NYC may already be one of America’s most eco-forward cities, but these varied companies and initiatives—which represent diverse aspects of the city’s culture—really go the distance to make sure all New Yorkers eat, think, work, and live green.
ANTHONY COCHRAN AND JESSE JOHNSON
Cofounders, Q Collection
WHY THEY’RE GREEN: “We started with the sole purpose of combining sustainability with great design,” says Jesse Johnson. “Everything we design and produce involves thinking about what the environmental and health implications are.” When he and Anthony Cochran started out in 2002, there were hardly any choices for green design junkies who wanted new high-end, chemical-free furniture and fabrics. “The products that were fully green looked and felt terrible,” Johnson adds.
REASONS TO RAVE: Johnson and Cochran were pioneers in the luxurydesign market when they started producing gorgeous pieces made with wood from sustainable forests, organic cotton, nontoxic dyes, and biodegradable natural fabrics. Seven years later, many of the furniture manufacturers are trying to catch up by introducing green lines. “All these companies began introducing green products that were two parts reality and eight parts marketing,” says Johnson. “There’s a lack of standards, so we rely on transparency. We don’t make any claims that we can’t document as true. We rely on third-party testing.” Their Q Collection Junior crib is the only Green Guard Institute-certified crib in the country.
UP NEXT: The company is expanding its textile line; its children’s line, Q Collection Junior, which offers chemical-free kids’ furniture, just added new crib, organic bedding, and glider designs. Q Collection, 915 Broadway, Suite 1001, 212-529-1400; qcollection.com; qcollectionjunior.com.
ROHIT AGGARWALA
Director, Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability
WHY THEY’RE GREEN: The motivation behind Mayor Bloomberg’s ambitious 23-year city plan, PlaNYC, is to make New York a truly sustainable city. The 127-point roadmap seeks to reduce greenhouse gases; add parklands; clean up contaminated city sites; reduce water and energy consumption; increase walking, biking, and mass-transportation use; and prepare for the ways climate change and population growth will affect the city.
REASONS TO RAVE: “New York has been recognized as having one of the world’s leading environmental plans,” says Rohit Aggarwala. While an all-hybrid taxi fleet and congestion pricing didn’t become realities, there are plenty of green successes from the first two years: 160,000 trees have been planted; 10 percent of all cabs are hybrids; and more than 142 miles of bike lanes have been added. A total of $80 million is being invested annually in city buildings for energy upgrades, many of which have a short payback. “The upgrades have been protected from the budget cuts because they pay for themselves,” explains Aggarwala. “Sometimes sustainability and economics work together.”
UP NEXT: “Our first major task for 2009 is our green-building agenda,” says Aggarwala. This involves closing loopholes in state energy codes and working on retrofitting existing buildings with energy-efficient technologies. “No city has really done a good job of addressing the greening of existing buildings—it will be landmark legislation.” And don’t think the all-hybrid taxi fleet is off the table: With President Obama’s announcement this past winter that 14 states will be allowed to set their own limits on emissions, the mayor’s office is hopeful that the new cabs will soon be a reality. “We want to get the law changed in Washington so we can put our hybrid-taxi law into effect,” says Aggarwala. The city is also busy working on a climatechange adaptation report, for which a team of scientists is calculating what will happen to sea levels, temperature, and storms in the city in the coming years. “That way we can start planning for—and designing around—climate change,” says Aggarwala. For more information on PlaNYC, visit nyc.gov/planyc2030.
