Green Drinks Virgin No More

I can proudly proclaim that I am no longer a Green Drinks virgin.  I’ve officially attended my first outing.  Maybe I should explain what Green Drinks is in the first place?  Well – since you asked…  Green Drinks was founded in the UK in 1989 by a green designer. It was originally founded as an informal gathering where people with interest in the environment and all things green can get together and share ideas and drinks. There are currently events regularly in 312 cities worldwide.  So check your local listings…or Google…or just start your own.

Green Drinks in Chicago began in February 2003.  Yes – for five long years, green drinks has been going strong here in the Windy City.  The events average around 75+ people and are now semi-monthly.  One meeting per month is a general focus while the other is aimed towards green business. 

Once I decided to finally bite the bullet and go – with the encouragement of my wife – I had to decide what mode of transportation I was going to take (although I knew immediately what I really had to do).  I live about 40 miles from the city of Chicago, yet I work downtown.  Luckily I had a couple things going for me.  One was that I already have a train pass paid for since I do go to the city via train every weekday.  The second is that the Green Drinks event is only about a 10-15min walk from the train.  The downside is that the train only runs hourly after a certain time and it makes every single stop.  I could easily drive to work and park.  Then driving home would potentially be very quick since it was way after rush hour.  Finally, I opted for the train for a couple reasons.  One is that  I’m cheap and the train is already paid for.  The second is that it seems a little hypocritical of me to drive to Green Drinks when I can easily take mass transit.  The third is that this is Green Drinks for crying out loud – maybe I could get a nice buzz on and learn about the environment and sober up on the train. 

So – I know what you’re thinking now – you want me to set the scene of me losing my Green Drinks virginity.  Break it down, yo.  First off, it begins at 5:30pm and your asked to donate $5 to the cause.  Not a problem.  5:30-6:45pm is for networking and getting your initial buzz going – which gives you the liquid courage to talk to even more strangers.  At 6:45pm the festivities begin.  There is usually a speaker on one or two topics.  Tonight was a little different.  The allotted time was one hour and there were 7 speakers to get through.  Each were given 7min to speak.  That left a little time for introductions and the initial MC by Peter who runs Foresight Design and Green Drinks Chicago.  During the speakers you can order some eats and drinks and sit back and relax…or take notes like me.  Then when the speakers are done, you can continue networking until 8:30pm or whenever everyone decides to leave.  Pretty simple.  There is also a table full of all kinds of good materials brought by the participants.  So you can find green businesses and all kinds of different initiatives going on in the area.  I have a nice stack of things…and no doubt I’ll be writing about them in a blog post soon.

Tonight’s episode of Green Drinks focused on the State of Sustainable Chicago with seven different organizations presenting.  The organizations involved this time were: Illinois League of Conservation Voters, U.S. Green Building Council – Chicago Chapter, Illinois Environmental Council, Openlands, Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, Access Living and Jobs With Justice.

I look forward to attending more meetings (I sound like I’m in a 12-step program) and seeing one that isn’t so schizophrenic.  Don’t get me wrong, I did have a good time and it was totally worth it.  It always feels good to go to those things and they’re not just filled with a stereotypical hippie treehugger, but people from all walks of life.  It makes you feel normal – like you’re not the odd-man-out.