Inside Scoop for the Inhabitat NYC Birthday Bash!

Inhabitat is a webblog that is dedicated to sustainable design and technology.  This past Friday they hosted a green bash in honor of their 5th birthday!  Green Thinking Blog asked Laurel, from Laurel on Health Food to attend since she lives in the Big Apple, plus we saved carbon emissions since I had to stay in Florida.  Check out what she discovered as she shares her inside scoop of this event.  Thanks again Laurel! -Kate

Last Friday I attended Inhabitat.com‘s 5th birthday party in New York City. My night began in typical New York fashion. I showed up at the address, read some fine-print on the door, was re-directed a few blocks over, and ended up standing in line in a dark alley between two buildings with nothing but a red-light bulb over some double doors. Once I got to the front of the line, I was packed into a creaky, dark elevator with about 15 other people to take the trip upstairs to Green Spaces for the event.

First off, the Green Spaces offices were beautiful, and I loved all the eco decorations. Some of my favorite pieces were a wall of live green plants and a wire hanger sculpture. I also spotted a sculpture made from waste plastic soda can holders and a wall of recycled blue jeans. As soon as I walked in, I found some recycle bins for all plastic and paper used during the night. Great to see those!

I picked up a little info card on the Green Spaces office rental prices and was impressed by the affordable $35/day rate. I was really thinking it would be much more than that (considering it’s NYC). You can also rent a part-time desk for $300/month or a full-time desk for $550/month. The offices feature green walls, wind power, refurbished furniture, and free coffee.

For drinks, Inhabitat had a nice wine selection and fresh cocktails mixed by Ripe, a company that makes all natural cocktail mixers. The two drinks of the night were margaritas with tequila and a hard lemonade with vodka. I was impressed by the taste of these mixes and also by the friendliness of the staff doing the mixing. I’m usually one to make my own cocktails from scratch, but if I need some drinks in a rush, I’ll definitely consider Ripe in the future. I’m happy to see a cocktail mix on the market without yucky high fructose corn syrup. Ripe’s mixes are all natural and eco-friendly. Just make sure to recycle those plastic bottles when you’re done.

As for food, I have to say I was a little underwhelmed. I found two tables with some Sabra hummus, tortilla chips, and trays of raw broccoli, carrots, and cucumber (all left in their original containers). I was hoping there would be a little something special (especially with all the healthy food companies local to NYC). While I appreciated the effort to provide healthy fare, everything was picked over and I didn’t see it get replenished for the two hours I was there. My suggestion for next year’s party would be to additionally offer some raw chocolate truffles or local-grown fresh fruit. I happen to know a few healthy chef entrepreneurs in NYC who would probably LOVE to sponsor a green event. I’m just sayin’.

A few final notes…The DJs spinning at the Inhabitat event were playing some great tunes and they even had a sweet black leather chair with a turntable built right into the seat. I made sure to get a picture of that. Also, I wanted to point out that the Inhabitat staff were super friendly and laid-back. That’s always a big plus! All-in-all it was a great night out and I got to do a little networking too. Too bad I didn’t win the solar power backpack, because it was super cute in person.

Thanks to Inhabitat for hosting the free party! A very special thank you to Kate for telling me about the event and sending me as her honorary guest reporter. I’m there for ya anytime there’s a green event in NYC.

Tagged as: Community, design, Earth Day, events, nyc