"The Green Depot brings eco-consciousness down to earth, where it belongs," writes Mike Albo in the New York Times (4/9/09). After launching Green Depot in 2005 as a supply house for commercial builders, Sarah Beatty says it soon attracted a consumer following. "... The first year, 50 percent of the traffic were homeowners, mothers with their kids, young couples," she says. Sarah is a former MTV marketing exec who says she became interested in environmental issues after becoming pregnant and discovering that her home might be infested with black mold. She now has six stores for builders (with two more on the way), and one for consumers.

The consumer store features things like biodegradable dog-waste bags, packing peanuts and solar chargers for cell phones. It also offers "an extensive baby section" including "cribs approved by the F.S.C. (Forest Stewardship Council), organic cotton mattress pads and teddy bears made of 100 percent Soysilk fiber ... At the front of the store a wooden bar with big beer-style taps offers refills of cleaning solutions, and a small curtained booth allows you to turn on different bulbs to check their brightness."

The effect is both "playful and educational," with merchandise "organized into stations of interest (energy and lighting, air and water filtration, mold remediation)" with items selected based on "a rigorous Consumer Reports-style screen process." This entails a coding system of "green filter symbols" that identify the eco-implications of its goods -- "air quality (no harmful emissions), conservation (recycled content, renewable materials)," and so forth. According to Mike Albo, the "green-filter graphics and well-organized displays make the store feel like a child-friendly interactive wing of the Museum of Natural History -- in a good way." ~ Tim Manners, editor.