Green Apple Cleaners: Crisp and Refreshing

In my post about the Third Avenue Street Fair, I noted that I had found a place called Green Apple Cleaners, notable for the large amount of advertising that it was doing and for being something that I'd been looking for in Manhattan for awhile: a Green Dry Cleaner. My $20 free promo gift certificate in tow, I went over to their 2nd Avenue location, which was the most conveniently located for me. Other locations do exist; 92 Greenwich Avenue is notable for being very convenient for theoretical NYU student Amelia, and their 322 Columbus Avenue location is great for West Side dwellers. For the commuters among you with extremely high car insurance but tanks of cheap gas, they've also got a location in Mahwah, NJ.

To begin with I have to say that I was impressed by the nature of Green Apple Cleaners. While at times I can be described as a bleeding-granola, hippie-hearted liberal, there are times when I'm wearing the hat of a savvy and calculating New York businessman, or the labcoat of a detached intellectual. Green Apple manages to appeal to all of these sensibilities by being a completely traditional dry cleaner that just so happens to use green materials and methods. I could see everyone from dyed-hair punkish college women to the soccer moms they are terrified of turning into being very happy to use Green Apple. That kind of pluralism is the thing I look for in green business because it means that green stops being something that you have to be a "nut" in order to care about. If something can make it seem like everybody in society is concerned about sustainability and the environment, I say bring it on.

It's this that left me inclined towards Green Apple from the moment I walked into the door. Mainstream appeal means that things will move forward with making the US a greener place to live. This place had pretty reasonable prices, an on-staff tailor, and a friendly set of employees. Anybody could have a good experience at Green Apple without ever knowing that they are a green business, and that's the way that we are going to move this philosophy into the hearts and minds of more than just the activists out there. So points for you, Green Apple, for being completely normal. It's not for me, but I respect you for it.

Further, I got the clothes back and they weren't just clean. The principle by which Green Apple's dry cleaning works is that they use carbon dioxide (at least someone is putting it to good use) to clean clothes. As a biologist, I can tell you that carbon dioxide can be a pretty effective disinfectant, and it can dissolve lots of exciting forms of dirt that make their way into your clothes. It even did a bangup job of removing an ink stain that I just could not get out of one of my shirts, something which was a major cause of celebration when I got to wear that shirt and still feel presentable.

I have to admit that my visit was definitely incentivized by the 10% off for new customers that they offered me, along with the gift certificate that I'd been given at the street fair, but after the experience of getting what I would expect from another dry cleaner and still sticking to my green principles, I will definitely be going back to Green Apple. You should check it out.