Inhabitat

I work for the Center for Sustainable Design Studies (CSDS.Pratt.edu) at Pratt Institute (200 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn) and we’re great because we’re a multifaceted green effort! We are a multi-phased sustainable design material resource library (we have a materials wall!) for students, faculty and designers at pratt and in brooklyn, we spread awareness about sustainability through campus events, and we’re doing social research projects with cup recycling in our campus cafeterias and in cafes in manhattan — and we’re not fooled by our school’s attempts at greenwashing!!

one of the greenest places i enjoy on the island would have to be all the thrift stores on the upper east side. All the top brands are at these shops once owned my New York’s super wealthy. There are always amazing buys there and nothing says green quite like reuse.

In Brooklyn, there is a small pizza place where the same man has been making pizzas for nearly a century. His name is DiFara and he grows his own tomatoes, herbs, and garlic. http://www.difara.com/ The pizza is ridiculously delicious!

Angelica Kitchen, 300E 12th St., http://www.angelicakitchen.com/, was enough to convince me to go vegan after I graduated with an agriculture and animal science degree in Iowa and moved to NYC. It’s the only place I know where I could take meat loving friends and they could get an idea why anyone would go vegetarian! Everything Angelica serves is fabulous and it’s all vegan. I’ve lived all over the country since then, but it’s still the first place I go (and usually the last, too!) when I’m in NYC.

I love the Rouge Tomate – 10 East 60th Street.

When shopping for a gift, or looking for vegan shoes, Sustainable NYC is a great little shop, right near Thomkins sq
http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/SustainableNYC/StoreFront.bok

Habana Outpost and Habana Cafe (They also have a cafe in Manhattan)
757 Fulton Street at South Portland Street
Brooklyn, NY 11217
The home style latin food is excellent. They have a ‘green market’ in the summer. They have solar panels that produce the energy for the restaruant and then they sell excess to ConEdison. They have a rainwater collection system used to water the plants and flush toilets. There plates are made out of biodegradable sugarcane fiber. The cups are made of plastic made from corn and are compostable. The cutlery is made from potato starch and is compostable. They have a human powered bike blender. Much of the restaurant was built with recycled building materials and so much more. Check them out sometime.
http://www.cafehabana.com/

Any of my Brooklyn neighborhood’s fresh & local Farmer’s Markets! This link takes you a list to ALL of them! :)

http://www.wburg.com/0101/context/farmersmarkets.html

The High Line! Beautifully designed and executed transformation of a rail line built in the 30’s into an elevated linear park. The landscaping is stunning, and the park will only get better as it’s extended northward, eventually all the way to 34th St. Presently, the park runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 20th Street.

http://www.thehighline.org

Green Depot makes my eco-conscious shopping easier. Personally, i like the cleaning products on tap. I can get refills of Green Depot’s line of cleaning products dispensed from bar taps near the entry of the store. It’s located on bowery.
http://www.greendepot.com/greendepot/