Over the last 10 years, the Green Map System has been doing for
eco-conscious explorers what the Rand McNally atlas did for
American drivers. From Miami Beach to Beijing, green maps now
provide travelers with a guide to earth-friendly resources in
cities around the world. They’re also great tools for awakening
people to green urban projects closer to home.
The concept was born in 1992, when founding director Wendy
Brawer and her company Modern World Design published the ‘Green
Apple Map’ of New York. The map highlighted the city’s ecologically
important sites and sparked interest among those who wanted to draw
similar maps of their own communities.
Brawer launched the wider Green Map System in 1995. Using the
Internet, she and others designed a set of icons that soon became a
standard for other mapmakers around the globe. A decade later, 208
maps have been published and more than 60 are available online.
Recently mapped cities include Bangalore, Paris, Stockholm, Warsaw,
and Wacarpay, Peru. Each map has a distinct local flavor while
sharing the same icons for bike paths, natural food stores, solar
power, farmers’ markets, special trees, and other such resources.
The maps also denote polluted sites, landfills, and hazardous waste
facilities.
For more information on making a green map for your community,
go to www.greenmap.org.