Lowell, MA Green Drinks
LOWELL GREEN DRINKS MEETS THE FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH FROM 5:30-7:30 PM
At Garcia Brogan's 131 Middlesex St, Lowell
(http://www.garciabrogans.com/)
(if the current month is not posted below - the group still meets on a regular basis on the 1st Thursday)
NEW: CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/deactivate.php#!/home.php?sk=group_111149945617372&ap=1
COME MEET OTHER "GREEN MINDED" PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF - EVERYONE WELCOME!
People gather from 5:30 until 7:30 or later. Consultants, students, tradespeople, and other interested citizens gather each month to share ideas and network.
To join our mailing list, please send an email to sheila[dot]carman[at]gmail[dot]com
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!
Some months we host a topic or presentation - but the main point of Green Drinks is to be a time to socialize and network. If you do have any ideas for a topic of discussion or would like to host a topic, please let us know!
Here are some samples of past discussions:
At the May Green Drinks Susan Buta with Buta Full Life gave a presentation on her 200 household initiative in creating a healthier home environment.
At the April Green Drinks a representative from Cartridge World was on hand to teach us about environmental and financial benefits of recycling toner cartridges.
At the March Green Drinks, Adam Baacke, the Assistant City Manager attended Green Drinks. He spoke about green initiatives being undertaken by the city of Lowell
At the February Green drinks, Gunther Wellenstein with the City's Solid Waste and Recycling Division presented information on the new recycling system to be put in place this spring.
The DECEMBER 2008 - HOLIDAY GREEN DRINKS was a great success!! Please see the bottom of this page for a list of information and links from Lizzie about Bioneers.
A few photos from the December 2008 night... (sorry they are so small and dark)
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A list of activities at other recent gatherings:
January 13, 2009: The group that gathered discussed statistics and options for helping the city include more businesses and multi-residence buildings in the recycling program.
December 9, 2008: Lizzie Upitis gave a presentation on the Bioneers conference she attended in October in CA - quite an event!
November 12, 2008: Matthew Himmel with the Tufts New Entry Sustainable Farming Programs spoke to the group about their Community Supported agriculture efforts.
July 8, 2008: Philip Griffith, the Undersecretary of the Environment in the Patrick administration joined us at Green Drinks to discuss what the environmental priorities of this administration are.
June 10, 2008: Rich Lemoine, UMass Lowell Environmental Health and Safety Director spoke with us about efforts currently underway at our local university to "go green" and ways that the community and university can work together.
March 11, 2008: Green Drinks hosted a night of environmental volunteerism opportunities. About a dozen local non-profits with a focus on the environment came together to offer information to interested citizens on how to get involved.
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Hi, Green Drinks Lowell friends,
Here’s the websites I noted or tracked from the plenary speakers at Bioneers 2008. If you have any questions, or want to watch any of the DVDs before I find a viewing venue, please drop me a note and we’ll figure out how to connect.
Websites from Bioneers October 17-19, 2008 –
-- Friday, October 17th Plenaries --
Kenny Ausubel – CEO and Founder of Bioneers
Opening Remarks
www.bioneers.org and stay connected with www.connect.bioneers.org
http://greeningnewmexico.org/ see the “Dreaming New Mexico” project
Paul Stamets
Solutions from the Underground: Using Fungi to Help Save the World
His Fungi Perfecti website
Erica Fernandez
Si, Se Puede! (Yes, We Can!)
Coastal
http://www.pacificenvironment.org/index.php
Ray Anderson
Sustainability in Action
“Entropy” carpets – “
His new wiki website for each of us to join
Kavita Ramdas
Shakti, Shanti, Sangam: Power, Peace and the Politics of Change
Global Fund for Women – Kavita Ramdas’s non-profit
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/cms/
Rockwood Institute – mentioned by Kavita Ramdas and Nina Simons
http://www.rockwoodleadership.org/
Alexandra Cousteau
Saving Our Water Planet
This Blue Planet – her first book due next spring
Earth’s Conservation Corps – helping clean up Anascostia river watershed – near
-- Saturday, October 18th Plenaries --
Janine Benyus
Nature’s 100 Best: Top Biomimicry Solutions to Environmental Crises
Biomimicry Guild is the working company http://www.biomimicryguild.com/
Biomimicry Institute is the non-profit - http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/
www.AskNature.org - “How would nature do it?”
www.innovationforconservation.org – “Thank a genius”
connected to E.O. Wilson’s Encyclopedia of Life
Dune Lankard
Sustainable Solutions Over Centuries
An Ashoka Fellow - http://www.ashoka.org/node/3928
REDOIL = Resisting Environmental Degradation On Indigenous Lands
http://www.ienearth.org/redoil.html
David Orr
Some Like It Hot, But Lots Don’t: The Changing Climate of
“This is our hour.” First 100 days – an eBook
http://www.climateactionproject.com/
David on the board of Center for Eco-Literacy >< Fritjof Capra
Bill McKibben – no DVD of this
Special Public Service Announcement
Wrote End of Nature & Deep Economy
Go to www.350.org
We must get CO² down to 350 parts per million SOON! It’s now 380 ppm
Day of Action is October 24, 2009
http://www.1sky.org/ has joined with
Greg Watson
Twelve Degrees of Freedom: Lessons Learned from Thirty-five Years of Environmental Activism
Green Communities Act in MA - http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2008/07/patrick_signs_landmark_energy_1.html
http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/seslaw08/sl080169.htm
Sandra Steingraber
The Environmental Life of Children – from Placenta to Puberty
She is a doctor of biology and a poet, called “the new Rachel Carson” - 30 years ago at 20, found out she had cancer
Why pediatric environmental health activism is a key civil rights movement.
Her books: Living Downstream and Having Faith (links to Google)
-- Sunday, October 19th Plenaries --
Nina Simons
Personal and movement sharing
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s moving TED talk
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html
Lucas Benitez
Fighting for Justice for Farmworkers
Modern day slavery – the
http://allianceforfairfood.org/
Christine Loh
The “Development” Imperative for Asians
One of TIME’s “Heroes of the Environment”
“The right to development is non-negotiable”
Member of the G8+5 Climate Change Dialogue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G8%2B5
Naomi Klein
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism author of
Rescuing the banks and potentially killing ourselves – “under cover of crisis”
Rebecca Moore
Google Earth: Visualizing Change, Mapping the Future
Rebecca conceived and manages the outreach program.
Help of Google Earth photos during Katrina saved 4000 people
Case Studies on Google Earth Outreach website.
http://earth.google.com/outreach/case_studies.html
Stopping Mountaintop removal in
http://www.ilovemountains.org/
Rick Reed
Collaborating on a Grand Scale: Think Systemically and Act Collaboratively
Use of systems thinking to set up the huge Midwestern collaborative clean energy project: 10 foundations & 70 NGOs across 7 states
works for the Garfield Foundation – grants given everywhere, but home in
http://www.garfieldfoundation.org/
Not presented at Bioneers 2008, but always a good place to investigate useful and pertinent websites – a good way to get involved – is Paul Hawken’s inspired and initiated website:
Here any group can easily set up a web page to announce an event or publicize a cause. Post your jobs, list your events. Check out the tutorial.