• iStoreGreen

  12 Hall St., nr. Flushing Ave., Clinton Hill; 718-855-4477; istoregreen.com

  A locker is a locker is a locker, as long as it’s clean and dry and vermin-free. But why not go green, if it won’t cost you extra? At iStore Green in Clinton Hill, the electricity comes from renewable sources like wind, solar, and methane; lights automatically switch off when no one’s around; hot water is heated with solar power; and abandoned usable goods like furniture and bicycles go to charities like the Salvation Army instead of a landfill. Shelves and desks are made of wood reclaimed from the rehab of the 1908 warehouse itself, and a ground-floor store sells biodegradable packing peanuts and recycled boxes. When you sign up, the company even plants a tree in the Brazilian rainforest. A basic four-by-four-by-eight-foot locker is $30 a month, about half as much as Manhattan Mini Storage charges for a similar one across the river.

From the 2011 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine