Making town maps showing Green initiatives

Wendy Brawer has sold almost 10,000 copies of a Green Apple Map, a full-colour map of New York that uses symbols to illustrate where examples of Green initiatives are located and also where the worst polluting sites are. Thus there are symbols for bicycle trails, recycling centres, parks, bird sanctuaries, solar-heated buildings, community gardens, zoos and ponds; and for landfills, polluted water and incinerators.

Brawer sees the making of the such maps as a powerful educational tool, and is encouraging other communities to produce them by making available the symbols and other aids as shareware through the Internet. There will also be a published book and CD ROM version. These will show how to bring together a local design team, how to select sites, and how to design, fund, print, distribute and market the maps. All the finished maps may also be made available via the Internet for eco-tourists and others. 'Thousands of people', writes Brawe, 'will have a new perception of your town and will help shape it into a better place to live.'

Wendy Brawer and O2 (an international group of ecological designers), Modern World Design, 157 Ludlow, floor 4, New York, NY 10002, USA (tel 001 212 674 1631; e-mail <WEBrawer@aol.com>).