Green Drinks in the News

The environment? I'll drink to that

By Mary Landers

Created 2007-11-18 00:30

Say "green drinks" in Savannah, and you evoke tinted beer in shamrock-ringed to-go cups.

That's not what a group of eco-conscious folks have in mind for their monthly gathering called GreenDrinks Savannah. With a motto of "Many shades of green, one good time," they get like-thinking people together to network and socialize.

About 100 of them did just that Tuesday night at Churchill's Pub. Some work for local environmental nonprofits, others for government and still others for businesses with a green bent. Many are just personally interested in environmental issues.

While new to Savannah, Green Drinks started in 1989 in London. It's since grown to 292 cities from Boston to Beijing and from Calgary to Cape Town.

The response from Savannah, a town not averse to imbibing, has been positively bubbly.

The inaugural GreenDrinks Savannah get-together in October, also at Churchill's, attracted 129 people.

Compare that to the three people who showed up for the first Green Drinks New York in 2002. Or the "more than 100" who showed up at the first Green Drinks Beijing, a city with a population of 15 million. (If Beijing residents had turned out at the same rate as Savannahians, that bar would've been packed with more than 15,000 people.)

Savannah's turnout was even more than its organizers expected. "We ran out of name tags," said Patty McIntosh, vice president of the Georgia Conservancy. "We had 75."

The packed rooftop terrace Tuesday had veteran eco-organizer Sara Barczak joking that the lure of alcohol might be more powerful than the threat of radiation. "If I had this for Nuclear Regulatory Commission meetings, I guarantee more people would go," said Barczak, safe energy director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Vessela Valtcheva-McGee knows that's true, although it does irk the young architect a little. Attendance was disappointing at a lecture last month by world-famous green architect Ed Mazria at the Trustees Theater, she said. Yet plenty of people come out to drink.

"The truth is: People prefer to have a beer than to listen to blah, blah, blah after work," said Valtcheva-McGee, incoming chairwoman of the Savannah chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Sipping a salty dog at the sign-up table, Summer Teal Simpson said she helped organize the event because she had attended Green Drinks in Atlanta before moving here to take her job with the Georgia Conservancy.

"We're young, we're vivacious," she said. "We love Savannah, and we love to get together for drinks to talk about what we're doing to make Savannah a better place to live."

Of course, it wouldn't be a gathering of environmentalists without a little sobering information. A display table touted upcoming events such as a water meeting Dec. 5 at the Sentient Bean sponsored by the Georgia Water Coalition. A two-minute announcement did much the same. And there's some practice to back up any preaching: Savannah-based Green Lifespace recycles waste generated at the event.

By mid-evening, even Valtcheva-McGee had adopted an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" stance.

"I do have to embrace the fact that it's a good reason to have a drink," she said, red wine in hand.