Green Drinks — Inspirational Networking

This week I had the opportunity to attend Green Drinks, a monthly informal gathering of professionals in the environmental movement to share a beer, network and get caught up in what’s happening in that community. Well you can tell how far a movement has gone by the amount of people who have shown up and the locale. The first Green Drinks I attended a while back was maybe 50 people in a small bar on the Lower East Side of New York. This past event was packed and held in a much larger venue in Chelsea. At first I was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of attendees, but once I nestled in and found a glass of wine, my sense of being overwhelmed switched to pure pride. There were so many people there committed to their causes and putting such creative spins on solving major environmental issues. One organization NYWind was on hand to help folks switch from Con Edison’ electric supply supported by fossil fuels to wind power. Literally if you brought your electric bill, they could switch you on the spot. The benefits of switching to wind power — a renewable energy source — is the ability to reduce carbon dioxide emissions the equivalent of planting about 418 trees or not driving about 5,325 miles each year.

Another amazingly interesting and creative organization, Wearable Collections, whose president Michael J. Sorel was in attendance really inspired me to find more ways to recycle — clothes that is. According to their website: Wearable Collections, a non-profit charity initiative, is leading the crusade to reduce textile waste in a city traditionally known for disposable, seasonal styles. 386 million pounds of textiles enter the NYC waste stream annually, representing close to 6% of total waste. In hyper consumer oriented NYC, where trends last a second, this was mind blowing. Wearable Collections also makes it super convenient by placing bins in NYC apartment buildings. They then re-distribute these clothes to charities worldwide. Brilliant!

Green Drinks is active in 348 cities world wide as of this writing. Check and see if there’s one in your city. A great way to network with like minded folks making a difference. Now that’s something to drink to.