Shop Scout: Green Depot

By Lexi Green
April 29, 2010

As a mommy-to-be in 2004, Sarah Beatty, a then an MTV marketing executive, was told her home might be contaminated with black mold, a toxin that can be especially harmful to infants. Completely distressed about the harmful effects this might have on her burgeoning family, she combed the Internet looking for safe, environmentally sound solutions to eliminate the mold. She found absolutely nothing.

Luckily, the black mold diagnosis ended up being a false alarm, but Beatty’s obsession with finding cleaner, safer products for family and home continued. In 2005 she opened Green Depot, a self-described, “leading supplier of environmentally friendly and sustainable products, services and home solutions.” Now with 10 distribution centers, a handful of showrooms around the East Coast, an ecommerce site and a one-year-old flagship retail store in the Bowery in Manhattan, Green Depot has become a one-stop shop for eco-minded contractors, home owners, designers, and what store manager Ana Paglione (pictured at left) likes to call “G.I.Y.ers" (Green it Yourselfers).

At Green Depot, shoppers can find everything from green paints to home cleaning supplies to baby and dog toys, to light bulbs and composting bins. And that is just the short list. Paglione recently gave us a tour of the Bowery shop (which in the late 1800s was a YMCA—the outline of the former swimming pool and memorabilia such as a vintage bowling ball and men’s boots have their own corner in the store) and showed us exactly how easy it is to be green.

Shoppers come into the store for reasons large and small. “Some people are just trying to save money on their electrical bill. Others are redoing their entire kitchen or buying an eco-dog toy, and others are repainting their walls and want low-VOC paint,” Paglione says, citing the cleaning products made from plant-derived and biodegradable substances as her personal favorite products. The store even boasts a cleaning product tap, where consumers can come in with their own reusable vessels, fill up and go. Paglione tells us her team fills a lot of old apple juice and baby-food containers for local patrons. There’s also a lighting booth where customers can look at CFL and LED lightbulbs and decide which lighting is best for their space.

Shoppers know they can trust Green Depot to provide an extensive, thoroughly researched eco-background on each and every product because everything on the store's shelves has been vetted through a strict review process and then labeled according to the green benefits it boasts: air quality, local, social responsibility, energy, and conservation. Products have also been tested by Green Depot employees for effectiveness and ease of use.

The product list is endless and for the D.I.Y.er—excuse us, the G.I.Y.er—at heart, Green Depot is an endless creative source. We asked Paglione to take some of her favorite Green Depot items and pair them with eBay finds.

clockwise from top left, all from eBay:

New Organic Shower Curtain Blue Modern Cotton Twill (buy it now price, $89) to pair with Green Depot Ty Shower Curtain ($32.95): Unlike regular vinyl shower curtains, this Ty shower curtain won’t off-gas in your home. Ty breathes, making it less likely to grow mold and mildew. And you can machine wash it and send it back to the company to recycle when you are all done! Design this curtain yourself with a specially supplied marker or pair it with an organic shower curtain, such as the one from eBay.

Solid Oak Kitchen Table and 4 Chairs (starting bid, $175) to pair with Green Depot Rust Oleum Brush-On Chalkboard Paint ($13.95) or Green Depot Baby Colorways ($4.95): "Our low VOC and non-toxic chalkboard and regular paints have been a huge hit. Take them and paint this table in order to make meal time fun for everyone!

Vintage Industrial Copper Cage Wire Light-Lamp Cover (starting bid, $49.99) to pair with Green Depot Soft White Cathode Lightbulb ($17.95) "This Litetronics Micro-Brite cold cathode fluorescent light has an average life up to 25,000 hours and can save up to 85% in energy savings compared to incandescent lamps. Pair it with this great industrial lamp"

Rare Etch 1900 Shasta From Springs Water Seltzer Bottle (buy it now price, $17.99) to pair with Green Depot Liquid Dish Soap ($5.95) "Store your extra Green Depot liquid soap in this vintage etched seltzer bottle."

Vintage Glass Cocktail Set of 8 Retro Glasses & Tray (starting bid, $19.99) to pair with SodaStream Jet Starter Kit ($99.95) "Speaking of seltzer, get rid of all those cans and bottles and start making your own soda with this SodaStream Jet Starter kit. Go completely retro and pair it with your very own vintage cocktail glass set."

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