by Judith Fertig

Whether attendees at a typical Green Drinks gathering choose to sip a fine wine or organic lemonade, the emphasis is on socializing and networking for a greener world, one community at a time.

Founded by friends Edwin Datschefski and Paul Scott at a London pub in 1989, Green Drinks currently includes more than 700 chapters worldwide. The first and largest North American group, Green Drinks New York City, was launched by Margaret Lydecker in 2002 and currently counts 14,000 members.

After moving to the Big Apple, I was having a hard time finding a community of like-minded people, confesses Lydecker, a sustainability adviser who helps companies find greener options in the way they source products and services. She adds, When you have an active dialogue with other environmentally conscious people in business or government, you begin to find answers and solutions.

Typically, groups around the country partner with a community sports bar, restaurant, or other food and drink establishment to host a Green Drinks event in a private room. The word goes out via email, Facebook, phone calls or postcards, and people come to meet other environmentally conscious people. Although these soir sometimes include short talks by sustainability experts, they're essentially casual. Yet in this setting, attendees can make connections that benefit the environment, businesses, the community and themselves.

John O'Neill reports that at one recent Green Drinks social hour in Port St. Lucie, Florida, the owner of a local environmental service business struck up a conversation with a restaurant owner. The business agreed to take the leftover grease from the restaurant and use it on their farm,� reports O'Neill. That's exactly the kind of thing we want to see happen.

Jim Horlacher, the founder of Kansas City's Green Drinks, admits, I primarily do Green Drinks because I like it.� Although the relationship-building is definitely there, he adds, It's hard for me to quantify. Horlacher is a financial planner for First Affirmative Financial Network, a group that helps individual investors put their money where their socially and environmentally responsible values are. People get to know me at Green Drinks events as someone who walks the walk and talks the talk,� he says.

Although Green Drinks environmental mission is deliberately simple�attend, engage, connect�some groups take it further. The Seattle Green Drinks chapter also offers a host of more narrowly targeted member groups, including those who want to hear speakers on innovation in sustainability, support Native Americans or conserve wildlife.

GreenDrinks-Denver.com offers an It's Your Business listing on its Web pages for green businesses and products, building public awareness for greener options, including tips for cleanup and recycling during and after public events. Likewise, Green Drinks of Victoria, British Columbia, has a work and career forum that continues to encourage the forging of the links that people make at face-to-face gatherings.

Says Seattle Drinks founder Gabriel Scheer, I'm immensely proud of how the organization has taken a central role in growing our local environmental community. A founding partner in Re-Vision Labs, which helps business and organizations incorporate social media and community organizing into their business models, Scheer concludes, Green Drinks events are helping each community see itself.

For more information visit GreenDrinks.org.

Judith Fertig is a freelance writer in Overland Park, KS; see AlfrescoFoodAndLifestyle.blogspot.com.