Green Drinks International Comes to Concord

Eco-conscious networking

By Barbara Morris

Concord Green Drinks is one of four active gatherings taking place every month in New Hampshire. The other Green Drinks events are in Keene, Portsmouth, and the Mount Washington Valley. All are part of Green Drinks International, which was founded 20 years ago in the United Kingdom and is now in 579 cities worldwide. In less than nine months, Concord Green Drinks has become an important networking event that takes place the third Tuesday night of every month at the Barley House on Main Street in Concord.

Bringing People Together

“Concord Green Drinks is an informal gathering of people involved in clean energy, green building, local food, and the environment as well as folks from companies and organizations that support sustainable products and services,” says Green Drinks organizer Barbara Morris. Morris gives Steve Reddy and his green home building company, Zetland Homes, LLC, credit for bringing the organizers together last March at the State Home Show when they learned about Green Drinks and discovered that Concord did not have a chapter. According to Reddy, “We worked hard to bring Green Drinks to Concord as we thought the capital city was a great place for this.” Zetland Homes, LLC, is the corporate sponsor of Concord Green Drinks.

Compelling Speakers

Reddy and Morris work to arrange compelling speakers and monthly sponsors for the event. In January, Alex Lee, founder and executive director of the national nonprofit Project Laundry List, headquartered in Concord, gave an eye-opening and entertaining presentation on why it is most urgent people line-dry their laundry and wash in cold water. February’s sponsor, Goodwill Industries of Northern New England, marked the one-year anniversary of the ReConnect Program, meeting the goal of recycling one million computers throughout Northern New England. In March, Jon Turk will be featured while on his national book tour promoting his recently released book, The Raven’s Gift: A Scientist, a Shaman, and Their Remarkable Journey through the Siberian Wilderness. April’s gathering features Brian Dombroski of Pella Concord discussing Pella Windows’ line of energy-efficient windows and information on tax credits for energy-efficient improvements.

Learn more about the international phenomenon Green Drinks at www.greendrinks.org and visit the Concord Green Drinks webpage by clicking on USA, New Hampshire, and Concord. Follow Concord Green Drinks on Facebook by joining the Green New Hampshire Group.