look up

today some of the mica banners came down on mount royal to be replaced by the baltimore version of the urban forest project. the idea started first in new york city. artists and designers were called upon to create banners banners that used trees as a metaphor for sustainability (all of the original banners can be seen here) and they were hung on lampposts in an outdoor exhibition. when creator, mark randall, presented the project at the bma last fall during "design for community," he announced that someone had recently agreed to bring the idea to baltimore. just a few months later, it is a reality. 350 banners. 7 streets and 6 parks. and it is a reflection of the direction baltimore is heading in.

the whole city has switched to single stream recyling. it was weird to be home and not have a way to recycle. i'm glad that there seems to be more of a sense of sustainability consciousness here. the mica store has stopped carrying plastic bags. people walk places. cafe doris now has corn cutlery (we still have styrofoam take out boxes, but one step at a time...) there's even a baltimore sweep action parade this saturday. i'm not one to get caught up in the hype of green. but this is all stuff that just makes sense. and why not use banners to build discourse?