So, last week I went to the opening shindig of a brand new ‘eco-mall’ on Long Street.

What was the rather dark and cavernous Baobab Mall has been completely revamped into a sleek new ‘sustainable shopping’ centre called 210 On Long.

Each shop in the mall is required to be at least 10% green (how that’s measured, I’m not exactly certain!) and renovations were apparently done using sustainable materials wherever possible (eg used bricks instead of new).

Outside each shop is a label describing what is sustainable about the contents – whether it be because the products are made using local labour, local materials, are made of sustainable materials, or by virtue of being energy-efficient and so on.

It’s a nice touch.

Shops in the centre include the fabulous Baobab Books (new and second-hand books), Think Shoes (natural, healthy, stylish shoes), the Green Shop (green toys and gadgets etc), the Hemporium (awesome hemp-based clothing and accessories), WagWorld (cute planet-friendly pet toys, blankets and cushions) and the eye-catching Galleria Gibello.

There’s also a coffee shop, for the caffeine-addicted.

Of course, ‘green’ being the new trendy, this mall may be just another way of cashing in on being eco-friendly, and 10% green does strike me as a little bit of an arbitrary figure (and a low one).  

But, hey, I do think it’s a great idea, whatever the reasoning behind it may be – and I really like what they’ve done with the place, so I’ll definitely be back!

210 on Long is at the top end of Long Street, near the Long Street Cafe and Royale et al.  Website.  Contact Stacey for more info: 082 391 3878.

DISCLAIMER: Please use any event information as a guide only. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy thereof, things do change – and the best way to make sure something is definitely on is to contact the event organisers themselves. Full bells’n'whistles disclaimer here.