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Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be the ideal ice breaker at a swanky cocktail party, but at a GreenDrinks event, it's the perfect opening line.
The concept of GreenDrinks was born in 1989 out of London, England, long before phrases like "global warming" and "carbon footprint" became politically-charged buzz words. Now there are more than 300 GreenDrinks chapters around the world, about one-third of which are in the United States.
Fairfield County GreenDrinks, which began in October 2007, is a relative newcomer to the international GreenDrinks family. There are also chapters in Hartford and New Haven.
“There was really a need to get people in this area talking to each other about what they were doing, or could be doing, to affect positive changes in the environment,” said Heather Burns-DeMelo, one of the founders of the Fairfield County chapter and editorial director of AllGreen Magazine. “The purpose of bringing a chapter of GreenDrinks to Fairfield County was to get people talking about the issues, brainstorming solutions and to hear and exchange stories about the innovative and creative things people were doing in and around the state that are environmentally focused.”
Burns-DeMelo called the response to GreenDrinks in Fairfield County “overwhelming.”
“The first event we had was on a rainy Wednesday night at Splash in Westport and I expected maybe 20 to 30 people to show up, but 65 people came,” she said.
Fairfield County GreenDrinks events are held the second Wednesday of each month and each has a different theme. Last month’s event, held at the Westport Arts Center, focused on sustainable food.
“Some people like comfortable bars and others like upscale cocktail parties,” Burns-DeMelo said. “Our hope is that, if the venue, topic and feel is different each time, we will reach out to people with all different tastes.”
In addition to activists and the well-heeled cocktail crowd, GreenDrinks events draw business owners of varying backgrounds. From green builders and independent book shop owners to magazine publishers from New York City, they all have one thing in common: Going green.
Peter Mariano, owner of New Way Green Building and Construction (newwaygbc.com), left the family business of packing and moving artwork to start a green building company with his brother. So far, the brothers have built several green additions to homes and have received inquiries about bigger projects.
“I think that people really want to do their part to help the environment and if they are remodeling anyway, it’s a great way to do it,” Mariano said. “It really is easier than people think to include green building in their homes. It costs a little more upfront but it really pays for itself in a short amount of time.”
Operating a “green” business has become the “cool” thing to do, but with soon-to-be state “green” mandates regarding the building of new structures, it is something that business are going to have to talk about. It helps the conversation when they are told that consumers want to do business with businesses that recognize the positive impact they can have on the environment.
Right now, Connecticut seems to be a ripe environment for this type of thinking. And "going green" is an increasingly sexy topic for the younger crowd, thanks in part to organizations like Fairfield County GreenDrinks that provide a social outlet for environmental activism.
“People are really talking a lot about ‘going green’ right now and we [at GreenDrinks] give them a place where they can do that with people who feel the same way, and they appreciate that,” Burns-DeMelo said.
The next Fairfield County GreenDrinks event will be held Wednesday, March 12, hosted by National R/E Sources at iPark, located on Route 7 on the Wilton/Norwalk border. The topic of the March event will be green commercial interiors.
