For us urban dwellers, defining, interpreting and experiencing
nature on the urban scale may seem a social oxymoron. Historically the
city has been kept separate from nature, removed because society tells
us that nature in its pristine state cannot exist within the
industrious confines of the city. Perhaps it is this stigma which
influences our perception of nature in the city. Or perhaps, it is the juxtaposition or the unexpectedness of
experiencing nature in an urban setting, that keeps the actual event
energized and anything but commonplace.

So then, how would one design a Nature Trail in the City?

"People observe the city while moving through it, and along these
paths the other environmental elements are arranged and related" --
Kevin Lynch, The Image of The City

As a school of design, Pratt's urban campus offers great potential as
a canvas for the creation of a nature trail. The right-brained of us
may jump to images of indigenous plants flanking a meandering path of
soft damp wood chips.

But would this method of merely recreating nature really harness the
creativity of our campus? Or could the creation of a nature trail on campus be an ongoing
exercise in design, a conceptual exercise constantly evolving and reinterpreting nature, path and design.

In a publication of Public Art Review, Foundations Professor,
Cathey Billian articulates the challenge of such a design concept.

"For me, the loudest knock of all, however, has been from passion
trying to enter into the language of both public art and environmental
interpretation-- two site-based disciplines that create a powerful
sense of destination, but often leave out the sense of process: the
exploring, perceiving, and digging--deeper. Perhaps the real
challenge is to give this process material forms--to infuse the art
product with the passion of the creative act."

And if this process were to take the shape of a trail..."Suggested in
the trail is the possibility of stopping, altering, or magnifying time
as we normally experience it."

Since 1982 more than 90 Billion bottles and cans have been returned and recycled in New York because of the 5-cent refundable deposit on beer and soda containers. Making the Bottle Bill one of New York's most effective environmental programs.

It is time to make New York's most successful litter prevention and recycling program even more effective. Because the bottle bill was enacted in 1982, before bottled water and sports drinks became popular, it did not include non-carbonated beverages. According to NYPIRG, it does not make sense for the bill to cover a bottle of sparkling water and for plain water to end up as pollution.

The Bigger Better Bottle Bill updates the State's redemption program to include bottled water and other non-carbonated beverages.

***It also requires beverage companies to transfer unclaimed bottle deposits to the State's Environmental Protection Fund to support clean air, water, and open space***

Sustainable Pratt is in support of the proposed updates to New York's Bottle Bill! You too can Take Action!

The Mayor addresses the main sticking point between Carbon tax and Cap and Trade strategies, price. As Bloomberg makes his point he refers to the European Union attempt at cap and trade which has struggled with pricing uncertainty. he goes on to emphasize that "Employment is good, pollution is bad" and he suggests that Congress should "use the revenue from pollution pricing to cut the payroll tax". In doing so the carbon tax would become a revenue-neutral tax, a progressive form of pollution pricing that is also supported by Al Gore and the Carbon Tax Center