Climate Fixers: Cool solutions for a warming planet

This story is part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, bringing you news and solutions for our changing region.

From the Poconos to the Jersey Shore to the mouth of the Delaware Bay, what do you want to know about climate change? What would you like us to cover? Get in touch.

From natural dyes to flax farms, organic sheep, native plants, geothermal and climate proofing our backyard gardens, Philadelphia-area residents and business owners are working on their own climate solutions as the world continues to heat up.

As NASA reports 2024 was the hottest year on record, climate scientists say the Philadelphia region will continue to get hotter and wetter.

But some local innovators have turned their passions for food, gardening, fashion and engineering into climate solutions.

Folks at the Philadelphia Orchard Project are preparing for longer and warmer growing seasons by experimenting with tropical fruit trees like bananas and kumquats.

Get Fresh Daily encourages Black communities to embrace a plant-based diet and live Earth-centered lives to improve their health and the health of the planet.

Black Girls with Green Thumbs shows kids with autism how to grow their own food, helping to plant the seeds of sustainability and earth-to-table eating for future generations.

The region is also full of designers and producers working on climate-positive alternatives to fast fashion.

NOOR by Grant Blvd, a Philly-based fashion house, uses only natural, plant-based fibers like Tencel and linen, or wool. None of the materials are sourced from fossil fuels.

Green Matters Dye, located in Lancaster County, uses only natural materials for their dyes, including marigolds, indigo and avocado pits.

In Montgomery County, Willow Creek Farm Preserve raises sheep that produce organic wool, which “weed for free and fertilize for free,” eliminating the need to mow and helping to sequester carbon.

The PA Flax Project wants to bring back a more sustainable fabric — linen — by reviving a once-thriving industry in the state that was displaced by cotton. Flax, unlike cotton, does not need pesticides, and 100% linen clothing doesn’t need to be tossed in a faraway landfill; it will decompose naturally instead.

Others have ditched natural gas and tapped into the earth to heat and cool with geothermal.

One entrepreneur created Rabbit Recycling, a business that hand sorts and recycles every discarded item it receives.

And a researcher at the University of Delaware has created a way to separate synthetic fibers so they can be reused rather than trashed.

Know of any Climate Fixers?

Please share with us any “Climate Fixer” you know working on solutions to improve the region and the planet.