After seeing New Yorkers’ positive response to the option of green self-storage, owner Jeffrey E. Sitt started a mission to make it national. “There’s green dry-cleaning and even green wines available today. Self-storage needs to be greened, too,” he said, “especially since it’s an industry that can use a lot of energy and materials, and is one people use every day, not a few times a week. It needs to be accessible.”
When Hall Street Self Storage opened, it drew headlines and customers with its groundbreaking green efforts. For example, it received praise from Corporate Social Responsibility News for its purchase of 100 percent clean, renewable energy for electricity.
Hall Street also became a model for showing that living green doesn’t have to cost more, with rates that are at least 50 percent lower than Manhattan self-storage spaces and less than those of Brooklyn competitors. Beyond clean energy, it became known for creative green actions like offering biodegradable packing peanuts, reused packing boxes, and alternatives to bubble wrap like shredded paper from the office paper shredder. It also provides a room for tenants’ unwanted items that are given to a local charity.
Now, under its new brand, the company is pursuing still more green initiatives, including office desks and unit shelving made from reclaimed wood, solar hot-water heating, and a booklet of green ideas for customers printed on recycled paper with soy ink. Future plans include a fleet of Pedi vans, which will use cycling power to transfer local residents’ possessions to their storage spaces for a zero-emissions move.
For more information, visit www.istoregreen.com.
New Brand Aims to Expand Green Self-Storage
Article-New Brand Aims to Expand Green Self-Storage
Hall Street Self Storage of Brooklyn, N.Y., which opened in May 2008 as the countrys first green self-storage facility, has changed its name and established the new iStoreGreen brand in hopes of making eco-friendly self-storage accessible nationwide.
