Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Habana Outpost - Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week



Habana Outpost (Brooklyn New York) is a one-of-a-kind restaurant experience that begins with the outdoor food truck (a restored U.S. postal service truck)--that's right, there's no indoor kitchen at this restaurant! Habana Outpost is solar-powered, has both indoor and outdoor seating, uses compostable biodegradable plates, cups, and utensils, has tables made from recycled materials, has a rainwater collection system to water plants and flush toilets, runs a human-powered bicycle-propelled juice blender, and composts and recycles waste.

In addition to these restaurant features, Habana Outpost serves as a community gathering place offering weekly movie nights and a host of other activities. For example, the Kid's Corner offers ecological activities and an "alternative heroes" coloring book (about real-life heroes!). The restaurant hosts a weekend market of local vendors and weekly fashion shows for local designers. They host an annual Earth Day Expo of informative and interactive displays on sustainability and have a gallery display of local artist's works.

Habana Outpost is one of three Habana restaurants in New York City. The company operates Habana Works, Inc., a nonprofit offering free sustainability-related workshops through various programs such as Habana Labs and Urban Studio Brooklyn. Habana Labs is dedicated to researching, developing, applying and teaching the best technology related to ecology and sustainable energy. The most recent Habana Labs project is the Offgrid Outlet, a motorized, sun-following solar panel. Another program of Habana Works is the Urban Studio Brooklyn, an architectural design/build program which recently launched the Fishmobile, a human-powered mobile fishing clinic/wetlab.

Habana Outpost was opened in 2005 by Sean Meenan owner of Manhattan's Cafe Habana and Habana To Go; the company of restaurants was started in 1998. Watch one of their many videos here.

Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week is a weekly behind-the-scenes look at what businesses are doing to be more sustainable and responsible in their operations.

Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week: If they can do it, so can you!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

thanks for posting!!!

 
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