Keeling Curve

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Floating Garden is Swale’s next phase: a permanent floating food forest and climate learning platform built on a 90’ x 30’ deck barge. It is being retrofitted on the Erie Canal in New York State and will begin public programming Summer 2026, then berth seasonally in NYC neighborhoods as permits are secured.

Critical gap: Cities need visible, neighborhood-scale carbon sinks that also deliver daily benefits. Tree planting campaigns often fail because land is scarce, maintenance is underfunded, and benefits are unevenly distributed. At the same time, public foraging is illegal on NYC parkland, limiting commons-based food systems.

Breakthrough: Swale uses waterways as legal and physical space for a food forest. The barge behaves like a patch of land that can move to communities, host lawful open harvests, and build pressure for policy change. In this phase, the breakthrough is measurability. Floating Garden is designed to store carbon in three pools that can be monitored with established methods: woody biomass, soil organic carbon, and biochar carbon.

Why the solution is hard: Working on water is unique and brings hundreds of thousands of people to the project. It also adds layers of safety, permitting, and cost. Living systems also require long-term stewardship. We built this phase around durability: USCG-informed safety, modular planters, and partner-driven maintenance.

Additionality and integrity: We do not sell offsets. We report what we can measure, state assumptions, and publish results annually. The primary “customers” are the public and host partners: people who need shade, food, and a place to learn, not a product to buy.

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Swale is a trailblazing arts’ initiative that empowers traditionally marginalized groups. Swale speaks to climate change and the communities most vulnerable to it. Swale’s artistic expression is of access to food, clean air, and clean water. During Swale’s pilot phase, we employed eight young people from the neighborhood when it was docked in the South Bronx, a food desert, who gave a voice to the community. Swale catalyzed the Foodway, the first time NYC Parks allowed foraging on public land, expanding access to parks, stewardship, and awareness about agroforestry and carbon farming. Through the pilot barge and the Swale Lab, Swale has hosted 347,000 visitors, 940 guided tours, 92 school field trips, 68 free public programs, and 38 Summer Youth Employees.
The launch in 2024 of a permanent fleet of floating food forests that focus on urban regenerative farming, local plants and habitats, and carbon sequestration, allows for a tangible vision of sustainability and environmental justice. Swale strategically uses art to instigate wonder and shift perceptions, inspiring young people to pursue studies and professions in food, climate justice, and environmental science. Swale is designed through feedback and insights from over 130,000 contributors during a participatory workshop process, ensuring its relevance.

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