Stop and take a snapshot of the roses the next time you #walktowork.

Perhaps, dear reader, you’re wondering what the deal is with that # in the title. A late night writing mishap that slipped past the editors? Hardly. It’s part of the curious language of  Twitter, like a compound noun, that the Twitter-savvy refer to as the hashtag. For the uninitiated, it’s a way of organizing your tweets so that others looking for similar content can search and find it.

#Walkingtoworktoday is a photography project started by Michael Surtees, a multidisciplinary designer, writer and educator who strives to explore people’s daily experiences and observations through design.

The concept behind #walkingtoworktoday is to create a “library” of shared experiences utilizing open source tools, mobile devices and cameras, and an everyday occurrence, like walking to work.

Here’s the drill:

#Walkingtoworktoday is open to anyone and the guidelines are pretty straightforward.

1.Take an image while walking to work.
2. Post the image to flickr and tag it with walkingtoworktoday (all one word).
3. Tweet the title of the image with the hash tag #walkingtoworktoday along with a link to the image on flickr.

Sometimes the results are banal; other times, sublime. At the very least, they’re usually interesting.  The subject matter’s not really the point since the beauty of Surtees’ project goes beyond the pictures themselves. Contributors might be in New York, where Surtees resides, or halfway around the world. The hashtag is what unites the effort.

More meaningfully, the concept slows us down and asks us to interact with our surroundings with a fresh perspective (something this column aims to achieve).

Should you find yourself #walkingtoworktoday, perhaps you will be inspired to open up, pause, and take the opportunity to share.  If you do, let us know. Just remember to use the hashtag.

All images are from  flickr.  Two years ago Surteess put this video together as he was thinking about design in New York City.

Eco, trends, art, creativity and how they tumble through social media to shape culture fascinate EcoSalon columnist Dominique Pacheco. Her personal blog, mixingreality, speaks to these topics daily, and here at EcoSalon, she takes a weekly look at the intersection of eco and art. We call it heARTbeat.

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