Early 20th Century Brooklyn Warehouse Recycled Into USA’s First Green Storage Facility
May 30th, 2008 by Ethan
Brooklyn itself is being recycled. Buildings, businesses, materials, ideas.
That is the very premise of the founding of GBK: to encourage the sustainable and responsible use and re-use of, well, everything.
Very seldom can we point to one person or entity that embodies all of those things. Enter Hall Street Storage, a storage facility that has been Brooklyn owned and operated since 1931.
In the spirit of the green business movement and the re-development of downtown Brooklyn, the business took upon itself the wholesale greening of the warehouse complex that was built to serve the Brooklyn Navy Yard area back in 1918.
Now completed, the greening of the business and the property has resulted in an impressive transformation of both the physical complex and also the philosophies of management — both of which are now as green as can be.
The green aspects of the business are numerous; from using 100% green-e certified renewable energy to 
recycling the old wood beams into wood shavings that replace plastic bubble wrap (they also have biodegradable bioplastic packing peanuts made from corn starch, if you prefer). Flooring and furniture were also made from the building’s 100-year-old reclaimed wood. [Ed. Note. Correction: the reclaimed wood is being sold to local artisans to be made into flooring and furniture. Brooklyn Farm Table perhaps?!]
An efficiency-minded remodel has resulted in the addition of 80,000 square feet of floor space for use by clients.
Green-E rep Aleka Seville had this to say about the company’s purchase of green energy:
“By investing in clean, renewable energy, Hall Street Storage has given their customers the opportunity to support a company that raises awareness and inspires action by taking significant steps to reduce the negative impacts of a fossil-fuel energy generation.”
With the greening of the local community in mind, Hall Street Storage has even founded a foundation — Wallabout/Clinton Hill Green Awareness Foundation — that will be funded by a portion of proceeds from the sale of recycled packing materials. The foundation is devoted to fostering sustainable lifestyle practices within the Downtown Brooklyn community.
President of Hall Street Storage, Jeffrey E. Sitt:
“Our commitment to having the lowest impact on the environment is more than one of policy; it’s become our primary passion.” He hopes the company’s commitment to the green business movement will inspire other area businesses. “It’s like dropping a pebble into a pond,” he says. “One little ripple will always reverberate into wider circles.”
Check out more by reading Hall Street Storage’s green initiatives and recent news postings.
Here are links about their storage services and promotions:
- Self Storage Center grand opening
- Inquire about self storage
- Enter the contest to win a free year of rent
- Map to the location of the facility
- New self-storage customers will receive an eco-tote bag filled with environmental helpers like a CFL bulb, a natural house cleaner, and a book with tips on how to be green
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2 Responses to “Early 20th Century Brooklyn Warehouse Recycled Into USA’s First Green Storage Facility”
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May 31st, 2008 at 6:06 am
The big “yes, but” here is that the self-storage industry is an emblem of our unsustainability.
If people just used what they had, instead of buying more and more crap, thus needing storage space, we wouldn’t need self-storage…
It’s no surprise that storage is a tremendous growth industry in the USA
http://www.selfstorages.net/storage/guide/self-storage-industry.html
so kudos on the greening of the business, but the industry sector itself is a nightmare.
kinda like: no matter how green ben & jerry’s…they are still making people fat and diabetic.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
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