Michael: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Mission Story Slam podcast, brought to you by PWP Video. I'm Michael Schweisheimer. I'm the executive producer at PWP Video, Mission Story Slam, and I'm also a poll worker We're recording this episode on October 27th, but when we release it this next week, we will be post midterm elections, so, uh, everyone had better vote, if not work the polls themselves.

And we'll also be less than two weeks away from Mission Story Slam 15. The theme is role model, and it's happening on Tuesday night, November 17th at Triple Bottom Brewing. I can now confirm that South Philly Barbacoa will be in the kitchen that night, so come hungry. Doors open at 5:30. The stories will start at 7:00, when I will tell the opening story.

Host Tamika Tanksley will tell a story at the end of intermission, and Chris Satullo will tell the last story while Tamika has the math job of calculating the judges' winner. Those judges will include Catherine Fernandez from Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence. [00:01:00] I'm excited that we have Jeff DeMasi from Ignite Philly and Temple Fox School of Business, and we are also gonna be joined by Tiffany Spraggins-Payne of Power Up Your Business Philadelphia.

So we are sponsored by the Energy Co-op and Solar States, and you should know that we are halfway to sold out with three weeks to go, so I honestly would suggest you get your tickets very soon. Matter of fact, right after you rate, review, and like this podcast. Speaking of this podcast, I have known today's guest for over a decade.

She told her fourth story at Mission Story Slam 14 with the theme No Judgment. She was a judge at the 12th edition, and she told stories at the first, third, and fourth slams. We'll link to all of those stories in the show notes. But with all of those intersections, somehow I have never managed to get Julie Hancher on my podcast before.

I've recorded episodes of her podcast, but she's never been on mine. So instead of reading a bio, I [00:02:00] think Julie's story from the last slam will help you understand who she is better than any bio I would read out to you.

Julie: All right. Well, um, I'm really glad Michael started off saying the theme shouldn't be literal about judgment, 'cause when I thought about it, I'm like, "No judgment?"

You know, that's perfect, because I am a recovering Catholic. And for those of you who may have grown up in church, especially Catholic churches- Whoo ... there may be a little bit of judgment. Mm. Maybe a lot. And basically, your entire existence is to, like, be judged at the end of your life, you know? It's like every action you do at the end will be judged.

Um, so that was a great place to start off, right? Um, I do not go to church anymore, but I think of that a lot as I was thinking about what else is judging, and you notice how have I faced that in my life. And, uh, I would say [00:03:00] my start from my career now, picture this. It was 2008 Al Gore had just come out with An Inconvenient Truth, which was, like, mind-blowing for talking about climate change, not just global warming.

People who would d- say global warming at that point. And I was so inspired by this, and I was working at Malvern. I was living in Northern Liberties at the time. Uh, and I remember I joined the softball team at work because I was like, "I gotta meet people. I wanna get like..." You know, my dad taught my entire life.

I was a great Catholic girl, you know? Like, I was really nailing the Catholic thing at that time, and I had to be doing so good at work, life, whatever. I'm like, "I wanna meet my coworkers, have fun, whatever." So my coworker, Dave, pulls me aside on the softball team, and he's like, uh, in maintenance. You know, he helps around the office.

And he tells me, "You know, Julie, I see you fill your recycling bin every day at work. It's actually going into the trash can." And I'm like, [00:04:00] "Pfft, this is just Recycle Gate 2008," you know? Like, huge deal. And I didn't know what to do because I was like, the company isn't recycling. Um, I'm carpooling because, you know, it's a really...

It's like, what's... Who, who has ever done that commute on I-76, by the way, from, like, Philly out? It's terrible. It was, what? 18 years ago. Still is. And, uh, my coworker at the time also had environmental passion, so we're like these two guys down the hall named Pete and Danny, had a sports blog that had 100,000 views per month.

And I'm like, "It can't be that hard. Boys do it, you know?" Um, so we started a blog in 2008 called Green Philly. Whoo. And, uh, 18 years later, we're still alive. We're a media company, and we're focused on connecting people to sustainable solutions, but also growing that community. And for that, uh, it's not just, you know, [00:05:00] how to recycle correctly.

I know a lot of people are how... Even in this room probably have opinions about recycling in Philadelphia. But what that means to every single person, and I think when I consider sustainability, climate, where we are today, it's frequently a judgment zone, right? Because it's like, I remember my friends. I started Green Philly.

That was kind of my personality for a while. I mean, a lot of people still know me that way, and they'd be like, "Julie, I don't want to tell you, but, um, I used a plastic bag the other day." Or, you know, um, "I didn't recycle something. My employer isn't, employer isn't recycling." There's like these people come, and I'm like, I'm now, like, the priest from my Catholic days.

People are confessing these, like, sustainability sins. And I'm like, "You know, it's okay. You don't have to do everything. It's okay." So as I evolved, you know, fast-forward, I worked for a mortgage company speaking of other sins and billionaires. I mean, that was a great experience. I could talk about [00:06:00] that for a while.

Um, I judged there a lot, I will say. I'm gonna confess. And, uh, in 2015, I was living in Bella Vista, and I remember I walked out one day, and I was actually gonna film something at Solar Estates with my friend Jill, true story. And not just 'cause Micah's right in front of me. Um, and I remember going out, and I'm like...

I call Jill, and I'm like, "So there's a slight problem," 'cause I was supposed to pick her up, and we were supposed to drive to, like, a solar house somewhere in, I think, in North Philly at that point. I'm like, "So, um, my bumper's on the street. It looks like someone hit my car last night, and I don't think I can drive it."

So Jill drives. We do this little video segment. My car was totaled, uh, fast-forward, and I had another choice. And I was like, "Okay, I have two things, right? Like, I can either..." And oh, by the... So when I... My car's totaled, Geico calls me, and they're like, "We're just gonna give you $7,500." I'm like, "Wait, so I don't have to, like, go buy another car and, like, give you the receipt?"

They're like, "No, no, we're just gonna give you cash." So [00:07:00] I'm like, "Okay." Um, I'm trying to, like, figure out where I'm in life. I'm judging myself now, and I'm like, "Listen, I can either keep on driving and buy another car and drive to this job I hate, or I can work for myself." I made that decision. I decided to quit the corporate world, which I've been out of, um, for 11 years.

Still recovering from that as well in a lot of ways. But We're still here, and as we continue to think of what sustainability looks like 18 years later, right? Like, I don't know if anyone thinks recycling's great in Philadelphia. We've gone back to the original story. If you're judging the city, judging your neighbors, like what they're putting in their recycling bins, judging the streets.

I have a dog. Like, every day I'm judging, like, how many people throw out chicken bones, or what's going, the squirrels or whatever, getting them out there. Um, but I think it's still important, right? Because frequently we're always pointing fingers about who's causing the problems. Who's causing the problems with litter?

Who's causing the [00:08:00] problems of climate change? And rather than point the finger, we could all work together, think of how we're doing small actions that could lead to a bigger change, and really make a difference. And I think that's been the impetus of what we've been doing at Green Philly, and really how to continue that overall, um, and continue that journey.

So if anything, Green Philly's a judgment-free zone. Woo. Uh, we really love to talk and have those challenging conversations, see how that looks like for a lot of different people. And you can confess your green sins to me. I'm not gonna judge you. So, thanks.

Michael: Woo. Welcome to the podcast, Julie. Thank you.

Julie: Thanks for having me, Michael.

Michael: So how, how weird is it to listen to your story back?

Julie: It's not as weird, 'cause as a, someone who's in, uh, journalism, I would say I talk a lot for, whether that's in interviews or do a lot of panels. But yeah, it's [00:09:00] fun to... 'Cause I feel like I've told pieces of that story, but I think that was a really great opportunity to really, like, share my career arc.

'Cause I feel like frequently I'll get a lot of questions of, like, "How do you start Green Philly?" And now, Michael, thanks to you, I have a living video on the internet I could just send to anyone now.

Michael: Yeah. I wish you would. That's so- one of the things we want people to do with those videos. So you should get that up on Green Philly, please.

Julie: We can.

Michael: By the way, my confession is, um, I'm not sure if the apartment building I moved into, I'm not sure if it's actually recycling. And it makes me nuts.

Julie: Oh, no.

Michael: There's two dumpsters, but my neighbors, I think, are putting their trash in the recycling one. It's not good.

Julie: It's such a common problem in Philly, though.

I mean, you're constantly walking around and seeing people's incorrect recycling, and I think that is such a common theme, and I think it's a l- common theme of people's frustrations. But I [00:10:00] think that also goes back to, like, how we understand sustainability and recycling and communication and, you know, people have a lot going on, you know?

And are they, like- Yeah ... thinking about what goes in which bin, or are they just living their day-to-day lives?

Michael: What do you think is the wildest confession that someone ever came up and gave to you from their sustainability sins?

Julie: Oh, man. In sustainability, there is a common theme where, like, a, you see a lot with people judging.

Like, what's the most sustainable way I can do X, Y, Z? I got an email the other day. I think someone was moving out, and they're like, "I have a broken suitcase, and, like, I'm moving. You know, we, we need to do something with these, but we don't wanna throw them in the trash." Like, I think there's been such a transfer of the guilt from the companies that create the materials to putting that back- To, yeah

on the consumer to put in the right place, which I think has been clear, if you follow [00:11:00] sustainability, that was a becani- uh, mechanism that they used to create recycling as a consumer problem versus companies paying for it.

Michael: Right. Yeah.

Julie: We're constantly burdened by, like, how to have the most sustainable thing, and I think if we switch our mindset to more, like, how can we just do more of the good things we already are good at and config- lean into those, I think sustainability would just be so much more fun and easy.

Just say, "All right. We're really good at picking up trash off the street when I'm walking my dog." So I started now, because, you know, I have the dog bags when I'm walking around, and then w- we have a CSA, so I have left over, like s- you know, like, slightly larger plastic bags.

Michael: Okay.

Julie: Now I'm making it a mission to pick up a couple of pieces of trash when walking my dog.

Mm-hmm. So I think I picked up, like, you know, 10 bottles or something just on the street this morning walking around, and it's... You know, I think if people leaned into the positive things they can do, we'd feel a lot more inclined to do [00:12:00] more overall.

Michael: First of all, I just... Sorry, you have, you're, you're part of a CSA that sends you things in plastic?

Julie: Yes, like some of the produce sometimes, depending on what it is. I think a lot of farmers, especially 'cause pre-2020, the pandemic, I think- Mm-hmm ... changed a lot of things with plastic and packaging. So at that time you could bring a lot of your egg cartons and the little fruit cartons you get that are cardboard- Yeah

back to the farms. And I think when the pandemic happened, a lot of farmers just kind of transitioned. I think it's the bioplastic technically they're putting it in. Okay. But, you know, I think when the pandemic happened, a lot of people got away from taking that stuff back because then there was the hygiene issues.

And I think sometimes, you know, if they're just, once again, like, doing the best they can, they're maybe have the bio bags, but they still have to, like, sort You know, however hundreds of boxes on a weekly basis to people. So it's like, "All right, I can reuse these bags, put some trash in it."

Michael: It's really interesting that you sort of brought up the, that shift [00:13:00] from how companies have sort of pushed recycling onto consumers.

Like-

Julie: Mm-hmm ... '

Michael: cause you were involved in setting up Circular Philly a little bit, right? Or, like, are you still involved in that idea of, like, a whole product life cycle?

Julie: So I helped a little bit at the beginning when Sam and Nick had first were starting getting Circular Philly off the ground. I was helping with some of the marketing and stuff, 'cause it's my background.

Before Green Philly- Yeah ... I did social media and digital marketing. I definitely think about the lifespan of products a lot. Once again, it's like there's so many easy ways we could be sustainable, and I know there's frequently barriers that prevent that. But even how Tiffin, have you used that, where they have the reusable takeout program?

Basically, you can opt to have a reusable container, and I think it's, like, a, you know, seven-day whatever limit to bringing it back. And if you do not bring it back, then they charge you a small fee for each container.

Michael: That's

Julie: awesome. But it's such an easy thing to do, and I think that's such a [00:14:00] model that could be replicated.

'Cause I believe Circular Philly had something with, like, you know, the health code in Philly they had to work with to make sure Tiffin could do that. I think there's, like, really cool opportunities to say, like, you know, people love takeout culture. You know- Yeah ... there's so much waste with that, but it's such an easy thing to say, "What if we have a container take-back program?"

And, like, just have people think about it too, 'cause I think the other benefit is you're like, "Oh, I could reduce or reuse things more frequently." And also, like, plants that seed in people. Yeah, I love hearing about programs like that.

Michael: And I know people who, like, I've never figured out how to be the person who actually brings my own containers to the restaurant for them to put my takeout in, that I- Mm-hmm

it seems like it is amazing how big the barriers can be to doing some of these little things. I couldn't agree more that, like, I think that companies need to be thinking about these life cycles or we, you know, things like what Circular's doing to help work with health codes so that we can have someone like [00:15:00] Tiffin do something where you can have a program that makes it easier or makes us think.

Because yeah, what, out of everybody I know, there's, like, two or three people that bring their own containers for takeout Like, not very many. We're not gonna change the world that way. It's gonna be by changing the to-go package food culture or something. I'm finally good at going with my own bags to the grocery, and have been for a while.

Mm-hmm. But, like, that was... I've seen a lot of people fight that shift, so- Where, where do you, after all these years of doing this and focusing on consumers, like where are you as a person in terms of like how much individual changes in our behavior can have impacts when a lot of consumers do them, versus like what should be the responsibility of manufacturers or the companies that are creating the things that we're talking about?

Yeah. Or, you know, and I guess there's also city government, but that's separate. I'm kinda curious about individual versus business responsibility, having interfaced with this for such a long time.

Julie: Yeah. I think [00:16:00] there's a lot of debate in the environmental space about individuals versus consumers. It's not just one sector who has the sheer responsibility for making changes.

I think everyone has to work together. Yeah. And there's a lot of really cool partnerships that have happened when people cooperate, right? So going back to that Tiffin example. For example, the restaurant, which is a private company, had to say, "I wanna make this change." There was a nonprofit that said, "We understand what the government code is that has to make that change," so they could be the advocate for the government- Okay

the civic institution that is making the rules, and be able to help, like, bridge those gaps. So I don't know. I think that's another thing too, right? 'Cause a lot of times we're like, "I wish we could do that," but you think... You start thinking through some of the logistics in sustainability, and you're like, "That is so complicated."

So I think for one, people should be leaning into how we can all cooperate together and work together towards [00:17:00] these solutions and not just pin these arguments, 'cause I think in some ways, you know, it's easier to deflect and then when the blame's elsewhere, then, you know, it's easier to blame your neighbor for not putting out the recycling- Out properly, then asking that company, "Hey," like maybe writing a quick email.

Like, "I noticed, I love your product. Can you think about changing your packaging to something that's more recycling from plastic," right? And that's something you could do in a few minutes. I do think obviously, you know, companies should be doing more, especially when they're thinking about their packaging.

Luckily, a lot of people do. Um, in our household we really like Plank. It's this little hydration tablet. This is not an advertisement, but it's like an alternative to Gatorade. Yeah. But it's funny 'cause I've watched... I, uh, found them in like Brooklyn or, uh, New York when I was there one day, and they had this like pop-up, kinda like natural, you know, totally I'm the demographic of that.

Like- Yeah ... natural sustainability-minded- You are literally- ... person ... the demographic. Yeah. Yeah. It was like truly when I come in the store and see like [00:18:00] random startup food things that are cool and crunchy and delicious. So I found this hydration tablet. I'm like, "Cool." And it was like low sugar. You know, it's like healthier than some of these other alternatives.

But I've watched their packaging change too, and they're like, "Well, this isn't sustainable, but this isn't holding our, you know, this isn't keeping the products, you know, the best way or whatever." So it's fun to see- Okay ... like c- when companies are challenging th- themselves to do that. Everyone needs to be doing more and working together and collaborating for like the ultimate sustainable solutions in general.

Michael: Before we miss it, tell me just, so this is the ninth year for Sustain PHL, by the way?

Julie: Ninth year. So it started in 2016, 10 years ago, but because of COVID, it's our ninth in-person award ceremony. Gotcha.

Michael: What is Sustain PHL?

Julie: So Sustain PHL is the culmination of Green Philly's work throughout the year, I would say in one way.

It is also an annual award ceremony and celebration that's taking those different [00:19:00] sectors of people that are doing really cool work in Philadelphia, and honoring the change makers that are making a difference. It's a really fun way to highlight the people that are making a difference, and I think as part of Green Philly, we are a media company that's talking about the stories that, you know, are happening in Philly and the news of what's happening in sustainability.

But it's also a way to amplify the lesser-known change makers and the people that are making a difference. So I think one of my favorite things is just learning about all the really cool people that are doing stuff. Like, you know, one year there was a woman who started a backyard habitat that was certified as, like, a pollinator, like, wildlife thing in Fishtown.

Seriously? You see people being innovative, you see people tackling challenges, and sometimes it's just someone, like, who cleans up their block 'cause they think that's important. Yeah. Or sometimes it is someone who is a startup who's getting, you know, investors and whatever else. But it's like everyone can make changes [00:20:00] in different capacities, and I hope that also inspires people to say, "I could do something cool, too."

There is so much cool stuff in Philly, too. Like, I mean, I think we take a step back and just look at, you know, Green Building United is in Philly. There's, um, Impact PHL. There's so many cool orgs that are tackling different sectors. And I really, you know, I think my hope for Green Philly is just, like, how do we unite more people together to work on solutions and really try to be the, uh, amplifier of those different groups, too?

Michael: I think that Green Philly has this amazing position because, like, you know, Be Local Philadelphia that I'm so involved with can get together at B Corp. Sustainable Business Network can get together so many bus- small businesses and some larger businesses that are focused on sustainability. By the way, I was wondering, I'm like, "How did I meet Julie?"

And I think you and I might have met at a, back when it was Delaware Valley Green Building Council. I think they had a sustainability buzz panel that you were on, and I think that's where we met, like, over a decade [00:21:00] ago.

Julie: Yes. I thought it was Green Bu- or now- Yeah ... p- uh, the organization formerly known as Delaware Valley Green Bu- or-

Michael: Yeah

Delaware- It's now Green Building United ... Valley

Julie: Green Building Council.

Michael: Yeah. Yeah, that's the long

Julie: name. It makes it easier to say and remember.

Michael: It... And it's even easier if you do the... I don't think they like to go by GBU that much, but GBU is still easier than DVGBG.

Julie: Yeah. Yeah.

Michael: That's a mouthful. I know a lot of different organizations that bring together entrepreneurs, um, or support entrepreneurs or are finding ways for businesses, but I really think that Green Philly is special in terms of the fact that you are able to bring together individuals and consumers.

And I, like, I don't even know if o- do other cities have something similar to Green Philly, or are we lucky here to have the work that you're doing?

Julie: Thanks. That's so kind the way you framed that. Um, I like to ... I think there sh- c- could be a rebrand of Green Philly as a gateway drug to sustainability, but I'm trying to work on a better example than gateway drug.

The

Michael: gateway drug. [00:22:00] You know.

Julie: Um

Michael: We're, we're just, we're just the gummy edible of sustainability. What could go ...

Julie: Anyway. Going back to parallel organizations. Uh, so we've been, I think we're part of the transition from Green Philly. So you know, you're the story that I told that you played back. Yeah. Definitely had a journey where it was just a passion project for the first few years, and I think the really nice thing is I was able to s- meet the people that were doing cool work, like you and Green Building United and- Mm-hmm

you know, I remember going to SBN when I knew nobody. Yeah. And now with this awesome community of people that we work with and talk about and get to uplift their stories. So the past five or six years have just really been diving deeper into the journalism space. So there's a really cool org in Detroit called Planet Detroit.

Nina, who runs that, is super cool. I love Detroit as well, so I love the city. I think they're doing some really cool work. We're definitely ... I think there's a lot of collaboration in [00:23:00] the journalism space. They don't- Yeah ... do the exact things we do. I think Green Philly's, uh, different, especially in journalism, where we've been hosting events for over 10 years.

So in addition to Sustain PHL, we host panels and volunteer matchmaking events. End of the spring we have this really big eco fair on Cherry Street Pier where you can learn all about sustainability, and get to meet orgs that are doing really cool work, from non-profits to businesses. And journalism is slow to catch on to, like, now there's an article in Axios, like one or two weeks ago, that was like, events.

You know, there are these news orgs that are doing events now. Like, this is, you know, a whole new path for them, and I'm like, "We've been doing that for a little bit," which is- For, for a

Michael: decade. Come on now ...

Julie: fun to see. And actually, our eco fair was an award winner at LION, which is the Local Initiative for Online News, like a- Hmm

journalism publication thing. So yeah, I think there's, you know, one, a lot of really cool opportunities for environmental work, especially in like the [00:24:00] news to deepen relationships and really amplify the stories in their communities. But you know, besides Planet Detroit, I think there's also one in ... I mean, there's um- Mississippi Ag and Culture Desk, or I'm gonna butcher the name.

It's like seven words. But basically they're a coalition up on the Mississippi watershed doing environmental news. Obviously Grist is a huge one nationally that's doing little satellites in, like, different cities and states that don't have environmental coverage. So there is some, but I think the other thing also, now that we're talking about it, I learned this number at Climate Week.

There is about $50 million invested in climate journalism each year. Okay. There is $1 billion invested in climate disinformation. So- Holy

Michael: smokes.

Julie: Yeah. If you think of the scale of how much we talk about the environment, not just on the news, but in the... You know, if you see a weather [00:25:00] story, are they relating that to climate change?

Are they using the words climate change? And the importance of that work is such an interesting challenge, I think, in so many ways because, you know, you feel like there's all this debate and uncertainty about climate change, and there actually isn't a lot of debate. It's just really a lot of disinformation and problems that we have.

Michael: Billion dollars in disinformation against 50 million into, um- Climate journalism ... climate journalism.

Julie: And funders are like, "Do we wanna fund journalism?" 'Cause, like, the climate funders don't really understand journalism, and some of the, uh, you know, journalism funders don't really understand, like, the climate reporting or some of the foundations.

So it's an interesting landscape, 'cause people are like, "Yeah, this is really important," but, like, they're not... There's not as much funding into it as there should be.

Michael: I fully feel that you are doing important local journalism work, but I feel like the world of [00:26:00] bloggers, uh, you know, here as we sit in a world of influencer culture, but like- Mm-hmm

when did Green Philly Blog, in your, uh, own opinion, sort of transition from being, like, your personal blog exploring your interaction with sustainability into actually being journalism? Mm-hmm. Secondarily, when do you think people external to you started recognizing your work as journalism versus just, like, some kid cranking about stuff online?

Julie: This is such a big question, and thanks for asking that. So I would like to say, first and foremost, I think WordPress and blogging in, like, 2008 when we started- ... was a content creators at that time, if you're thinking about it. Okay. Like, the influencers we have now, really people who had an opinion were doing blogs.

Okay. So for my story that I told during our Mission Story Slam was Pete and Danny, they had this really cool sports blog with 100,000 followers. I'm like, "I can do that hard." It's- Even boys can do it,

Michael: by the way. I know.

Julie: I love that line. Me too. It might be a TikTok thing as well, so I was using some [00:27:00] internet speak.

But that was just what I knew, and I liked writing. Fun fact: I was actually on my high school journalism club- Oh, okay ... but never pursued it because my dad was like, "Your cousin was a journalist. They don't really make money. Don't be a journalist. Like, do something that's gonna make money." So sorry, Dad, I am now a journalist and, um, went that path in a, you know, a roundabout way.

So it was like I was trying to not do it, and it just came back to me. But I think as Green Philly evolved, it was like my career, I was in marketing. I was doing stuff full time. Mm-hmm. So even though I had- Besides my high school journalism experience, I did not have formal journalism training. I c- I did not go to journalism school.

I didn't have sustainability or climate training either, because when I was in college, I think they had environmental science majors. I mean, I'm sure they did, but they didn't have sustainability and the climate- Yeah ... offerings they have now. Just thinking of

Michael: how

Julie: fast

Michael: things changed. Or even if they did, they, like, were, like, two schools in the country doing it or something like that.

Like, it was

Julie: hard to- Yeah ...

Michael: really hard to find, yeah.

Julie: [00:28:00] Exactly. Uh, so I think as we evolved and, you know, I was just doing Green Philly as a fun project, and I really enjoyed it, and meeting the people and hearing their stories, you know, going on the panels like you mentioned, and talking to people about sustainability I remember, I think you might have been there.

We had an event at United By Blue on like a Monday night that was kinda like a story slam almost, but it was like five flash talk speakers, maybe seven, and we had like 125 people register for this event on a Monday night.

Michael: I was there. It was jammed. I remember it. Yeah, it was hard to be ... It was like, I was like kept getting pushed into like a rack of coats and I was very warm 'cause the space could not handle all the people- It was hilarious

that showed up. It was cool.

Julie: Exactly. So I don't think I really knew at that point how much, uh, of a like hunger there was for Philly to have like those conversations and really go there.

Michael: Yep.

Julie: I was just thinking a lot deeper about, you know, what we were doing for Green Philly, what our mission was. Um, we also got a [00:29:00] grant from William Penn in November of 2019.

Michael: Just

Julie: in time. Uh, for 125K for two years, which was ... I was like-

Michael: That's amazing. Yeah ...

Julie: it was great. And I didn't understand the philanthropy world then. I did not understand like really anything about how to finance and like run a journalism organization.

Michael: Mm-hmm.

Julie: So I think for me, it's kind of like I did all the research about, um, what people cared about and what was gaining momentum with Green Philly, and then later as I was in the journalism circles and really understanding and going to conferences and learning from really, really cool orgs, you know, I just think that we formalized and then also, you know, as you run an organization, it's just this shouldn't be Julie's opinion.

This is really its own entity, and how do we formalize that? So it's been documenting processes and making tweaks and really thinking through how to lead an organization that's not just about you, which is funny when you start [00:30:00] it and think of all those things from the, you know, from its fruition and have certain ways of doing things to then try to take a step back and be like, "What is good for the org and the team and everyone else?"

Which I think you need to do to have a successful org, right?

Michael: So Recyclegate 2008. Yeah. Even boys can do it. Now you're a blogger. Then you figure out that there's an audience, so now you're getting bigger into that. When did you decide that like journalistic integrity was something that was gonna matter for Green Philly versus just Julie's opinion?

Was that ... Did it take some of that external validation of like philanthropy coming in and going like, "Good job, Julie," or were you already getting there?

Julie: That's a good question. I think the William Penn funding, because if you are in the world of philanthropy, ever received funding or applied for a grant, it is challenging.

It is very competitive, especially now. And, uh, typically funders don't come to you and say, "We wanna give you money." That was like a dream scenario. I think that was the [00:31:00] first big validation that, like, we were doing something that people recognized and would fund for us to do more of that work, which was really cool and really great to see.

You then start thinking of the logistics and the finances behind the scenes. Without getting too far into that, I think in order to grow as an organization, and I think we've been acting like an or- organization that's two or three times the size of the amount of work we do.

Michael: Yeah, you've been doing that the whole time I know you.

You're always behaving-

Julie: I, I know ...

Michael: like you have triple the staff. Whether it was just you or you with a team, so yeah.

Julie: Which I think, like, the curiosity and passion has just led to where we are now, but I think a lot of readers and people who have come to us, I think we've had so much help along the way.

Obviously you and I partnered our orgs through the podcast that we hosted. We work with Meredith, who's awesome, and she runs Gritty and Green, so we're partners on that, so we're like the media host- Yeah ... of that podcast for her.

Michael: Cool.

Julie: I think it's just, like, over [00:32:00] time, you know, having an 18-year run of Green Philly, it just made sense to formalize and then the processes, and then I think, like, as we, you know, did more, people just learned more.

And I will say, I think one of the... You know, we, we get positive feedback, um, you know, on occasion obviously, but I think one of the most validating moments- I hope, I hope more

Michael: than on occasions, but anyway.

Julie: But I think what was validating, someone had posted one of our articles in an investigation to Reddit, and someone, you know, someone's like, "Can you trust this Green Philly website?"

And someone's like, "Oh yeah, they're a journalist. They've been in there for, like, over 10 years." And I'm like, "Look, someone anonymously is, like, talking about Green Philly." And it's funny 'cause I heard ... My husband Marty was like, "Why is that a big deal to you?" 'Cause I'm like, I think it's still, you know, when someone's advocating for you and you've reached the community where other people recognize the work you're doing, I thought it was just a very cool moment to say, like, you know, we didn't have to be like, "Here's our accreditations and how we had our [00:33:00] journey," you know?

'Cause it's like, it's nice to know that other people trust us, and I think that is, like, at the heart of journalism versus content creation and some of these other things. The trust and non-bias and the ethics of journalism are so important, I think, just for the integrity.

Michael: I'm just really glad that the end of that story wasn't, "Oh yeah, and then Marty told me it was him on Reddit, so you know."

Julie: Marty wasn't defending me. He doesn't comment on Reddit allegedly, so he only reads it.

Michael: So listen, so Sustain PHL's annual, uh, your 18th, so 18 years and nine Sustains. So next year will be 10 Sustains, but your 19th year. You're gonna have to make some noise though about, 'cause you'll be right on top of 20.

That's crazy. That is nuts.

Julie: Yeah. I mean- Yeah, we had a really fun party for our 15th, uh, at Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Michael: Okay, yep.

Julie: Which they have a really cool welcoming space that also, you know, makes it like, it's a green space. A funny thing on, you know, and I'll let a, you know, [00:34:00] sometimes like cemeteries are where like habitats and everything else are.

But I don't know if you remember this, the irony is that we were supposed to have our 15 year on a June day, uh, I can't do math right now. I think it's three years ago, and we woke up the day that we were supposed to have the event, and um, I had p- text at like 7:00 AM, "Are you still hosting the event? The wildfire smoke from Canada is so bad you're not-" That's right

"supposed to be outside." So that was something so ironic because the weather was looking great, and then we had climate change derail our 15th anniversary. Luckily, we postponed it and had a fabulous celebration, and Laurel Hill was such a great partner for that. But it was very ironic that the, um, you know, climate journalism org had to postpone its event because of climate change.

Michael: For all the work that people like you are doing to fight climate change, here we are sitting, stewing in it in a much more depressingly present [00:35:00] way. It's pretty wild.

Julie: Yeah. I mean, I think that's a great point where, if anything, climate has become more and more present in our lives, and it's interesting.

We're gonna do a story series, um, that will be s- coming out very soon with Chestnut Hill Local. But this year, especially in the summer, I think there was a three-week span in July where there was wildfire smoke from Canada again. Mm-hmm. There was a heat wave that led to wild thunderstorms on 4th of July that postponed the concert on the Parkway that the city has been talking about for almost two years.

There was the microburst, which I had never heard of, that like-

Michael: That was crazy. Yeah ...

Julie: that was bananas. And then there was, our basement was flooded. There was just, like, crazy flooding throughout the city, and I think that was like, it was so interesting 'cause there were people asking questions like, "What's going on?

What's up with the weather?" And it's so interesting that, you know, I [00:36:00] love, obviously, climate and communications and how people talk about this. And one, I think there's such an opportunity to talk to people about climate change and those things happen, but also can the news or media, you know, make those connections for people and kinda drill down a little bit deeper.

Yeah. So that's the stories, story we're, collaborative we're working on, um, that'll be coming out soon.

Michael: Your 20th anniversary will, of course, line up with the 20th anniversary, I guess, of An Inconvenient Truth. I wonder if they're gonna revisit it to be like, "See that graph I was showing you while I was on that, you know, lift in front of a PowerPoint?

It's damn true." Like, it's... I'm just realizing, I haven't thought about that movie in a little while- Mm-hmm ... but it was in your story, and it's like, oh yeah, all that stuff he was pointing way up to with those curves, like, we're stewing in it now.

Julie: Even the scientist, climate scientist Hansen in like 1988 was talking to Congress saying, "Hey, climate change is here.

Global [00:37:00] warming's here. We should do something about it."

Michael: Yep.

Julie: So there's so many moments in our culture for now almost 40 years that people have been referring to these weather changes, quote unquote, the things that are happening to our climate. I think the one message though is there's still hope and we can still do something and it's not the time to give up, which is a slight change.

Michael: We're, we're hitting, we're hitting those temperatures that are supposed to be the tipping point aren't we? I forget. It's, is it McKibben?

Julie: It's 1.5 Celsius has been the number they were talking about and the UN came out this year and said basically there's no way to avoid 1.5, but essentially like that's kind of baked in now.

But I read a couple of climate books, um, a couple of years ago. There's one, it basically paints what the different degrees would look like in a, not like fictional but kind of like, you know, painting the image of how- Yeah ... that could roll out. [00:38:00] But basically it's like so yeah, people are like, "Oh, it's past 1.5," but it's like every partial degree up is worse.

It's not like, you know, 1.5 we're screwed and then everything else. It's just like yeah, like the incremental changes are just as important as like these large numbers that people are talking about.

Michael: Well, and I'll tell you as someone who started splitting my time in Berlin, one degree Celsius is not one degree Fahrenheit.

It is a lot. Um-

Julie: Yeah ...

Michael: half a degree Celsius is for real, so yeah.

Julie: Do you have to, do you have to translate your, uh, climate stuff into German now?

Michael: I do have to get used to Celsius and kilometers and all that stuff. Yeah, I'm pretty fast at that conversion and I've been looking at temperatures in Celsius for a while just to try to get used to like what does it mean when it's 15 degrees out?

Will I be freezing or will I be comfortable? I will see you on Thursday at Sustain PHL. I'm sorry this podcast will be coming out [00:39:00] afterwards, so.

Julie: Exciting though that I'll see you on Thursday. I know you've been a few times now, right? I feel like at

Michael: least- Oh, I've been to multiple, yeah, and I always nominate people, um, so try to make sure we have our B Corps represented.

What can I say?

Julie: And you may have had s- you may have nominated some people who have received awards too. I mean like in the past. I have, yeah. Um, I can't reveal anything, uh, for this, this week.

Michael: No? You can't? No?

Julie: No.

Michael: No, not gonna spill anything? Fine. Um- ... I was, I was trying. Am I gonna see you on November 17th at the next Mission Story Slam?

You don't have to take the stage a fifth time, though you're always welcome.

Julie: I believe so. Yes, it is such a great event, and I really enjoy Audience Award, as like crowd fl- favorite.

Michael: Or crowd

Julie: favorite, yeah. Um, I think, was it Che a few years ago? I remember hearing his story and being so captivated at the time, and I feel like there's so many great people you've introduced through Mission Story Slam, so thanks for your work, 'cause I think that was just, like, such [00:40:00] a cool crowd, such a diverse group of speakers each time.

My only question was Role Model is also a great banned. So I mean, is there gonna be any... Do you know,

Michael: Role Model? There's a band called Role Model?

Julie: You don't know this, Michael?

Michael: No, I'm an idiot. It's a Philly- And I'm an old man now

Julie: Oh man, I'll have to send you a song after this.

Michael: I'm actually really hopeful that people are gonna take the role model theme, 'cause I love a good homonym.

So like- Mm ... you know, is someone gonna talk about something that rolls? Is someone gonna talk about walking a runway as a model or building a model airplane? Mm. Like I'm really interested to see what takes on role model we're gonna get. Actually, you told a story once about going to Japan. Do you remember in front of restaurants they would have models of food?

Like plastic models of food?

Julie: Yeah. So

Michael: they'd have models of sushi rolls, so I was, you know, would someone tell a story about a literal role model? Like that would be absolutely the pinnacle of [00:41:00] playing with that theme. We'll see what happens.

Julie: So many fun interpretations, and plus so many role models in general, right?

From like sports to teachers and stuff. I feel like it's gonna be very emotional. I feel like you're gonna bring out the waterworks for this one.

Michael: I think it's gonna be intense. I'm excited. And, um, and I'm excited to be, that we're back at Triple Bottom Brewing. The fact that it took me too long to get, uh, Mission Story Slam into Tessa's B Corp certified bar, that just...

It makes sense, and I'm glad to be there. Besides Sustain PHL, like where, where should people find you on the internet to... Is it just go- what is Green Philly's address these days? 'Cause it's no longer Green Philly Blog. It hasn't been that forever.

Julie: So our current URL is greenphl.com, so that's a website where you can read our long form journalism.

We also are on Instagram. It's @greenphilly.news, and we are also on LinkedIn. I believe if you look for Green Philly [00:42:00] on there, that's the easiest. Yeah, that's the best way to find us.

Michael: And then is there, are there any events that are coming up later in like November, December that we should put on our radar?

Julie: I think we might be taking a slight hiatus due to Sustain PHL in late October, but we will be having a full roster of events in the spring. So if you join our email list, you'll be the first to find out about those. And also EcoFair will return, I believe, in May again, so that's another really fun one to look out for.

It's free, family-friendly. We had cats for adoption last year as well as- Oh, cool ... um, a petting zoo from some animals with Elmwood Zoo, which was really cool for the kids to get to interact. I think the cats might have been the biggest hit that day, which is-

Michael: I mean- ...

Julie: not surprising ... it's

Michael: hard to compete with cats.

Yeah. They're cats.

Julie: There were like 20. So. It was so fun

Michael: That's awesome. That's so cool. Well, I will just say I have used green, uh, phl.com as a resource for a long time when I have my own personal recycling [00:43:00] questions or other, like, what can I do as an individual questions. It's a really good resource, and I'm glad that you've had it, and I appreciate your long friendship and partnership and telling the mo- We'll just go with it.

We'll just say telling the most stories at Mission: Story Slam. I'll, I'll have to verify, but I'm pretty sure that at least by one, that you might have already won that. So.

Julie: Well, thank you so much for your friendship. You've been an awesome supporter and colleague and friend, and obviously really enjoy Mission: Story Slam, if that isn't obvious.

Yeah, no, it's such a cool, cool event and, you know, I was gonna say at the, you know, just between storytelling, which is so important for so many ways for connection. Kudos for keeping it running that long as well.

Michael: Aw. So kind. Very nice of you to be so complimentary to what we're doing. We're clearly mutual fans, so we will see each other on the 17th.

I'll see you at Sustain PHL. Yep. And anyone who's trying to find us can track us down at those couple of [00:44:00] places.

Julie: Yep.

Michael: All right?

Julie: We'll be there.

Michael: Talk to you soon.

Julie: Thanks, Michael.

Michael: Thanks.

Julie: Bye.

Michael: I so appreciate Julie for her continued support and dedication to Mission: Story Slam. She really is a true missionary, and I know that our podcast audience is made up of similarly supportive friends of Mission: Story Slam.

Building community is the whole point of what Mission: Story Slam is about, and we really appreciate each and every one of you. So if you haven't gotten your tickets yet for Mission: Story Slam 15 Role Model, head over to missionstoryslam.org/events or look for our posts on LinkedIn and Instagram and grab your tickets.

We've sold out before, and I really think we might do it again. So we'll be back at Triple Bottom Brewing Tuesday night, November 17th. Doors open at 5:30, stories start at 7:00, and we truly try to get everyone on their way home by 9:30. Thanks to our friends at the Energy Co-op and Solar States for being sponsors, and to The Philadelphia Citizen for continuing to be our media partner.[00:45:00]

This episode of the Mission: Story Slam podcast has been edited by Dave Lamb, and it is brought to you by PWP Video. We are video with a mission. You can find us at pwpvideo.com. Until our next episode, I will continue to be Michael Schweisheimer, and I truly look forward to sharing the next story behind the story with you soon.