URBAN ECOLOGY BLOG

What is sustainability?

Sustainability can be defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. 

So what does this mean exactly?

This means that as a society, humans are running out of time. We are exce...

    LandHealth’s native plant nursery re-builds natural and human habitat in Philadelphia

Part of LandHealth’s mission is to introduce people in our region to the pleasures and benefits of using native plants in landscaping. Our native plant nursery in Parkside, We...

What is Composting?

Composting is a great, cheap alternative to buying fertilizers and soil for your garden. It is rich in organic material, which creates exceptionally healthy soil, improving root development, and providing food for microorganisms. It takes scraps and...

Our native plant nursery, PhilaFlora, is a major part of LandHealth’s mission to “put nature back.”  Our greenhouses and beds sit on formerly unused land in Parkside, West Philadelphia. For a long part of its history this land was the site of Pennsylvania Railroad yard...

Air Pollution

Due to the many varying factors surrounding COVID-19, there have been significant reductions in air pollution and CO2 emissions. In the United States alone, there has been around 40% less domestic air travel, along with up to a 50% decrease in traffic and...

What are native plants?

Native plants are naturally occurring in a region where they originally evolved. These plants are indigenous to an area and have evolved without human assistance or introduction.

So, why are they so important?

Native plants are extremely important...

We love connecting students to nature. Spending time in nature has a host of benefits, and it leads to life-long change and growth. Sometimes it also leads directly into action.

With our Steward Christian Kelly from The USchool we saw this happen on Feb. 25th, when Chri...

Your average Naturalist has a close relationship to their books. Now, I’m not saying it needs to work that way or works that way for everyone; I’m sure that people have been paying close attention to the natural world long before books, and that there’s a lot of folks...

Earlier this month LandHealth Institute moved into shared office space with Neighborhood Bike Works. Why would an organization dedicated to connecting people with Nature move in with an organization dedicated to strengthening community through providing equitable acces...

At LandHealth Institute, we have a special interest in neglected urban land. Neglected land in a city isn’t just an eyesore or a place that attracts crime and illegal dumping. It can be those things- but, if it’s taken care of, it can also become a place of possibility...