left over from eviction night! If these are your belongings please go to Arch Street UMC to collect these items between 10 & 3, Monday through Friday or call 215-568-6250 to make other arrangements. They will begin disposing of things the first week of November and take things to Purple Heart or a thrift store.

Saturday October 27th, 11am – 2901 Germantown Ave – Historic Fair Hill Orchard Day Workparty & Potluck – Help to put the 3 gardens around 9th & Indiana Streets to bed for the winter, bring food & share in our first attempt at a community-wide potluck, & join us for the 2nd annual Philadelphia Orchard Project Orchard Day within Historic Fair Hill Burial Ground where we’ll be eating apples, drinking cider, roasting marshmallows, painting pumpkins, & enjoying the beautiful fall weather with the neighborhood. – https://www.facebook.com/events/160584604086112/

Sunday October 28th 1:00pm – The Fraternal Order of Police is organizing a fund-raiser party in honor of Jonathan D. Josey, the cop who bashed Aida Guzman in the face at the recent Puerto Rican Day parade. There is a rally and speak-out in front of the FOP office during the duration of the party inside. We want to make it uncompromisingly clear that it is unacceptable that the FOP is celebrating this policeman’s actions. Not that we expected anything different. The fact that this was a black cop does not change the fact that he was engaging in racist violence and acting in the interests of white supremacy. Mayor Nutter’s apology is not justice. The firing of Josey is not justice. Any ordinary person caught doing this on tape would be receiving criminal charges. But because Josey is a cop, he is above the law. We can’t rely on the police for justice. We can’t rely on the politicians either. We can only rely on ourselves and our capacity for collective action. Philly FOP office number: (215) 629-3600 – https://www.facebook.com/events/188074867994875/

Sunday, October 28, 2012 2:00pm ALL UNIONS – ALL ORGANIZATIONS – ALL CITIZENS The Postal Service is moving forward with closings way ahead of schedule, literally destroying itself and causing a severe delay of mail. SOLIDARITY RALLY Baltimore Main Post Office 900 E. Fayette Street Baltimore, Maryland 2:45PM – MARCH from MPO thru the Baltimore Inner Harbor & back to MPO PLENTY OF FREE PARKING at the Baltimore Main Post Office – For more information go to
http://cpwunited.com/home or https://www.facebook.com/events/292951954142007/. For those from Philadelphia wishing to attend the Baltimore event: please contact Joe Piette at 610-931-2615 or jpiette660@hotmail.com

Women Activist Artists in Conversation: Please join us for a series of dinner party conversation during fall 2012. Our dinners are intended to engage young women in the Philadelphia area making activist art in public spaces. Whether you are a performance artist, DIY zine maker, muralist, or dancer, you’re encouraged to attend and speak about your
practice. Aspiring as well as established activist artists are welcome. Please contact Phoebe Bachman for more information at activistart@phoebebachman.com, or check out http://wmaaps.blogspot.com/p/dinner-parties.html The first dinner will be held this Sunday the 28th of October, with the subsequent dinners on the 12th and 23rd of November.

Strike Debt Philly Planning Meeting Sunday, October 28, 2012 2:00pm Wooden Shoe Books and Records 704 South Street. Join us on Sunday to meet, greet, and brainstorm how to launch a Philly chapter of Strike Debt! Debt assemblies, debt burnings, and debt workshops are just a few of our ideas, but we need yours as well. Strike Debt is a new movement for the refusal of payment of debts to Wall St., whether student debt, credit card debt, medical debt, municipal debt, or whatever you got! Strike Debt (NYC) recently released the Debt
Resistors’ Operations Manual, which provides strategies for how to avoid and resist debts, a s well as historical and political context for why it is that so many of us are trapped in this unfair system to begin with. The Manual is free for download! Hope to see you on Sunday to launch the next phase of the movement against Wall St. http://strikedebt.org/ Debt Resistors’ Operations Manual: http://strikedebt.org/initiatives/the-debt-resistors-operations-manual/

Monday October 29th, 6:30pm – UPenn 3620 Locust Walk – Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall, Room 109 – “Living Under Drones! Report from Pakistan” A first-hand report by the U.S. anti-war/anti-drone delegation to Pakistan. The speakers will be: Joe Lombardo, National Co-coordinator, United National Antiwar Coalition, www.nationalpeaceconference.org,
and a participant in the delegation to Pakistan; Peter Lems, American Friends Service Committee, www.afsc.org, providing information on the geo-political situation of southern Asia and the use of drone warfare; and Marjorie Van Cleef, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, www.wilpfus.org, speaking about war research and development at Penn an Drexel universities. Other speakers, including student members of the Penn Pakistan Society, will be announced. Sponsored by Philly Against War, www.phillyagainstwar.org,
and the Penn Pakistan Society, www.dolphin.upenn.edu/paksoc/. Endorsers: Penn for Palestine; Brandywine Peace Community, www.brandywinepeace.com; Temple Students for Justice in Palestine; Philadelphia International Action Center, www.iacenter.org/philly-iac; Socialist Action; Green Party of Philadelphia, www.gpop.org,
and Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, www.wilpfus.org. For more information, please contact 215-243-7103 and gpop@gpop.org

Events listed here include Occupy Philly related events as well as other social justice events. For more updates be sure to check the Occupy Philadelphia Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OccupyPhiladelphia. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Recycling Has Its Rewards In Philadelphia

Posted on October 4, 2012 by admin

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The City of Philadelphia offers incentives to recycle:

You can earn rewards when you and your neighbors recycle — including gift cards, gift certificates and discounts. It’s easy. All you need is a Philadelphia Recycling Rewards sticker on your recycling container. Check out the details here.

Recycle single stream every week!

Put your recycling bin out every week on the same day as trash day. It’s the future of recycling, and it keeps getting easier! Remember, all recycling in Philadelphia is now single stream, meaning you can put all of your recyclables together in one bin–cans, glass, mixed paper, cardboard and most plastic containers — no need to sort or separate them. And if one recycling bin isn’t enough to hold everything, just add another one.

Whether you’re a regular recycler or a first-timer, keep this information handy about what you can recycle:

Cartons:

Orange juice cartons, milk cartons, juice boxes, soup boxes, ice cream cartons, and more

Metal:

Tin and aluminum cans, empty aerosol cans, empty paint cans

Glass:

Jars and bottles

Mixed Paper:

Newspaper, magazines, mail (junk and personal), phone books, food boxes (remove plastic liner), computer paper, flyers, wrapping paper (no foil or plastic wrap), soda and beer cartons (no food-soiled paper, please!)

Plastic Containers:

Recycle All Household Plastic Containers!

#1: Soda and water bottles, condiment and peanut butter jars, etc.

#2: Milk, water and juice jugs, detergents, shampoo bottles, dairy product containers, flower pots, some household cleaners

#3: Rigid plastic containers and juice bottles

#4: Plastic tubs and lids from butter, margarine or similar products

#5: Yogurt containers and deli trays

#6: Plastic cups, plates and to-go containers (clear, rigid #6 only, not styrofoam products)

#7: Many mixed plastic containers and plastic products

To learn more about what plastics you can recycle, download the Plastics Recycling Fact Sheet (pdf)

Cardboard:

Empty and flattened

What you can’t recycle:

Metal:

Aluminum foil, pots/pans, paper clips

Glass:

Light bulbs, window glass

Mixed Paper:

Hard back books, tissues, paper
towels, napkins, wax-coated cups or
containers, food-soiled paper, file folders

Plastic:

Styrofoam, plastic bags, PVC pipe, packing inserts or “peanuts”, medical plastics, including IV tubing, sharps, and syringes. Please refer to proper disposal guidelines from your medical service providers.

Other:

Styrofoam, chemicals, rubber, wood,
and ceramic or porcelain plates or cups containers

How do I separate trash from recyclables?

It’s easiest to have a container or two set up where separation happens. Like a bin in the kitchen for bottles and cans you’ve washed out, and another in the office for used paper and mail. Just remember that with single stream recycling, it can all go in the same bin — we do the sorting for you.

What types of containers can I use for recyclables?

You can use any sturdy plastic or metal container that holds 32 gallons or less and just mark it with the word “RECYCLING” on its side. Don’t use cardboard boxes as containers–they’ll end up wet, split open and make a mess on your sidewalk. Instead, flatten them and place them in your bin to be recycled with your bottles, cans and paper. If one bin is not enough to hold all recyclables, simply add another one.

Where do I get a recycling bin?

The City will give you a recycling bin at any of these locations. But you don’t have to have one of ours. You can use any rigid household container (no larger than 32 gallons), as long as you write “RECYCLING” on it.

For more information, call the Philadelphia Recycling Hotline at 215-685-RECYCLE (7329). Or visit PhillyRecyclingPAYS.com