Honesty Modern Media is a collection of media companies focused on building community and living more eco-friendly through connection, collective action, and civic engagement. What started as a blog, Honestly Modern, about sustainable living tips and tricks for families has grown into multiple media outlets to help each of us be the changemakers in our communities. Check out more details below.

A newsletter about building community + enduring climate crisis through connection, collective action, and civic engagement. When it collapses, what’s next? Start taking action where you live and share ideas with others doing the same thing. 💛
Enough is enough. The climate—political, environmental, and community—is scorched. Someone needs to put out the fire. Why not you and me?
The Sage Neighbor newsletter is a call to action and a community for those who’ve had enough of the bullsh*t. If we want a future of fair and functional government, clean air and water, a planet that’s not on fire, and communities not riddled with vitriol and hate, we need to start the cleanup in our neighborhoods.
We can be wise, green, builders, creators, advocates, and sage neighbors. We can collaborate through conversation and civic engagement to heal our planet and build more resilient communities for the bumpy road ahead.
One of the best ways to accomplish this is to start at home, getting to know and listening to our neighbors, family, and friends about topics that aren’t always easy. We won’t always reach agreements or change minds by the end of every conversation, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth having.
Ready to join the revolution? Subscribe now to be part of the community rolling up our sleeves to make our communities stronger and more resilient through pro-democracy collective action and civic engagement. Drop your email to get a list of over 130 ways to take action in your community now to build stronger connections and more robust resiliency!

Connect Chadds Ford is a hyperlocal newsletter serving Chadds Ford, PA, and the greater Brandywine Valley. It’s a civic-minded community newsletter about engaging with organizations and local government to build the community we hope to see and share with our children and neighbors.
The newsletter highlights local news and events, promotes conversation about civic activities and other happenings in the area, showcases local businesses and community organizations, and brings together neighbors for a stronger and more resilient local network.
Check out why I started Connect Chadds Ford, and subscribe on Substack to get connected!

The blog was the root of the Honestly Modern Media collection from which the rest of the content grew. It’s for everyone interested in making sustainable living for families more attainable and relatable, even if it initially feels overwhelming. 💛
Are you curious about climate action but don’t know where to start? Maybe you’ve taken a few steps along the adventure and want to level up your eco-conscious lifestyle habits. Get practical and actionable tips and guidance to help modern families incorporate more sustainable living habits into their everyday lives.
From composting at home to reducing consumption to building stronger communities, we explore a variety of ways we can all choose more planet-friendly lifestyle choices and make our world a little better for our kids and the generations that follow. But don’t worry—you don’t have to master all of them. Just start somewhere.
The Earth is struggling due to global warming, increasing toxins and pollutants in our soil and water, and other factors. This impacts all those who share this amazing planet as home. There are many things we can do as humans and as families to help heal our planet and change the way we live to be in sync with nature and the ecosystems in which we live.
The best part is that eco-friendly living is better for us, separate from Mother Nature’s benefits. Through climate action, we can collectively take steps to be better stewards of the planet, live more intentional lives, and make our communities more resilient and sustainable.
Underlying sustainable living is a mindset about challenging the status quo of excessive consumption and being more intentional about our habits around consumption and waste. This applies to how we buy things, use them, and pass them along when we’re done with them. We hope you join us on this journey of slowing down to appreciate what we have and not always striving for the next new thing.
Meet the creator + owner

Jen Panaro, Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Jen Panaro is a self-proclaimed composting nerd who advocates for community building and sustainable living for modern families. Through her writing, workshops, and podcast guesting, she helps others more easily incorporate sustainability into their everyday lives and find ways to be the community connectors and changemakers where they live.
You can also find her published work as an author in How To Raise a Global Citizen: For the Parents of the Children Who Will Save the World. In pursuit of her passion, she started and operated a local curbside composting company, WasteWell, before eventually selling it to dedicate more time to Honestly Modern Media and her family.
She’s also a co-founder of Raising Global Kidizens, an enterprise that creates educational workbooks and hosts workshops for young learners to explore the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and offers corresponding resources to help parents and caregivers raise the next generation of responsible global citizens.
She uses her 15 years of experience as a CPA at a large public accounting firm to inform her volunteer work as the President of the Board of Trustees of her local library.
In her spare time, she’s a serial library book borrower, a composting tinkerer, and a mom of two boys who spend a lot of time playing ice hockey, basketball, and lacrosse.
Learn more about her professional work on LinkedIn, enjoy dollops of her education and family life on Instagram, and hear from Jen on some of the many podcasts on which she’s been a guest.