This is New York: Michael Heimbinder, community and environmental innovator

NEW YORK—From deep underground to the top of the skyscrapers, each level of NYC affects those above and below it. Those effects also cross through time, not only space, such as how toxic industrial waste continues to affect residents, years after the plant is gone. 

Michael Heimbinder and his friends launched Habitat Map, an online mapping and networking platform, allowing New Yorkers to share knowledge about their neighborhoods and factors affecting the quality of life. 

Knowledge, he says, can empower people and communities to demand a higher quality of life. In his vision, citizens will use the system as a sixth sense, notifying each other about things in their environments they may not be aware of, but affect them nonetheless. 

The masses have not yet jumped onto the system. Instead, several educational institutions adopted Habitat Map and environmental and social justice organizations use it for better communication and action. 

The Epoch Times: Are you disappointed Habitat Map did not take the path you envisioned? 
Michael Heimbinder: Disappointed, of course. At the same time, I think it has utility regardless of whether it met my initial expectations. People are using it, basically to exchange best practices. For instance, a compost map has been made. If you did not have access to that, then you would not be able to publicize composting as a phenomenon in Brooklyn. It allows you two things: one, you can see where all the compost locations are and see what people are doing. And two, if you want to contribute, it becomes a resource for you. 

The Epoch Times: How would you like this initiative to develop in the future? 
Heimbinder: We are developing a curriculum for the Green School. … We are going to be working with the students, researching water, energy, and waste systems. Then we are going to take what we’ve done in the Green School and make it into a toolkit … how to ask geographic questions and how to do research from a geographic perspective. When you approach problems from a geographic lens, you are able to see connections. The toolkit will not be only for high schools, but also for community-based organizations.

The Epoch Times: Do you enjoy the work with habitat map? 
Heimbinder: I enjoy it on so many levels. I enjoy it because I feel I am having an impact. I enjoy that people use an application to express themselves and make a positive change in their communities. I love the technical challenge of it, creating media, websites, and publications. I like working with people who are working on environmental challenges and are passionate about their work.