For the first time in history, more than half the population of the world lives in urban environments (WorldWatch Institute, 2007). This proportion is increasing by the day. Solving the challenge of sustainable living is largely a challenge to our urban lifestyle. Urban Solutions for the Environment (USE) aims to provide people with the knowledge to live prosperously and sustainably in the 21st century. USE has adopted a 3-point plan of:

• support for green collar career pathways
• increased awareness of nature
• lifestyle enhancement through behavior change.

Nature of New York
Exploring the Nature of New York seeks to provide New Yorkers with an ecological literacy of the city they live in; to share in the enhanced awareness of our city's unique and valuable natural heritage - its animals, plants, natural areas and the services they provide to people. Exploring the Nature of New York also hopes to engage New Yorkers in the challenges of our rapidly urbanizing world, its changing patterns of consumption, trade and ecosystem use and, ultimately, how these changes affect our immediate urban environment and health http://www.ive.cuny.edu/nynn/home.htm

Behavior Change
Behavioral change has been formally studied by scientists for over 100 years, with personal interest consistently proving to be a vital ingredient. Therefore, behavior change strategies and initiatives rely on activities or outcomes that prove meaningful to the individual or community. Therefore, awareness campaigns alone are not sufficient in producing change, despite the good intentions of the initiators.

Behavior change campaigns that capitalize on financial benefits in the form of reductions to weekly outgoings or increased job opportunities will prove effective. Behavior change at USE will utilize these key factors and motivations to maximize the penetration of our green collar initiatives by maximizing the discernible benefits to the individual and community.

Green Collar Jobs
Thanks to the rotation of the planet around its axis and around the sun, nothing is as certain as everlasting wind, solar, geothermal, tide and wave energy. Add to that the resolve of human spirit and innovation, and surely we have the ingredients to solve this energy and inequality crisis. Green Collar Jobs provide sustainable, locally beneficial opportunities for employment to skilled and semi-skilled workers in profitable businesses whose practices preserve the environment.

Green Collar Jobs operate within sound ecological principles, such as `use, re-use, re-cycle' of raw materials, interdependence of species and climate, and providing for future generations. This approach demonstrates the intersection of training a green collar workforce, and sustaining economic development. Green collar jobs take into account the true costs of business development, such as minimizing costs due to waste and pollution, and preserving natural resources for future generations (Lester Brown, Paul Hawken). In particular, economic development fueled by renewable energy encapsulates not only principles of sustainability, but also equal opportunity for the human race. After all, borders cannot contain the winds, cannot shade opportunity from the sun.

Green collar branding will arguably be the premium marketing tool for companies and initiatives this century. Just witness the pro-environmental changes to mega-giants such as Wal-Mart and Virgin Enterprises. These companies have lead capitalism into this century, and are illustrating publicly their beliefs in the need for a paradigmatic shift in business models.