Night Out: Inhabitat at Green Depot

I love getting out to new places in the city, especially for a good cause. So consider this a report out of the Inhabitat Launch Event at the Green Depot flagship store in Manhattan.

It wasn't a post movie premiere, but an interesting event to build awareness of green products and living. Inhabitat is a blog (they call it a weblog) devoted to following green design, and pushing brands and designs to a sustainable future. You can subscribe to their newsletter on the site, so check it out.

Green Depot (@222 Bowery) was formed in 2005, with a goal to "be a leading supplier of environmentally friendly and sustainable building products, services and home solutions". They want to see green living and building that is "easy, affordable and gratifying". I love this last part: easy, affordable and gratifying. Because if it is not, I think it is just that much harder for people to make it a lifestyle.

Green Depot has its own standards to avoid the "Greenwashing" you see all of the time. Have you seen the "green" teflon coated pan at BBB? Really? I try and do what I can here: reuse my WF recycled bag, no chargers left in walls, power strip that separates the always-on from the don't-always-need-to-be-on products. I'm starting to use more glass containers to avoid the plastic chemicals, too.

So, two great organizations in one great evening. We sipped on organic cocktails (Australian sparkling wine for me), mingled with friends and explored the products. I was glad to see the plastic cups were made using corn products (what MB told me). I hate to see plastic cups tossed and wasted, so this was a move I appreciated.

I have started to use better cleaning products, but might have to check these out:

They have a huge selection of paints for the home:

The products were well merchandised:

It seems like alot of products are sold online, and this store is in an interesting location and not exactly an easy "go to" spot for my green cleaning needs. It is a great place to check out flooring, and building ideas in NYC. I would imagine Home Depot and Lowe's have products in their own stores, or are at least moving in this direction. But good to build awareness and get the word out!