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Tag: Sustainability

Solo Tenant Launches Zero Waste Start-Up

Posted on by Solo Team

When Solo Real Estate tenant Leslie Davidson first saw her apartment in the historic Rittenhouse area in 2018, she was struck by the quality of light. “It was one of five apartments Solo had shown me and I knew it was the one,” she said. “It was in a brownstone with large bay windows, hardwood floors, and a great layout,” she said.  Her cats also approved.

The year before, Leslie had received a breast cancer diagnosis and gone through a romantic breakup that left her yearning for a living space that would support her personal and professional goals.

“I grew up in Ambler and returned to Philadelphia after studying fashion design and merchandising in LA. Although I had been a stylist for Michael Kors on the West Coast, I was open to a career change,” she said. Leslie took several jobs, including working as an office manager for a gardening company and teaching dance to children. 

She was gearing up for another career move when the pandemic hit and the job market dried up. As a cancer survivor, Leslie had to shelter in place and return to what she knew best. Using her design skills, she launched Made by Lad, an accessories company, from her dining room. Even though her apartment is considered a one-bedroom, the inclusion of a dining room provided ample space to set up her sewing machine.  Her first product was facemasks for adults and children. 

Leslie Davidson from Made by LAD works on sewing a face mask in her dining room.

What distinguishes Made by LAD facemasks from all contenders is their fuller cut and elastic under the chin which allows the wearer to talk without the mask falling or moving. Unlike most facemasks which loop around the ears, Leslie’s loop around the head, so there is none of that uncomfortable tugging on the ears.

“I came up with the design after a lot of experimentation,” she said. “My grandfather was having a lot of trouble wearing his facemask, so I designed one that would be easier to wear.” Her face masks are two-ply with a filter for extra safety. They come in solid colors, two-tone and tie-dyed. (Kids love the tie-dye option.) Adjustable elastic toggles are sold separately.

A couple wears Made by LAD face masks in a park.

Made By LAD became official in May 2020 after Leslie received an overwhelmingly positive response to the masks she was making for friends and family who said they “fit perfectly” and “made them feel safe.” She initially started the business as a way to bring in extra income to pay off her medical bills acquired from her breast cancer diagnosis, but as orders kept rolling in with no end to the pandemic in sight, she was encouraged to pursue the venture full time, so she took a leap of faith and decided to self-fund her new business.

Leslie Davidson from Made by LAD works from her dining room table while her cat oversees.

Leslie’s products not only look good, they do good. Using locally sourced, 100% natural fibers that produce zero waste, Leslie tie-dyes them in her kitchen and sews them on her dining room table. With her background in business management and a passion for sustainability and helping others, she has developed a brand that aims to not only give back to the community but encourages customers to consider the environment by using almost all biodegradable materials, from the merchandise down to the packaging.

A child looks up while wearing a Made by LAD facemask.

“The face masks are made from undyed muslin which I buy at Fleishman’s on South Fourth Street,” she said. Her facemask motto? “Masks that don’t move when you talk!” She also offers customized facemasks with monograms and embroidered messages, including, “Black Lives Matter” and “6Ft Please.”

Relying solely on her Instagram account and Made by LAD website, Leslie expanded her product line to include hair and winter accessories: oversized scrunchies, men’s and women’s hats, headbands, ear-warmers, and scarves. Hats, scarves, headbands, and ear-warmers are made from soft, thick, reversible, dead-stock cotton knit. Her most timely accessory? An embroidered “Vaccinated” status badge, perfect to sew onto a denim jacket or the back pocket of jeans.

Leslie Davidson wears her "Vaccinated" badge.

Leslie hopes to continue to grow her business long after masks are needed. Her goal is to create a sustainable athleisure brand that is able to give back to the community by continuing to purchase materials from small, local businesses and donate proceeds to communities in need whenever possible. 

For a limited time, Leslie is offering a discount code on her website for Solo friends and family. Visit Madebylad.com and use code SOLO215 for 15% off your purchase!

Composting 101

Posted on by Solo Team

Your food is natural and organic. You drive a hybrid car. So why is your garbage ending up in landfills, contributing to climate change? Perhaps you think composting is only for people who have yards large enough to grow veggies. Maybe your only plant is a cactus. Whatever your hesitation, we have tips on becoming part of Philly’s robust compost community and helping our City reach its zero-waste goal.

The Basics

To start, you need a metal, plastic, or ceramic container to keep in your kitchen in which to collect organic waste. This includes eggshells, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, rice, pasta, bread, other grains, fruits, and vegetables without oil, butter, or salad dressing. It cannot contain meat, bones, grease, fats, oils, dairy products, ashes from charcoal barbeques or fireplaces, pet waste.

You will also need a compost bin system to keep outdoors. The City of Philadelphia provides a Backyard Composting Guide, which explains the three types of bins available. They all work the same way, turning organic waste into compost through a chemical process. 

Composting is about layering “green” materials and “brown” materials. Green material includes Food scraps, fresh leaves, plant cuttings, weeds, grass clippings, fruit and vegetable peels, coffee grounds, and tea bags. Brown material includes Dead weeds, dry leaves, clipped brush, wood chips, eggshells, and paper products.  Each time you add new green material to your bin, cover it with a layer of fresh brown materials to avoid odors and pests

Compost needs airflow. If you’re using a two or three-bin system, use a pitchfork to turn the compost every 3-5 days. Turn the pile frequently during the initial three to four weeks and once or twice during the remainder of the composting period. Once the compost is mostly broken down, it can be moved to your second bin and you can start over in the first. If using a tumbler, just turn it once every few days. 

A typical compost pile will take approximately three to four months to decompose. It’s “done” when it is no longer hot in the center, crumbles when squeezed, and smells like fresh dirt.

Community Garden Composting

Philadelphia has 400 community gardens, always looking for new members to get involved in composting. You don’t even need to live in the neighborhood. An affiliate of Neighborhood Gardens Trust, Old Tennis Court Farm, at 5407 Wissahickon Avenue in Germantown, has 63 members, several coming from as far away as Center City and South Philly. 

“We do a lot of onsite composting and have constructed eleven composting stations,” said Mark Kearney who has been an active member since 2013. “Initially, we used household waste, but soon found it was attracting groundhogs, raccoons, and rats. We now only use material that is generated in the garden.”

With 49 gardening plots measuring 12 x 12 feet, managing the compost at this community garden takes a lot of manpower. “It’s a constant process of turning and moving the materials until they are ready to be mixed with the soil,” said Kearney. But it’s worth it. This one community garden yields abundant fresh vegetables to its members and those in need. “We take between 35 and 75 pounds of fresh organic vegetables per week to the Whosoever Gospel Mission in Germantown and to SHARE,” Kearney said.

Be a good neighbor

Philly residents without access to backyards or community gardens can have their compost recycled by Bennett Compost. They pick up compost from nearly 4,000 Philadelphia households and businesses every week, keeping over 70 tons of material out of the landfill every month. Once a year, they offer up to 10 gallons of free compost to customers. 

Bennett Compost provides five-gallon compost buckets with air-tight lids and picks them up every week, leaving you with a fresh bucket.  In keeping with Solo Real Estate’s commitment to sustainability, we recently partnered with Bennett Compost to offer tenants and owners in over 400 properties a trial offer with two free months of compost pick-up service. Not a Solo tenant? You can still take advantage of Bennett’s free one-month trial by signing up on their website.

Compost Bucket. Photo: Bennett Compost
Compost Bucket. Photo: Bennett Compost

Other residential compost services in Philly and nearby include Mother Compost (Main Line), and Kona Compost (Bucks County).

Additional Resources

Interested in learning other ways you can help reduce your environmental footprint? Check out our article on Four Ways to Minimize your Waste Footprint in Philadelphia or our list on 5 Things Philly Renters can do for the Environment. If you’re a Solo tenant or owner and want to sign up for the trial offer from Bennett Compost, please e-mail us!

Jeanne Weber: Raises The Roof

Posted on by Solo Team

Business is booming for Jeanne Weber, owner of Philadelphia Green Roofs, LLC. “Even during the pandemic, business has not slowed down. It blew up. In a good way,” said Weber, who, since 2011, has designed and built over three acres of green roofs in Philadelphia and the Greater Delaware Valley. Major projects include the Septa Frankford Transportation Building, Rittenhouse Estates, and 2601 Parkway. Jeanne also completed the four green roofs located above the Solo Real Estate’s offices at 2017 Chancellor St and the green roof at 1330 N 5th, next to Kensington Yards, Solo’s most recent development project.

Why would a talented landscape designer choose to specialize exclusively in green roofs? For Weber, the transition was organic. “Back in 2009, I had been invited by the Philadelphia Horticultural Society to judge their annual City Gardens Competition in the Sustainability Category,” said Weber. “I saw a gorgeous green roof at the home of a Center City architect and we gave it a perfect score.” 

Weber had seen green roofs before. But never one that appealed so powerfully to her design sensibilities. After a decade of landscape design, she became a certified green roof professional in 2009 and in 2013 launched a certified woman-owned business, one of only three or four companies in Philadelphia that exclusively installs green roofs. Weber’s roofs aren’t just functional and cost-saving. They are beautiful.

Green roof located above the Indigo Bike Share office. Image courtesy of Philadelphia Green Roofs, LLC.
A green roof located above the Indigo Bike Share office.
Image courtesy of Philadelphia Green Roofs, LLC.

Benefits

For developers, contractors, and architects, the long-term savings of installing a green roof offset the initial cost. Any company that pays Business Income and Receipts Tax in Philadelphia that has a green roof, covering 60% of the available roof area, can apply for and receive a Green Roof Tax Credit up to $100,000 per building.  Besides Tax Credits, SMIP Grants are available for non-residential properties to cover the cost of installing a green roof on existing buildings, called a retrofit.

The Philadelphia Water Department goes one step further, eliminating stormwater charges for buildings that have a green roof. “Every time it rains over an eighth of an inch, there is a good chance that the City’s 19th-century sewers will overflow and send untreated raw sewage into the Schuylkill and Delaware River,” said Weber. “Green roofs absorb and hold the rainfall and can keep more sewage out of the rivers.” They also provide up to 70% savings in cooling costs and protect roofs from damage and will slow down or even eliminate the need for replacement.  

The environmental benefits are vital to our City’s sustainability. Green roofs reduce the “urban heat island” effect, lowering the risks of people becoming sick or dying of stroke as summer temperatures spike. They also clean the air and combat pollution, reducing the incidence of asthma and other respiratory and coronary diseases. A 2018 EPA study found that adding green roofs to the workplace can result in lower stress, higher productivity, and fewer employee absences. 

How to go green

First, Kensington and Fishtown went green. Now the action is in Germantown, Roxborough and Manayunk. “Not every property qualifies,” said Weber. “Green roofs require a flat roof that must be able to support twenty-eight pounds per square foot. The average Philly rowhouse roof cannot withstand the weight.” The best candidates are new construction with flat roofs, repurposed factories and warehouses.

The process starts early. “It is best to plan your green roof installation well before construction,” said Weber who attends preliminary meetings with architects and civil engineers. 

Green roof at 1330 N 5th next to Kensington Yards, Solo's most recent development project.
Green roof at 1330 N 5th, next to Kensington Yards, Solo’s sustainable development project in South Kensington, Philadelphia;

The roof will first be covered with a waterproof membrane, then a rot-proof, plastic barrier. Next comes a layer of engineered soil medium composed of crushed rock and three percent compost material. Plants used on green roofs are drought-resistant and can survive for up to three months without water. 

While green roofs require little maintenance and can last up to 45 years, Weber initially keeps a close eye on her projects for the first two years. “I might be there every two, three weeks checking on growth and the health of the plants,” she said.

The cost of installing and maintaining a green roof varies. It can range from $10 to $35 per square foot, depending on the size of the roof, height of the building, accessibility, etc.

Weber has worked with Deborah Solo for ten years, creating green roofs for commercial and residential properties, reflecting Solo’s personal commitment to environmental sustainability. Solo Real Estate strives to take an active role in environmental stewardship through building and renovating properties in a way that reduces their carbon footprint, and supporting programs like the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Pop Up Garden on South Street, which increases the amount of green space in our urban landscape. The PHS Pop Up Garden on South Street is currently open through November, featuring food, drinks, and pop-up plant giveaways sponsored by Solo Real Estate throughout the season.

How-To: Recycling in Philly

Posted on by Solo Team

One aspect of sustainable urban living in Philadelphia that we try to highlight is recycling. Not only is recycling a fairly simple process, not much different than throwing out your garbage, but it can also help us reduce our environmental footprint.

The city has supplied recycling bins to residents since 1993. While the program has grown immensely in the past two decades, the supply of bins does not always meet resident demands. To help you navigate the world of recycling in Philadelphia, we’ve assembled a how-to guide for getting your bin and what you can and can’t recycle.

Getting A Recycling Bin

  1. City-Issued Recycling Bins – The first avenue to explore when trying to procure a recycling bin is your nearest sanitation center. There you can get your bin which comes free with proof of Philadelphia city residency. There is a great article over on Billy Penn with tips on getting your recycling bin this way, a list of the Sanitation Centers so you can find the one closest to you, and accompanying phone numbers.It is recommended that you call the Sanitation Center before making the trek over there because, while 40,0000-60,000 bins are given out by the city each year, it is still difficult to keep up with demand, and many centers run out frequently.
  2. DIY Recycling Bins – For this route to recycling it is recommended that you label “Recycling” clearly on the bin or that you grab a city-issued recycling sticker for the container.If you aren’t able to procure an official bin, either because they’ve run out or you’re unable to get to one of the Sanitation Centers, you will be glad to find out that any bin up to 32 gallons is permissible for use as a recycling bin.
  3. Temporary Recycling Bins – A good holdover until you’re able to either get an official city issued recycling bin or establish your own container is putting your recycling out in paper bags. In some neighborhoods this is an acceptable method, although there is no guarantee that your recycling will always be picked up this way. This method should only be used as a temporary option, however, because it does come with a whole host of problems. These issues are particularly apparent in the winter or other bad weather conditions where bags are compromised and recycling is scattered through the streets.
  4. Alternative Recycling Bin Distributors – Many offshoot organizations also distribute recycling bins locally. A few of the groups are community development corporations and neighborhood associations. If you’re having trouble getting your hands on a bin, we recommend checking in with your local neighborhood association or CDC to see if they can help you out.
  5. Solo Real Estate Bins – We at Solo Real Estate are always looking for new ways that we can help create a more sustainable Philadelphia. With all of our projects and endeavors we strive to hold ourselves to the highest standard of sustainable practices. In light of our eco-friendly goals, we have our own program for doling out recycling bins. We provide these bins for our clients, tenants, and neighbors. To get a bin for your household you can check out our stock at Greensgrow in Fishtown, the Kensington Food Co-Op, neighborhood associations throughout the city, or even stop by our office at 2017 Chancellor Street near Rittenhouse Square to pick one up.  

Philadelphia Recycling Dos & Don’ts


The good news is, now that you’ve got your very own recycling bin, the hard part is behind you because in Philadelphia recycling is about as easy as disposing of your usual garbage –  something that we all have to do.

Philadelphia has a single-stream recycling system which is great because it means the days of sorting different materials and numbers of plastics are in the past. There are, however, still some do’s and don’ts of single-stream recycling.

Some major items found in most households that fall under the don’t recycle category include light bulbs, paper products like tissue, paper towels, napkins, and anything wax-coated. Another big one that people often overlook are food-soiled goods such as cardboard boxes and aluminum foil. Sorry folks, but those greasy pizza boxes are destined for the trash can. Some common plastics found in the home that are not recyclable are plastic bags, packing peanuts, and Styrofoam.

Green Philly also has a great guide of the do’s and don’ts of recycling on their blog.