Likes & Likes

What happens to the banners that hung from streetlamps in Center City, welcoming visitors to Philadelphia and promoting cultural events? They usually pile up in storage. But now, Philadelphia’s Center City District has found a way to recycle them as hand-made tote bags - no two are alike.

All manufacturing is done right here in Philadelphia by two nonprofit work rehabilitation programs: the banners are cleaned by Philacor, a vocational program in the Philadelphia Department of Corrections, and then another non-profit vocational program, Baker Industries, makes the cleaned banners into the totes.

Currently, the bags are available at Open House at 107 South 13th Street, the Pennsylvania General Store at the Reading Terminal Market, and the PAFA online and retail store at 128 North Broad Street.

A friend forwarded this to my attention. It’s a new shop called Big Green Earth Store on Philadelphia’s South Street where you can bring your own empty bottles and refill them with locally-produced Sun & Earth (of Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen fame) natural cleaners. You pay by the ounce. So far the list includes laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid and packs, all-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, fabric softener and hand soap. For more information. check out their website.

I might be biased because Polar Bears are probably my favorite animal, but this public sculpture by artist Mark Coreth for the World Wildlife Org (WWF) is pretty cool.

Presented last week in Copenhagen, the life-size polar bear is sculpted out of an 11 ton block of ice, aiming to create awareness on the human impact on the climate.

As it melts (it is expected to take about 10 days), the skeleton made of bronze appears, and I cry a little on the inside.