Here’s the simplest way to green your apartment — in a New York minute: buy one that’s already greened up. I visited a new condo-complex that fills the bill for all of you busy-lazy city dwellers who want to live greener but also say make-it-easy-for-me or fuggeddaboutit.

While there are a number of eco-friendly apartment complexes in NYC to pick from – most come with price tags that only Leonardo Di Caprio and friends can afford. (And we do hear he has bought one of those gorgeous, oh-so-bamboo-and-all-hand-carved-wood-furniture-in the-lobby versions in Riverhouse, so close to the Hudson River you could throw a tofuburger into it from his window – though, that wouldn’t be eco-friendly, now would it?)

However, the Kalahari on 115^th Street in Manhattan is an eco-conscious condo with a difference. Sure, it’s green — it meets the US Green Building Council’s LEED Silver Standards. But what makes it unique among green buildings in this high-priced city is that half of the apartments are for sale at subsidized rates to low-income residents, and the other half are priced at fair (in this economy, that now means fairly decent) market rates.

The deal gets even better once you move in. The building uses almost one-third less energy than comparable new buildings (keeping maintenance costs low). And each homeowner will save an average of $1,200 per year on their energy costs.

The Kalahari Harlem also features some cool, green amenities like green roofs, ionic and plex-air filters for cleaner air, bamboo flooring (eat your heart out, Leo) and on-site Zip Cars (low-cost rental cars allowing you to drive only when you absolutely have to, without the costly-parking-headaches of owning in a big city). There’s also a nifty meter in every apartment so you can see just how much electricity you’re using — or saving, when you unplug all your stuff and cut out that phantom power waste.

“The tiles on the roof reflect the heat and they also allow for water to be retained underneath them, delaying water going down the drain,” explains Julia Lynch Siegel, Project Manager of Sustainability at Full Spectrum NY, the eco-real-estate developers for the Kalahari. Pointing to the solar panels on a different part of the roof, Julia says, “These panels supply all the electricity we need to light the lobby, the entry and the artwork in the building.” Though that’s only a small percentage of total energy needs, the building’s sponsors project that by 2030, the 200+ Kalahari homeowners will collectively have saved over $21 million in total energy costs.

During construction, the sustainable developers kept millions of tons of waste out of the landfills by using recycled materials, from the structural steel and concrete in the foundation to the carpets in the hallways and the recycled-glass tiles in the kitchens.

Inspiration for the name of the building and the dramatic colors and artwork used throughout come from the San bushmen of the South African Kalahari Desert, whose commitment to preserving the earth’s natural resources (and their “click” language) were made famous in the movie, “The Gods Must Be Crazy.” (Go watch it again – you know you want to.)

** If you’re in the market for a green condo in NY, check out the Kalahari website.

** If you’re not in the market for condos in NY, but want to let your local builders see how green building can be done, if the spirit is willing, forward them the website:

** For more on greening the apartment you’ve got, check out this blog post from Best Green Home Tips.

By Susan Seliger

Summer got tired of hearing you can’t be green and stylish at the same time. This model for eco-friendly fashion labels and the host of Discovery Planet’s Green-Jobs show, has written the book on how to do it – from cool purses made out of recycled tires to clothes, makeup, jewelry – all as sustainable as they are fashionable. Oakes doesn’t preach – she says her aim is to be “invisibly green.”

So check out the Invisible Green Activist’s visible results in this video about her excellent new book: Style, Naturally: The savvy shopping guide to sustainable fashion and beauty.

If you have no more room in your closet for any new clothes – no matter how eco-chic – check out Summer’s advice on what to do with your old clothes.

RESOURCES:

For more on Summer, see her web site.

Photo credit: Photos from Summer’s web site.

By Susan Seliger

I know you’ve been waiting for this – lead singer and songwriter for the Hot Red Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis and pop princess with Spirit (that’s her Billboard-topping album not a character assessment), Leona Lewis, have been voted the sexiest vegetarian celebrities alive!

Leaf lovers at Peta.org tallied the votes and made sure these celebs passed the vegan sniff test. Lewis has been a clean-living, animal-shunning British pop singer for most of her young life. Kiedis, on the other hand, is a recent convert, who followed the healthy veggie diet recommended for his son. Big change for him after the druggie life he documented in his autobiography, Scar Tissue. So there’s still hope for the rest of us retrograde, burger-chomping greenhearts.

Check out Leona Lewis and her album on her MySpace page:

And more on Kiedis on Answers.com :

Photo credits: Kiedis: http://www.venicequeen.it/images/Anthony%20Kiedis/juliacher9mh.jpeg

Lewis: from her album, Spirit.