We have long been a proponent of rooftop gardens and farms which make fine use of otherwise unproductive space, as well as serving to insulate buildings, prevent damaging runoff and alleviate the Heat Island Effect.

Manhattan is, after all, a vertical metropolis where the use of every square foot is both art and science. While we think of that verticality as height, it can work productively both ways. Up. And down.

Thus, it is that a basement in TriBeCa contains one of the City’s best-kept secrets and most unique establishments – a 1,200 square foot, hydroponic urban farm where 500 varieties of greens and herbs grow with neither soil nor sunlight.

The growth medium is, instead, water-based and nutrient-rich and the “sunlight” is LED lighting. No pesticides are used, but you will find beneficial insects hard at work protecting the precious crops. The close proximity, pesticide-free produce is used by many of the City’s fine restaurants – think Le Coucou, Daniel & Butter for a few – and is also available for your home table.

Freshness is guaranteed as products are delivered via bike and subway within the hour. Only in New York can you get summer sorrel hand-delivered during a snowstorm.

For the garden’s website, log onto farm.one where you can learn more, book a tour or hold your next special – really special – event.

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Steven_J._SchleiderBy Steven J. Schleider, MAI, LEED-AP BD + C President, Metropolitan Valuation Services

The shampoo bar may well be the eco-friendliest solution to what is estimated to be 552 million plastic shampoo bottles we throw out annually. One naked bar provides about 80 washes – the equivalent of three medium-size bottles.

With plastic packaging so predominant in the cosmetics and beauty industry, naked alternatives to plastic packaging like a shampoo bar can go a long way to reducing litter on beaches (80% of which is plastic) as well as eliminating additions to the 300,000 tons of plastic debris in our oceans.

Think about it. No plastic bottle in your bathroom or shower. No potentially leaking plastic bottle in your suitcase. No plastic bottle in your trash or recycling. Insofar as does it work, we’ve heard it does wonders for your hair. How it that possible? Easy. These bars are basically shampoo without the water and there is a big assortment of fragrances, types, shapes and colors from which to choose.

Google shampoo bar to find the right one for you. We found a lot of choices from J.R. Liggett’s Old-Fashioned Bar Shampoo (they even a tea tree and hemp oil formula) to Shea with Coconut & Hibiscus and artisan-made bars at Etsy with names like Strawberries & Cream, Rose Spice and Cabana Boy.

See the short video here:

Shampoo Bars

These shampoo bars could replace the 552 million shampoo bottles we throw out annually.

Posted by ATTN: on Saturday, June 9, 2018

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Steven_J._SchleiderBy Steven J. Schleider, MAI, LEED-AP BD + C President, Metropolitan Valuation Services