Living day-to-day in a sustainable, non-toxic, ecologically-conscious way definitely has its challenges in an urban environment, but that doesn’t mean we can ever stop trying.  Green real estate in NYC is becoming more and more desirable. Glenwood’s newest residential green apartment tower, the spectacular Emerald Green in Midtown Manhattan, is our first completely LEED-certified building, which means that its construction and on-going maintenance conform not just to New York City code, but also to the much tougher standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Clearly, New Yorkers approve, as Emerald Green has approached full capacity more quickly than any other comparably-sized new building in the last year.

Products for Green Homes

But how to sustain a commitment to living a greener everyday life? In an effort to have green homes, we can start with the basics: namely, altering the routines and purchasing habits surrounding one of our least favorite activities, scrubbing the house clean. We’re suckers for good product design, so our default cleaning supplies these past few years have all come from Method, including their highly effective AND eco-friendly line of hand soaps (we’re partial to the foaming variety, which we buy in those bulk bags and refill our pump bottle); their tub and tile cleaners (as good and SO much less toxic–both to the environment and to our noses as we clean–than Tilex, or Scrubbing Bubbles); and their new and quite frankly gorgeous-looking Laundry Detergent.  With attractive designs like these, it is easy to buy eco-friendly products that can turn our homes into green homes.

There are, of course, many other green home cleaning products on the market these days (though none, in our opinion, with such nice typography as Method!), including a robust line from Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day (which is not only eco-friendly but also aromatherapeutic to boot), Melaleuca (which relies quite a bit on fragrant Tea Tree Oil) and good ol’ Bon Ami cleansing and polishing powder. And if you’re looking for a more D.Y.I. approach, the suggestions you can find online are legion. As always, the excellent blog Re-nest, a part of the Apartment Therapy family, is a good place to start. NYC green apartment living is enhanced with cleaning products for a all-around truly green apartment.